For the Fifth International Conference on Semiotics of Culture and Visual Communication the Cyprus Semiotics Circle and the Semiotics and Visual Communication Research Lab (Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of Cyprus University of Technology) joins forces with the transnational cooperation project EMPACT/Empathy and Sustainability, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. This partnership brings together two dynamic entities committed to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue in the field of semiotics, cultural studies, visual communication, philosophy, psychology and sustainability studies. Under this scope we aim to investigate the following themes: ‘‘Semiotics of Otherness’’ and ‘‘Nature as the Other: Empathy, Arts & Sustainability’’.