Transformative Approaches in Times of Polycrises
Organiser: Governance and Inclusive Development (GID) research group at the University of Amsterdam – When: 27-28 January 2026 – Where: International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) Conference Centre, Amsterdam – Participation is free of charge.
How can we imagine the future of our world in the midst of intersecting global crises? Geopolitical instability and genocidal violence, resurgent nationalism and retreat from multilateralism, disruptive and indiscriminate technological change, and a woefully disregarded climate emergency all exacerbate global inequalities and vulnerabilities. What are the implications of these polycrises on our thinking about ‘development’, a contested notion not least because of its enduring legacies of asymmetrical power relations and knowledge hierarchies?
The above-mentioned destabilising forces call for a renewed impetus for ‘international development’, one that does not (re)produce the very inequities it seeks to address through the imposition of external values, technologies, or Western modes of governance. Emerging scholarship, for instance, increasingly turns toward ideas of repair, reparation or regeneration, seeking to rebuild relations and systems on more just and life-affirming foundations. Against this backdrop of pressing concerns about political, social, economic, and ecological collapse, a crucial question thus arises: How can we rethink and transform the study and practice of ‘international development’ in ways that do not reinforce the polycrises, but aspire to discern the potential for more just futures instead?
Call for Session Proposals
As a space for critical reflections around these important questions, the Just International Development Forum 2026: Transformative Approaches in Times of Polycrises will take place on 27th and 28th January 2026 in Amsterdam. We invite contributions that share research findings, and to reflect on and/or propose new pathways for transforming ‘international development’ in theory and practice. We welcome session proposals that explore themes related, but not limited, to:
- Rethinking and reimagining development: indigenous, decolonial, and feminist perspectives on transformation and the potential for regeneration in times of poly-crisis.
- Disruptive technologies and extractivism: AI, data colonialism and sustainable infrastructures beyond extractivism.
- Political ecology and climate change: knowledge, politics and power in resource and risk management.
- Political economy of development: repair, reparation and restitution, and alternative approaches of solidarity, care and resistance.
- Methodological and pedagogical innovations: epistemic justice and decolonial, decentering and regenerative pedagogies in (international) development studies.
- Resistance and activism: Activism in the face of shrinking civil space and pushbacks, space of resistance (from the streets to the digital), intersectional perspectives (class, gender, generational aspects (GenZ and others).
We are particularly interested in sessions that explore just transformations in international development through creative formats beyond conventional paper presentations (for inspiration, see the programme of our last event JUST International Development Forum).
Please submit your session proposal containing title, short description (300 words) and a list of confirmed and potential contributors, including colleagues in education and research, and societal partners via this link by 5 December 2025 at 17.00 (CET). Please note that at least two contributors (other than the session organiser(s)) must be confirmed at the time of submission. Successful proposals will be notified by 19 December 2025 and must be finalized by 16 January 2026.
For enquiries, please email: JustID@uva.nl
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