Education for a thriving and sustainable future - Call for Papers

The 2026 Annual Conference of the Swiss Society for Research in Education (SSRE) and the Swiss Society for Teacher Education (SGL), held under the theme ‘Education for a Thriving and Sustainable Future’, warmly welcomes your participation. The conference will be held from June 17–19, 2026 at the St.Gallen University of Teacher Education and will open on the morning of June 17 with the SSRE Early Career Researcher Conference, featuring a special focus on Meet the Editors.

Global crises such as climate change, increasing social inequalities, geopolitical tensions, and technological transformations – for example in the field of Artificial Intelligence – are presenting education at all levels with profound challenges. In a rapidly changing and increasingly burdened world, it is no longer sufficient to understand education merely as a tool for solving current problems. Rather, education must create spaces for participation and co-construction – for a just, sustainable, and livable future.

Educational processes should empower people to take individual and collective responsibility, to understand complex societal developments, and to act actively for the common good. This requires intensive engagement with ethical, social, ecological, and political questions, as well as the fostering of transversal competencies such as critical thinking, diversity of perspectives, and agency. Education is thus understood as a driving force for social cohesion, resilience, and transformation.

The 2026 Annual Conference of SGBF and SGL is dedicated to the contributions of educational research and teacher education to shaping a thriving and sustainable future. The conference will discuss innovative, evidence-based, and interdisciplinary approaches that reconceptualize and further develop education in the context of sustainability, democracy, responsibility, and the common good.

We invite representatives of educational research and practice to submit contributions that address the conference theme from theoretical, empirical, or practice-oriented perspectives. Contributions on other current topics in educational research are also welcome.

The following formats are available: individual paper, poster, symposium, discussion forum, and design lab.
 

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Important Deadlines for Submission and Registration

General Information on Submissions

Submissions are usually made by the first author of the contribution. In addition, there is the possibility to participate as a co-author, chair, or discussant. For the formats Discussion Forum and Design Lab, contributions from educational practice are particularly welcome.

For all contribution formats, an abstract of up to 600 words (excluding references) must be submitted via ConfTool. The abstract should address the following points:

• Theoretical background
• Research question
• Research design and methodology (if applicable)
• Results and their significance (if applicable)
• References (not included in the 600-word limit)

Please ensure that all co-authors or contributors register in ConfTool. When registering, please indicate whether you – if you hold a doctorate – are available to serve as a reviewer in the review process.

• ConfTool