bullet">Rethinking Innovation for Climate Futures: Exploring how innovation can be understood beyond technology alone, including social, cultural, institutional, and political experimentation in response to climate change.

Resilient Communities, Just Transitions: Examining adaptation, mitigation, governance, and community-led responses that support fairer and more inclusive pathways through environmental transformation.

Designing Sustainable Environments: Considering the role of the built environment, infrastructure, mobility, energy systems, and urban-regional planning in creating low-carbon and climate-responsive futures.

Knowledge, Collaboration, and Action: Investigating how research, education, policy, and cross-sector collaboration can generate meaningful climate action and support long-term sustainability.

Alongside the special focus, the conference welcomes proposals that address climate risk, resilience, justice, adaptation, and transformation across diverse environmental and social contexts, and that contribute to interdisciplinary dialogue on sustainable futures at local, regional, and global scales.

Knowledge Experience

The conference will be held in a hybrid format, combining in-person sessions in Johannesburg with live online sessions and asynchronous presentations hosted on CGScholar. All registered delegates—whether attending in person or online—will have access to the full online program and its growing archive of presentations and discussions. Hosted in CGScholar’s Event (KX) environment, the conference is conceived as part of an ongoing knowledge experience rather than a one-off meeting.

Publication Opportunities

Accepted presenters are invited to develop their work for publication in The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses and related book imprint of the Climate Change: Impacts & Responses Research Network. Submissions follow peer-review processes aligned with the scholarly standards of the Network.

Key dates

Early proposal period: Now - 19 June 2026
Early registration period: Now - 19 July 2026

For full details and submission guidelines, visit the conference website.

Sincerely,

Dr. Malcolm Weaich, Conference Chair, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Dr. Sibongile Zwane, Conference Committee, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Dr. Pride Ndlovu, Conference Committee, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Dr. Prisca Simbanegavi, Conference Committee, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Lerato Mompati, Conference Committee, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Dr. Victoria Hurth, Research Network Chair, University of Cambridge, UK

Dr. Phillip Kalantzis-Cope, Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks, USA

📣 CfP: 19th International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses