Title: Teaching and researching for a just transition: Planetary boundaries and ethics 2026
Building on the success of last year’s event, we invite you to join us to share your experiences and learn from others as we develop a stronger network of faculty, staff, and students thinking about different aspects of sustainability. This event is free and open to both teachers and students.
The symposium will take place in September 24-25, 2026, and it’s organised by Kingston University (UK), UNC Charlotte (US), London Metropolitan University (UK), Malmö University (Sweden), St. Mary’s University Twickenham (UK), Warwick University (UK), Edinburgh Napier University (UK) and Southern Methodist University (US). We are jointly hosting this as a free hybrid two-day event focused on integrating sustainability into teaching, research related to education, and community partnerships.
Why we are doing this: an opportunity to share what different faculty and universities are doing around sustainability in teaching and research. We are using a hybrid “hub” model with online and different physical locations that enable cross-site collaboration and widening participation while reducing travel time, costs and carbon emissions.
The workshop will take place over two days, both online and in-person. Participants will be invited to attend online or in-person at one of the hubs (currently at Kingston University, UNC Charlotte, London Metropolitan University, Malmö University, St. Mary’s University Twickenham, Warwick University, Edinburgh Napier University and Southern Methodist University ( see below information about creating a hub). Each hub may have additional activities at other times; agendas will be available for these at a later date.
Abstract Submission: We invite submissions for short talks to foster rich discussions and interaction among participants. We encourage participants to submit individual or collaborative abstracts of up to 250 words by July 27 for presentations. From these, we will invite colleagues to present around themes that emerge from submissions. We hope that all those submitting will be open to either joining a panel discussion or a 7-10min lightning talk presentation.
About the abstract submission:
Accepted abstracts: colleagues will be invited to present either in a lightning talk (presented or recorded) format, to join a panel discussion or another appropriate format.
Key information and Deadlines:
Submissions are submitted no later than the 27th July; 250 word abstracts should be submitted using this online form, which also asks for the names and 150-word biographies for presenters, and a shorter abstract for the program
Review Process: All submissions will undergo a peer review conducted by the session hosts.
Criteria for abstract review: relevance to teaching and learning for sustainability, innovativeness, research-based evaluation of impact, and clarity of proposal.
Timeline:
- Event date: 24th and 25th September 2026
- Abstract submission deadline: 27th July, 2026;
- Notification of acceptance to authors: 24th August, 2026: notifications about presentations emailed to participants
- Registration deadline for creating a hub: 31st August, 2026: registration deadline for creating a hub (see below)
- Registration deadline: 17th September 17, 2026; registration via online form
Provisional program:
24th September, Thursday:
- Joint events 2-5 pm BST (9 am-12 pm EST, 3-6 pm CET), online and in person
- Hubs may have in-person morning events in the UK/Sweden or afternoon events in USA, with detailed information closer to the date
25th September, Friday:
- Joint events 2-5 pm BST (9 am-12 pm EST, 3-6 pm CET)
- Hubs may have in-person morning events BST, afternoon events in USAwith detailed information closer to the date
Teaching and researching for a just transition 