Call for Papers | International Research Workshop | 18-19 November, 2021
Institute for Social Change and Sustainability (IGN)
Vienna University of Economics and Business
Department of Socioeconomics
Convenors: Margaret Haderer, Hauke Dannemann, Ingolfur Blühdorn
This international, 2-day research workshop is concerned with understanding, locating, and theorizing
current portrayals of the city as a key laboratory for tackling social-ecological crises, climate change in
particular. Urban, real-life experiments in climate-friendly living and producing are commonly
presented as promising components of environmental and climate governance, as innovative forms and
sites of knowledge co-production, and as hopeful signs of citizen-driven, hands-on engagements with
pressing socio-ecological challenges (Bulkeley et al. 2019). “The promise of experimentation” (Evans
et al. 2018) – prompt, genuine socio-ecological change by being radical in ambition and firmly rooted
in real-life environs – is looming large. Smart cities, urban living labs, low carbon urbanism, civil
society-driven niche experiments in sustainable living, etc. (Jong et al. 2015; Seyfang und Haxeltine
2012), all draw on the idea that experimentation can generate more liveable, prosperous and sustainable
urban futures.
Deadline for abstracts: April 15th, 2021
Notification of acceptance: early May, 2021
Deadline for full draft papers: September 30th, 2021
Please send your abstracts to: jakob.werni[AT]wu.ac.at
https://www.wu.ac.at/fileadmin/wu/d/i/ign/CfP_Experimentalism_and_the_Climate_Crisis_IGN_2021.pdf