We are pleased to announce the Call for paper tracks and special sessions for the International Sustainability Transitions (IST) Conference 2027, to be held in Balneário Camboriú, Brazil, from June 28 to June 30, 2027.

We invite the community to take an active role in developing an engaging and diverse program! As a first step, we invite the STRN community to submit proposals for paper tracks and special sessions. We particularly encourage proposals for interactive sessions and other practice-oriented participatory formats. A separate call for abstracts will follow in November, at which point authors will be able to submit abstracts to the selected tracks.

Proposals should address a broad range of research topics and perspectives. They may specifically address questions related to the conference’s theme of “Building Bridges” and/or speak to established or emerging research themes that reflect the STRN thematic groups, the research agenda or any exciting new contributions to the field of transition studies.

Paper track

A paper track is a collection of paper presentations on a specific topic. A track may have several sessions, depending on the number of contributions accepted to the track. A track may consist of full papers (submitted in advance), speed talks (with less time per paper), or a mix of the two formats. Track proposals can also include other session formats, such as poster presentations, interactive sessions or final panel discussions, if indicated. Track proposals should be coherent in content and describe key questions and perspectives.

If selected, paper track proposers will be asked to revise their proposals, and the paper tracks will be published online as part of the “call for papers”. Track proposers are expected to contribute to reviewing contributions proposed for their track to ensure the coherence and high quality of the contributions, assist the conference hosts in organizing their tracks and sessions, invite discussants, and act as session chairs.

Special sessions

Proposals for special sessions also need to describe a coherent theme, but special sessions may have different formats, such as panels, debates, policy dialogue sessions, or other alternative formats. The proposals also need to include a description of the participants in the sessions. Special sessions will be no more than 90 minutes.

Proposal criteria and review process

All proposals should be organized by at least two people, ideally representing two different research institutions.

Proposals should be about 500 words, with a short title and a brief description of the questions and research topics you want to raise, including a reflection on the topic’s relevance for transition research. Proposals also need to indicate the kinds of contributions sought (full/short papers/other/final panel discussion) and the format you are proposing (particularly for special sessions).

All proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Alignment with STR and STRN’s thematic groups
• Relevance to STR
• Scientific quality
• Coverage of different research themes

To ensure a diverse balance of topics and high-quality contributions, approved paper tracks will be allocated a fixed number of sessions.

Proposal submission

Please submit your proposal to ist2027@univali.br.

The deadline for submission is Sunday, October 18, 2026. Organizers will be notified of the acceptance of their proposals by mid-November 2026.