Conference on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research for sustainable development
transit |
Sixth edition (2026): Building Regional and Global Thematic Transdisciplinary research communities
23-24 November 2026
Aula Magna, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
The sixth edition of the “Conference on Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Development" will take place in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, on 23th and 24th November 2026.
Organized in partnership with the European university alliance Circle U. and UCLouvain, the event will showcase scientific approaches that bridge disciplines and knowledge systems, fostering dialogue with non-academic stakeholders (NGOs, businesses, public administrations, citizens, and others).
The conference provides a unique opportunity for researchers to share their experience, discuss their methods and strengthen collaborations across disciplines, sectors and territories.
It is open to all those interested in collaborative and innovative research approaches, and seeks to encourage exchange among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers around concrete projects, emerging methodologies, and critical reflections on scientific practices.
This year’s edition focuses on the emergence and consolidation of regional and global thematic transdisciplinary research communities.
It opens on Monday evening with six keynote presentations on innovations in regional transdisciplinary research environments, followed by a cocktail.
On Tuesday, more than thirty contributions, presenting research projects as well as protocols for future research, will be discussed in four parallel sessions.
Draft programme
Monday 23 November – Opening session and keynotes
The conference opens in the late afternoon with an opening session, followed by a cocktail. Six keynotes will explore the theme “Innovations in regional transdisciplinary research environments”:
- Responsible Research and Innovation-Labs: towards new forms of reflexivity in engineering and innovation practices
Dr. Dr. phil. René von Schomberg (RWTH Aachen University) - The Living Labs Incubator, a measure within the RWTH Excellence Strategy to connect, study and support existing and emerging Living Labs at and around RWTH Aachen University
Dr. Julia Backhaus (RWTH Aachen University) - Territorial transformative research approaches: lessons from ecological socioeconomics
Olivier Petit (Assistant Professor in economics, CLERSE, Artois University) - Social actor partnership for commons-based research: the “Milestones” Project for a Public Policy on the Commons
Magali Savès (Assistant Professor in economics, CLERSE, Lille University; Chaire Socio-Économie des Communs (SEC); Chaire 3DC, ULille/UCLouvain) - Understanding urban sustainability from Mode 2 Science and transdisciplinary education: how Master Thesis Ateliers of the Ghent Stadsacademie tackle wicked issues
Prof. dr. Thomas Block (Ghent University) - “Stadsacademie”: a platform for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research for urban transitions in Ghent
Dr. Charlotte Prové (Ghent University)
Tuesday 24 November – Parallel sessions
The second day is devoted to four parallel sessions, during which more than thirty contributions will be presented. They reflect the diversity of the disciplines and methods mobilised around sustainability, and cover themes such as agricultural and food system transitions, water governance, energy transition, climate litigation, sustainable fashion and consumption, urban resilience, planetary health, citizen science, and social and environmental justice.
Scope
Both interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches are increasingly required to address ecological and social transition challenges involving interdependent technical, economic or socio-cultural dimensions and a plurality of social actors at the level of society. These social actors include both actors from the NGOs, private enterprises, public administrations, non-university research institutions or engaged citizens. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches mobilize specific disciplinary knowledge from all sectors of the university (Sciences and Technology, Social sciences and Humanities, Health Sciences), but they also attempt to integrate different types of knowledge through processes of co-construction of knowledge between researchers from different disciplines and social actors involved in transition initiatives.
Such research often requires specific support in terms of methodological tools, types of partnerships with social actors or visibility in academic journals and international conferences.
In this context, since 2021, UCLouvain has annually organized a “Conference on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research for Sustainable Development” in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. This conference, initially centered around UCLouvain research teams and their extra-academic partners, quickly opened up to the partner universities of the European University Alliance Circle U. Since 2022, it has been co-organised with Circle U.
Scientific and organising committee
Organising committee
Prof. Marthe Nyssens (UCLouvain - Vice-rector “Transition et Society”)
Prof. Tom Dedeurwaerdere (UCLouvain - LPTransition)
Pierre Mersch (UCLouvain - Louvain4 Coordinator – Research Administration)
Scientific committee
Prof. Isabelle Aujoulat (UCLouvain –IRSS - Institut de Recherche Santé et Société)
Prof. Patricia Luis Alconero (UCLouvain – IMMC - Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering)
Prof. Mathieu Berger (UCLouvain – IACS - Institut d'analyse du changement dans l'histoire et les sociétés contemporaines)
Prof. Matteo Cacciari (Université Paris Cité) Prof. Vinicius De Carvalho (Kings College London)
Prof. Florence Degavre (UCLouvain – IACS - Institut d'analyse du changement dans l'histoire et les sociétés contemporaines)
Prof. Tom Dedeurwaerdere (UCLouvain -JURI - Institut pour la recherche interdisciplinaire en sciences juridiques)
Prof. Ulrike Felt (University of Vienna)
Prof. Julie Hermesse (UCLouvain – IACS - Institut d'analyse du changement dans l'histoire et les sociétés contemporaines)
Prof. Tommaso Luzzati (University of Pisa)
Prof. Patrick Meyfroidt (UCLouvain – ELI - Earth and Life Institute)
Prof. Ivan Mihajlovic (University of Belgrade)
Prof. Anaïs Perilleux (UCLouvain – LIDAM – Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and modeling in economics and statistics)
Prof. Daniela Perrotti (UCLouvain - LAB Louvain Research Institute for Landscape, Architecture and Built Environment SST/LOCI Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning)
Prof. Jean-Pierre Raskin (UCLouvain – ICTEAM - Institute for Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics)
Prof. Laurent Taskin (UCLouvain – LOURIM - Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations)
Prof. Sandy Tubeuf (UCLouvain –IRSS - Institut de Recherche Santé et Société)
Prof. Martin Wagener (UCLouvain - IACS - Institut d'analyse du changement dans l'histoire et les sociétés contemporaines)