Sustainability, Temporalities and Futures
9–10 June 2026, Turku, Finland.
Welcome to the 26th Futures Conference organised by Finland Futures Research Centre and Finland Futures Acacemy, University of Turku in collaboration with Sustainability Transformations Doctoral Education Pilot - SusTra.
CALL FOR PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS
Futures Conference 2026 focuses on the critical theme of the sustainability transformation. This fundamental shift will renew societal and economic systems and practices, while also enhances human agency, well-being and quality of life.
The conference explores sustainability transformation through various themes, like everyday life and cultural transformation; planetary well-being and health; sustainable production and consumption; technological transformation; governance, justice, trust, and institutional transformations in public administration, politics, and business; and the role of humans, culture, and collective efforts in building a just and sustainable society.
The conference emphasises the importance of temporality by asking what intergenerational decision-making within the limits of planetary boundaries means in practice. How can geological time perspectives, historical understanding, and futures thinking guide individuals, societies, and humankind towards more sustainable outcomes? How does various individual and collective memories and anticipations impact on unfolding futures and planetary wellbeing?
Sustainability and temporality can be approached through a multidisciplinary lens, particularly emphasising futures studies, social sciences, humanities, heritage studies, the arts, natural sciences, sustainability science, and business studies. Bridging different fields in an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach is essential for advancing sustainability transformation. Achieving this in the conference, demands the active and intersectional inclusion of different socio-cultural and more-than-human perspectives through participation of decision-makers, researchers, practitioners, and students.
Submission of abstracts
We invite researchers, scholars, practitioners, decision-makers and students from universities, research institutes, companies, and governmental and non-governmental organisations to share the latest research results, findings and thoughts on these key topics:
1. Beyond Sustainability – Regeneration and restoration
2. Cultural sustainability transformation as an enabler of just sustainability transformation
3. Human and more-than-human agency toward planetary well-being and health
4. Individual and collective understandings of time and temporalities in sustainability transformation
5. Sustainable production and consumption in the light of different economic models
6. Justice, trust and sustainability in institutional transformations of governance and working life in public administration, politics, and business
7. Leadership, governance, and the management of short-term and long-term sustainability transformations
8. The role of AI in sustainability
9. Methods and methodology of futures research and sustainability transformation
Submit your abstract for a) paper presentation, b) special session or c) interactive workshop via following Webropol form no later than 2 February 2026. More information here: https://futuresconference2026.com/cfp/.
