The German playwright Bertolt Brecht observed in 1955 that “we are now faced […] with the complete destructibility of this planet that has barely been made fit to live in”. Humans have had such an impact on the planet that the ecosystem can be viewed as a sociocultural system and the Anthropocene – or more precisely, Capitalocene – can be seen as a form of crisis within the global ecosystem.

COST Action CA21166 - Social Sciences and Humanities for Transformation and Climate Resilience invites paper and panel proposals to explore transformations in response to the crises within the global ecosystem by focusing on agonistic and consensus-oriented practices. The climate and environmental crisis, and the efforts to mitigate and adapt to it are inevitably triggering change. Agonistic and consensus-based approaches offer contrasting ways to engage with conflicting perspectives and interests in this context.  Consensus-based approach seeks reaching broad acceptance from all involved parties for any changes deemed necessary. Agonistic approaches to climate change and its mitigation and adaptation argue that consensus between stakeholders is neither possible nor desirable, and instead see dissent as central to the conflicting power relations that constitute the political.

The aim of such practices is to arrive at ‘actionable transformation’ in the context of climate change. This refers to implementing and managing climate policies, regulations, and governance mechanisms at various levels. It also includes the development of sustainable planning strategies, modeling and design, such as climate-resilient infrastructures, mitigation strategies, and adaptation measures for extreme weather and disaster preparedness/response. Additionally, it encompasses creating new economic models, innovative technologies, and transdisciplinary solutions for sustainable energy, transportation, and industry, as well as anticipating and preparing for future challenges and opportunities in climate action through collaborative foresight practices based on big data analysis.

This conference gives interdisciplinarity room to discuss and seek interfaces between contrasting approaches, which could enable dialogue and envision actionable transformation for climate resilience and societal change. The objective of the conference is to contribute to the creation of dialogues and the development of knowledge and practical guidance for the involvement of target groups from various disciplines to foster transdisciplinary critical practice for climate action and related societal practices. Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities (SAH) are among the many actors in this transformation process that can create spaces for dialogue and offer new methods and tools to help transformation become actionable, thus, we are in particular seeking contributions that include analysis on the role of the SAH in the transformation process. We also welcome crossing the divisions between STEM disciplines, technical sciences and SAH for achieving actionable transformation and the great shift we need to achieve.

We invite scholars, academics, researchers, artists, practitioners, individuals from business or industrial zones, and national, international, or global policies to participate in our conference. The event is held only face-to-face and not hybrid.

We encourage exploring different mediums such as visual media, live performances, literary work, or digital platforms that could stimulate thoughtful introspection and joint efforts to mitigate the effects of climate shifts. By investigating the potential of artistic disruptions and various attempts at achieving consensus, we hope to understand and scale up the process of swaying perspectives, practices and rules. The agonistic and consensus practices we aim to explore can be presented and analysed through artistic disruptions contributing to swaying perspectives, practices and rules. Equally, such practices could be explored through crossing the divisions between specific fields, uniting researchers, professionals and artists from a variety of sectors. Such cross-cutting efforts generate in themselves both moments of agonistic confrontations as well as efforts for consensus, which could point at the best ways of ushering constructive alterations in society.

Submission Guidelines

Extended abstracts in English (max 1000 words) in PDF format are expected to be uploaded via Easy Chair submission form (link). Only one paper is allowed for submission. COST Action CA21166 Social Sciences and Humanities for Transformation and Climate Resilience members could apply for a grant.

The following types of participation are accepted:

• Pecha Kucha (20 slides, 20 sec per slide, 7-8 minutes)
• Poster (physical or digital, 7-8 minutes)
• Presentation (10-12 minutes)

List of Topics

Some of the possible more specific questions to address could also include:

• How can actionable transformation be imagined and set into practice by different actors (researchers, policymakers, practitioners, industry, educators, artists, etc.)?
• What pressures, drivers, conflicts, or opportunities trigger change and innovation in practical contexts?
• What methods and approaches from within the SAH domain can be used to support dialogue on the forms of socially inclusive, just, democratic, and sustainable futures that can be individually and collectively imagined and enacted, and how these could create stronger links across disciplines and societal sectors?
• How can we give a voice to marginalized groups and future generations when it comes to debating the future of our planet and desirable connections between society, technology, and nature?
• How and to what extent can different views and representations of climate change coexist and lead to co-constructed actions?

Committees

Organizing committee

• Maria Bakatsaki, Technical University of Crete (Greece)
• Catarina Cadima, University of Porto, (Portugal)
• Rogério Miguel Puga, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, (Portugal)
• Sarah Milliken, University of Greenwich, (United Kingdom)
• Luis Teixeira, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, (Portugal)
• Zoran Turza, Catholic University of Croatia (Croatia)

Scientific Committee

• Aet Annist, University of Tartu (Estonia)
• Serhat Burmaoglu, Izmir Katip Celebi University (Turkey)
• Gerald Taylor Aiken, Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research (Luxembourg)
• Boris Kantsepolsky, The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo (Israel)
• Martine Legris, University of Lille (France)
• Sonja Novak, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek (Croatia)
• Milena Rajic, University of Nis (Serbia)
• Katarina Strapcova, Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovakia)
• Zoran Turza, Catholic University of Croatia (Croatia)Theo Zacharis, Greek Scientists Society (Greece)

Invited Speakers

• Maria Fernanda Rollo, Contemporary History, Lisbon, Portugal

Venue

The conference will be held in Catholic University of Croatia (Address: Ilica 242, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia). 

Catholic University of Croatia is located on the west side of the city of Zagreb, at the address Ilica 242. The entrance to the campus is from Domobranska street.

At the Campus (entrance from Domobranska Street) visitors can use the outdoor parking facility, for approx. 0,53 EUR per hour. Outside the Campus, there is roadside parking with hourly parking rates determined by Zagrebparking (Zone III).

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/78DKYuSwMnwfs2Gc7

Accommodation near Catholic University of Croatia: https://maps.app.goo.gl/78DKYuSwMnwfs2Gc7

Zagreb City Center Accomodation: https://maps.app.goo.gl/78DKYuSwMnwfs2Gc7

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to shiftcost.zagreb2024@gmail.com