Our call for abstracts is now closed, thank you for your overwhelming interest! Registration will open soon, check back here for updates in late November.
DATES: June 16-20, 2025
VENUES: University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown and St. Peter’s campuses
CO-HOSTS: University of Prince Edward Island, University of Aruba, Sophia University (Tokyo)
Keynote Speaker Announcement
Therese Ferguson, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the School of Education (SOE) at The University of the West Indies (Mona Campus, Jamaica).
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Registration
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Travel & Accommodations
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Speakers
Dr. Therese Ferguson
Therese Ferguson, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the School of Education (SOE) at The University of the West Indies (Mona Campus, Jamaica).
Dr. Ferguson serves as the Programme Leader for Change from Within, a school-based initiative in Jamaica that addresses violence and indiscipline through school culture change, which is implemented by the SOE. She is also the Coordinator of the ESD Working Group within the SOE, and serves as Programme Coordinator for the Master of Education Degree Programme in Education for Sustainable Development, Global Citizenship and Peace within the SOE. Her research interests lie in ESD, peace education, climate change education, qualitative research, and early-career researcher development.
Her publications include two co-authored books: Education for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean: Pedagogy, Processes and Practices and SDG4 – Quality Education: Inclusivity, Equity and Lifelong Learning for All. She also served as a Guest Editor for a Special Issue of Environmental Education Research on Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in the English-speaking Caribbean. Additionally, her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Environmental Education Research, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Geography Compass, Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, The Qualitative Report, Caribbean Journal of Education, Social and Economic Studies, and the Journal of Education and Development in the Caribbean. Dr. Ferguson currently serves as a member of the Advisory Group for the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP).
Schedule & Book of Abstracts
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Call for Abstracts (Closed)
Our call for abstracts is now closed!
Download the call for abstracts here, or read below
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:
We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and communities across disciplines to explore island imaginaries and interdisciplinarities in the context of climate change. Recognizing that climate change is profoundly cultural and that island imaginaries wield discursive power and material effects, we seek insights from different perspectives such as arts, humanities, social sciences, and climate (and other) sciences.
Islands have long evoked imaginative responses that informed the ways they have been conceptualized, researched, represented, colonized, and deployed by Western-scientific-economic interests. With climate change, new island imaginaries are being produced, for example, via data, computer models, visualizations, and dystopic predictions, all of which have material dynamics that forge realities. Islanders have been resisting and critically responding to past and current island imaginaries through research, art, stories, and Indigenous epistemologies. Diverse, decolonizing, and interdisciplinary collaborations that challenge and reconsider how imaginaries and knowledge(s) about islands are produced, valued, disseminated, utilized, and resisted are vital in creating transformative possibilities. Don’t miss the opportunity to present your work at this vibrant and collaborative forum, bringing together island scholars from around the world and across various disciplines. Submit an abstract related to one or more of the sub-themes:
- Food sovereignty in an era of climate change
- Ocean health and climate change (ecosystem functionality, terrestrial, ocean, ecotone)
- Incorporating diverse knowledges in climate change adaptation strategies
- The importance of health and well-being
- Material culture: lived experiences of the everyday
- Climate and social justice
- Gender and intergenerational framing
- Environmental law and governance
- Migration and urbanization
- Nature-based solutions
- Climate change communications
- Climate change education
This conference aims to share stories. We therefore encourage academic papers, panels, roundtables, posters, and non-traditional presentations (e.g., storytelling, interactive sessions, creative) from all disciplines. In addition to scholarly papers, we also invite submissions for:
- Artist in residence / Poet in residence
- Creative pieces that engage with the themes
- Workshops on sharing creative practices (e.g., poetry, art, photography, storytelling)
- Indigenous practices and workshops
- Experiential learning activities
We welcome submissions that look at the dynamics of climate change, island imaginaries and the imperative of interdisciplinary research on a case-by-case, island-by-island, or regional basis. All disciplinary perspectives are welcomed, but they must engage with notions of the lived experience of islandness. We are also keen to engage with presentations that adopt a more comparative framework or methodology in their critical analysis.
Abstracts of around 150-200 words each are invited on any of the above themes. Although this is primarily an in-person event, we will accommodate those who choose not to travel with a parallel stream made available to participants online. Please indicate in the Abstract Submission Form if you prefer this mode of delivery. Registration fees will be adjusted accordingly.
Partners & Sponsors
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Volunteer
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Contact Us
For more information, please email: turningthetide2025@gmail.com
Contacts:
Ms. Pooja Kumar, Coordinator, Institute of Island Studies/UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability at the University of Prince Edward Island
Tristan Atkins, Conference Assistant, Institute of Island Studies.
