Because of strong interest we have extended the deadline for the submission of 
abstracts until Friday, 12 April, 4pm CET.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---Call for Papers---

GLOBALGOALS2024 - “The Future of the SDGs”

An International Research Conference

Utrecht, The Netherlands | 29-30 August 2024


BACKGROUND
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was welcomed by practitioners and 
academics alike as a momentous step forward in global sustainability 
governance. And yet, an increasing body of studies suggests that the SDGs have 
failed to transform political and economic systems. Moreover, most SDGs are 
found to be not on track to be achieved by 2030. This sober assessment of the 
academic community is shared by many policymakers; the United Nations 
Secretary-General has even called upon governments “to rescue” the SDGs. 2024 
is the halfway point in SDG implementation and a crucial moment to adjust and 
transform the SDG agenda. Concurrently, the United Nations will host in 
September 2024 a Summit of the 
Future<https://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future>, aiming to strengthen global 
sustainability governance by adopting further bold reforms.

Given these crucial developments, the global scientific community is called 
upon to develop and synthesize the much-needed knowledge and evidence-based 
insights about the factors that explain the limited success of the SDGs, the 
many barriers that block their achievement, and the key reforms to be taken. 
Academic research is also needed to assess the effectiveness of “governance by 
global goals” more broadly and to point towards global institutional reforms 
after 2030, when the current SDGs expire.

The international research conference GLOBALGOALS2024—The Future of the SDGs, 
to be held 29-30 August 2024 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, is designed as the 
much-needed forum to advance theoretical reflection and empirical, actionable 
knowledge on the success of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The Conference will 
offer a broad global platform to share and discuss new ideas for the future of 
the SDGs and global sustainability governance. Importantly, the Conference will 
offer ample space for transdisciplinarity and contributions by non-academic 
experts, aiming to combine academic and non-academic policy proposals. Overall, 
GLOBALGOALS2024 is expected to be a critical academic steppingstone in 
preparing for the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024.

AN OPEN SPACE FOR “RESEARCH PAPERS” AND “TRANSFORMATIVE IDEAS”
GLOBALGOALS2024 welcomes two types of contributions, Research Papers and 
Transformative Ideas. Research Papers are traditional academic research 
contributions; they may offer new theoretical insights and frameworks, new 
empirical research findings, or broader systematic reviews of the literature. 
Transformative Ideas are non-traditional contributions that seek to lay out, in 
a clear and convincing way, novel ideas about the manifold transformations 
needed to achieve the SDGs en route to 2030 as well as how a future, post-2030 
agenda should look like. While Transformative Ideas can be submitted by 
academics, this new format targets especially non-academic experts, including 
representatives of thinktanks, civil society organizations, and youth movements.

FIVE CONFERENCE STREAMS
Research Papers and Transformative Ideas should relate to one or more of the 
five conference streams:

  1.  Acceleration of SDG Implementation. Despite the disappointing results of 
the mid-term review of the SDGs, there are still six years to accelerate their 
implementation and to shift gears towards a transformative implementation 
process. Yet what policies and instruments are likely to be effective in 
achieving this? GLOBALGOALS2024 invites Research Papers and Transformative 
Ideas that point to novel policies or measures that can help to achieve the 
SDGs and other promises of the Agenda for Sustainable Development. We also 
invite papers on the role of SDGs in legal systems and how civil society uses 
the SDGs to hold actors to account.
  2.  Differentiation and Dynamization of the SDGs: The SDGs are framed as a 
global, universal normative vision that needs to be implemented in national and 
local contexts. GLOBAL­GOALS2024 invites Research Papers and Transformative 
Ideas to focus on this adaptive process that the SDGs undergo during their 
implementation at diverse levels of governance, reflecting on specific local 
and national challenges and capacities, and different political economies, 
institutions, and aspirations. This stream presents studies of the crucial 
factors of differentiation and dynamization and whether and how such processes 
contribute to greater overall effectiveness of sustainability governance.
  3.  Reforming the SDGs: GLOBALGOALS2024 also invites Research Papers and 
Transformative Ideas that more broadly investigate possible avenues to 
transform global sustainability governance and the SDG process. Papers might 
discuss for instance changes of the global financial institutions, reforms of 
the United Nations, or the further legalization and institutionalization of the 
SDGs. The stream also welcomes Research Papers and Transformative Ideas that 
question the framework of multilateral cooperation in a context of geopolitical 
tensions that threaten sustainability policies, and papers on innovative and 
novel governance arrangements adopted by governments, civil society, social 
movements, international organizations, or the private sector.
  4.  The Future of Sustainability: Related to this stream, GLOBALGOALS2024 
invites Research Papers and Transformative Ideas that discuss the link between 
sustainability governance and futures thinking. GLOBALGOALS­2024 will take 
stock of multiple perspectives and research findings about future generations, 
strategic foresight, scenarios of SDG implementation, the power of youth 
engagement, and global sustainability governance post-2030.
  5.  The Role of Science and Knowledge: Finally, GLOBALGOALS2024 invites 
Research Papers and Transformative Ideas on the development, use and 
integration of knowledge and expertise in sustainability policymaking and how 
the science-policy interface can better support the success of the SDGs. The 
stream will also consider how Indigenous and local knowledge has been used in 
designing and reviewing progress of the SDGs, as well as critical perspectives 
on the interlinkages between knowledge and power imbalances in sustainability 
governance. Finally, GLOBALGOALS2024 welcomes papers on innovations in research 
on the SDGs and global sustainability governance, from studies that present 
major methodological advancement to new forms of relationship between 
scientific and non-academic communities.

Abstract Submission
If you plan to participate in the GLOBALGOALS2024 conference and to present 
either a Research Paper or a Transformative Idea, please send the title, 
keywords and an abstract of less than 300 words in the body of an e-mail to: 
globalgoals2...@uu.nl<mailto:globalgoals2...@uu.nl>. Please include your name 
and complete institutional affiliation. In the e-mail subject line, state to 
which of the five conference streams listed above your paper relates best. For 
the schedule of submission deadlines and registration process see below.

DEADLINE
The Call for Papers closes on 12 April 2024 at 4pm CET.

Conference Statement “The Future of the SDGs”
The international research conference GLOBALGOALS2024—The Future of the SDGs 
will launch a Conference Statement “The Future of the SDGs”, which will be 
agreed during the conference and widely published afterwards, pointing the way 
towards reforms that governments and other actors might take during the UN 
Summit of the Future and policy processes in the following years. All 
registered authors of Research Papers and Transformative Ideas presented at the 
conference will be invited to join the drafting process of this Conference 
Statement and be listed in any further publication of this statement, if they 
so wish.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS
All abstracts submitted on time will be shared online on our conference 
website. A selection of the presented papers will be submitted for publication, 
either as a journal special issue or an edited volume, in the Fall of 2024.

UTRECHT SUMMER SCHOOL ON ‘THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNANCE

Back-to-back with GLOBALGOALS2024 we will host the Utrecht Summer School on The 
Future of Sustainability Governance. The Summer School will take place on 26-30 
August in Utrecht and combine lectures, workshops and practical experience. On 
29-30 August, participants will take part in the GLOBALGOALS2024 conference on 
the “Future of the SDGs”.

ORGANIZING INSTITUTIONS
Co-chairs
Frank Biermann, director, GlobalGoals Project, Utrecht University
Guilherme de Queiroz Stein, GlobalGoals Project, Utrecht University
Mara Wendebourg, GlobalGoals Project, Utrecht University
Fronika de Wit, GlobalGoals Project, Utrecht University

International Steering Committee
Dan Banik, Oslo SDG Initiative, University of Oslo, Norway
Marianne Beisheim, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, 
Germany
Steven Bernstein, University of Toronto, Canada
Pamela Chasek, Manhattan College, United States of America
Ines Dombrowsky, German Institute of Development and Sustainability, Germany
Boniface Dulani, Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University 
of Malawi, Malawi
Thomas Hickmann, Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden
Louis Kotzé, North-West University, South Africa
Shirin Malekpour, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, 
Australia
Andrea Ordóñez Llanos, Southern Voice, Ecuador
Åsa Persson, Stockholm Environment Institute and Linköping University, Sweden
Prajal Pradhan, Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, 
University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and Nepal
Johan Schot, Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges and Economic and 
Social History group, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Michelle Scobie, Institute of International Relations, The University of the 
West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
Carole-Anne Sénit, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht 
University, The Netherlands
Yixian Sun, University of Bath, United Kingdom

Host and Co-hosting Institutions
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, The 
Netherlands
Earth System Governance Project (Taskforce on the Sustainable Development Goals)
European Research Council, Advanced Grant for the GlobalGoals Project
Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, United Kingdom
German Institute of Development and Sustainability, Bonn, Germany
Lund University, Sweden
Oslo SDG Initiative, University of Oslo, Norway
Southern Voice
Utrecht University, Strategic Programme ‘Pathways to Sustainability’

IMPORTANT DATES

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 12 April

ABSTRACT ACCEPTANCE NOTIFICATION: 19 April

REGISTRATION OPEN (EARLY BIRD): 19 April

END OF EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION: 15 May

REGISTRATION for paper Presentations CLOSES: 7 July

SDG Taskforce Meeting, Earth System Governance Project: 28 August

GLOBALGOALS2024 CONFERENCE: 29-30 August


Conference Website:  
www.globalgoalsproject.eu/globalgoals2024<http://www.globalgoalsproject.eu/globalgoals2024>

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"gep-ed" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/DU0PR05MB10402070EF17C6ED5E04338D98E072%40DU0PR05MB10402.eurprd05.prod.outlook.com.

Reply via email to