International Conference
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
6 to 8 April 2027, in person
Keynotes: Prof. Eefje Cuppen (Rathenau Institute) and Prof. Benjamin Sovacool (Boston University)
Climate change, the energy transition, forever chemicals and nuclear waste will occupy societies for decades or centuries. At the same time, acute crises seem to demand short-term responses, and democratic institutions are under pressure. This conference brings together researchers from philosophy, political science, STS, sociology, technology assessment and related fields to examine the prospects and limits of long-term governance.
We particularly welcome philosophical contributions. Long-term governance raises questions about what we owe to future generations, how such obligations can be justified, and how they relate to democratic decision-making in the present. We invite papers that clarify, defend, or contest normative approaches to long-term governance, examine their institutional implications, or explore how different approaches relate to one another.
Topic areas
- Configuring long-term governance: structures, procedures and institutions that strengthen the long-term nature of policy
- The multi-level challenge: implementing long-term governance in multi-level settings
- Time and temporality: different temporalities in long-term governance and the resulting conflicts
- The normative foundations: rights, sufficiency, or longtermism?
- Monitoring and evaluation: assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of governance strategies
- Open topic: promising and failed experiences across policy fields
Submission: Abstracts of max. 300 words via the submission form on the conference website. Please indicate a first and second choice of topic area. The conference language is English. Presentations will be grouped into parallel sessions of three to four papers per 90 minutes.
Important dates
- Abstract deadline: 25 October 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 1 December 2026
- Early bird registration deadline: 31 December 2026
Registration fees (gross): EUR 258.68 regular early bird, EUR 287.42 regular standard; EUR 143.71 for students and PhD candidates early bird, EUR 172.45 standard.
Conference website: https://www.itas.kit.edu/veranstaltungen_2026_ltgconference.php
Organizing team at ITAS-KIT: Sophie Kuppler and Dirk Scheer (responsible), Eike Düvel, Andreea Koch, Michael Schmidt, Laura Müller, Patrick Stuhm
