The SCORAI Board calls for expressions of interest for hosting the Fifth International SCORAI conference in 2022 or 2023.
The previous SCORAI conferences were: 2013 at Clark University in Worcester, MA; 2016 at Princeton N.J.; 2018 at the University of Maine in Orono, ME; 2018 at the Copenhagen Business School in Copenhagen; 2020 at Northeastern University in Boston and at KTH in Stockholm (both moved to the on-line format). We hope that the format of the Fifth conference will be a combination of in-person and virtual, preferably in two trans-Atlantic hubs if possible.
The past SCORAI conferences have attracted approximately 120 participants each (350 at the on-line conference). They attracted leading researchers and practitioners in the areas of sustainable consumption and social justice and were small enough to facilitate intense interactions among participants at all levels of professional development, from graduate students to senior academics and between researchers and practitioners. Numerous funded research projects, books and lasting research collaborations were initiated and deepened at those conferences.
The SCORAI Board will be closely collaborating with the Conference organizers in determining the leading theme, producing a Call for Abstracts, creating the scientific committee and reviewing abstracts, building the budget, setting the fees, selecting and inviting keynote speakers, building the conference program, sharing the past experience from earlier conferences, and myriad of tasks and decisions.
The Conference Host(s) will take the primary responsibility for the following:
- All local arrangements, including facilities for keynote and breakout sessions, accommodations, meals and refreshments, and related tasks.
- Organizing the abstract review process and selection
- Building the conference program (in coordination with the SCORAI Board
- Conference website, outreach, and communication
- Building the conference budget
- Collecting registration fees and managing the budget
- Final report on the budget
Many of the current widely accepted understandings of consumption and production- consumption systems were in their early stages debated at the SCORAI conferences. These include: the links between economic growth and power relations and consumption, degrowth movement and consumption, the role of technology in establishing social practices related to consumption, the role of consumption in happiness and life satisfaction, and others. We seek to continue this tradition of intellectual innovation and pathbreaking development of the field.
Expressions of interest in hosting the next SCORAI conference should include:
- The name of the senior leader(s) and the institution(s)
- Description of the team members of the organizing committee, if known
- Past experience in conference organizing
- Anticipated or projected support and commitments from senior leadership of the hosting organization
- Description of the available facilities
- Institutional resources available, including in-kind resources such as rooms, audio-visual and internet services, administrative and fiscal support
- Local attractions and availability of affordable accommodations
- The name or names of potential international co-organizing partners (a joint application with a cross-Atlantic partner is encouraged)
Please submit the Expression of Interest by March 15 to Philip Vergragt at pvergragt@outlook.com
We welcome extensive communications with the members of the Board between now and the March 15th deadline on all matters large and small related to developing the Expression of Interest.