On Sustainability Research Network

Invitation

We invite proposals for 2027 Imagining Sustainable Worlds, an annual online symposium in the Common Ground Imagining Futures Series, taking place 12–13 May 2027, online on CGScholar.

The symposium brings together scholars, researchers, designers, planners, educators, policy thinkers, practitioners, health and care professionals, environmental researchers, and community-engaged professionals working across questions of sustainability, climate, infrastructure, food systems, mobility, aging, health, wellbeing, and the built environment. We welcome proposals that explore how sustainable worlds are designed, inhabited, maintained, challenged, and transformed.

For 2027, On Sustainability Research Network serves as the host Network, helping shape the symposium’s emphasis within the wider theme of Imagining Sustainable Worlds.

Hosted by the Common Ground Media Lab @ Research Park at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, the symposium is also part of Common Ground’s ongoing research into the knowledge experience: exploring how online environments can support focused dialogue, continuous exchange, publication pathways, and new forms of scholarly communication.

Proposals are welcome in English or Spanish, and participants may present in either language.

Submit Media Lab

Annual Themes

Imagining Sustainable Worlds is organized around four annual themes that reflect the wider ecology of sustainability inquiry and practice across Common Ground.

We welcome proposals that examine sustainability as a question of ecological systems, social wellbeing, built environments, food systems, mobility, care, health, climate response, and long-term resilience. Contributions may be theoretical, empirical, policy-oriented, design-based, pedagogical, community-engaged, or practice-led.

Together, the themes invite participants to consider how sustainable futures are imagined, built, governed, cared for, and sustained across environmental, social, spatial, and human systems.

  • Theme 1: Climate, Ecology, and Environmental Change
  • Theme 2: Sustainable Design, Space, and the Built Environment
  • Theme 3: Food, Tourism, Mobility, and Everyday Systems
  • Theme 4: Health, Aging, Care, and Collective Wellbeing
Read More About Themes

Ways to Participate

Imagining Sustainable Worlds is designed as a flexible online symposium that supports different ways of participating: live exchange, asynchronous engagement, presentation pages, support sessions, and publication pathway conversations.

The format is intentionally focused and flexible. Rather than replicating the scale of a full conference, the symposium creates a concentrated space for sharing work, testing ideas, building connections, and continuing conversations beyond a single live session.

Participants may engage through live presentations, themed discussions, workshops, digital media, posters, asynchronous presentation pages, and training or support sessions. These formats support different ways of participating: real-time dialogue, reflective viewing, written exchange, mentoring, and follow-up discussion.

A central aim of the symposium is to support emerging scholars and emerging work. Dedicated support sessions will help participants strengthen their proposals, develop presentations, think through publication pathways, and connect their work to wider field conversations.

Live sessions create opportunities for direct conversation and shared thematic exchange, while asynchronous formats allow work to remain visible and accessible before, during, and after the symposium.

All live sessions are held online via Zoom and scheduled in US Central Time.

Read more about the format

Publication Pathways

Imagining Sustainable Worlds connects presentation with publication, giving participants opportunities to develop their work beyond the symposium.

Accepted and registered presentations will be included in the symposium proceedings, creating a formal record of the work shared. Participants may also develop their papers for possible publication in journals associated with the participating Research Networks, depending on the scope, quality, and fit of the work.

Selected contributions may be invited for inclusion in a curated best of the symposium book volume.

The symposium also supports wider field-level reflection through plenary dialogue, Talking Circles, publication advice sessions, and a dedicated working group contributing to a collective state of the field statement.

Together, these pathways support both individual scholarly development and the wider work of defining emerging questions, voices, and directions in sustainability, climate, health, care, food systems, mobility, and the built environment.

publication pathways

Proposal and Registration Periods

Proposal submission and registration are organized into Early, Regular, and Late periods. Proposals are accepted until 12 April 2027, one month before the symposium begins, and are reviewed within two to four weeks of submission.

Registration remains open through the start of the symposium, though presenters are encouraged to register early so they have time to prepare and upload the required digital media before the deadline.

Proposal Periods

Proposals will be reviewed within two to four weeks of submission.

Early Launch to 12 January 2027
Regular 13 January–12 March 2027
Late 13 March–12 April 2027

Registration Deadlines

Digital media should be uploaded by 5 May 2027.

Early Launch to 12 February 2027
Regular 13 February–12 March 2027
Late 13 March–12 May 2027

Registration Options FAQ | Proposal Review

Submit Proposal

Ready to share your work? Submit a proposal to join 2027 Imagining Sustainable Worlds and contribute to a focused online exchange on sustainability, climate, infrastructure, food systems, mobility, aging, health, wellbeing, and collective futures.

We welcome proposals from scholars, researchers, educators, designers, planners, practitioners, students, early career researchers, policy thinkers, health and care professionals, and community-engaged professionals working across sustainability-related fields.

Proposals may be submitted in English or Spanish. Accepted presenters will be invited to take part in the symposium’s live and asynchronous formats, with opportunities for discussion, feedback, support sessions, and publication pathways.

Submit Proposal

Get Support

Have a question? We’re here to help. Visit the help center to get started.

Support Center

Common Ground Research Networks

University of Illinois Research Park
60 Hazelwood Drive
Champaign, IL 61820 USA

Phone: +1-217-328-0405
Fax: +1-217-328-0435
Email: support@cgnetworks.org

Terms and Conditions

Site Map

2027 Conference

Journals

Books

Community

About

Support

Common Ground’s Knowledge Communities

All content © 2026 Common Ground Research Networks. Built with care by &Phil;.