From Crises to Just Sustainable Futures: Reimagining the ‘Ecotopia’ in Socio-Ecological Systems
We invite submissions for paper presentations to the working group (WG) “From Crisis to Just Sustainable Futures: Reimagining the ‘Ecotopia’ in Socio-Ecological Systems”. The session will be held onsite at the Development Days Conference, 27-28 February 2026, at Päärakennus (Main Building), University of Helsinki. Abstracts (max. 300 words) should be sent to akonwi.ayonghe@helsinki.fi with the deadline 30 November 2025.
Session description
Ernest Callenbach’s ‘ecotopia’ envisions an ecologically-ideal future with systemic principles that minimize negative impacts on the environment, such as improved relationships, careful planning, and cooperation. As global ecological crises worsen—including climate disruption, biodiversity loss, inequality, and conflict, the future of socio-ecological systems (SES) is increasingly jeopardized. Human rights and social justice actions that shape these systems are also strained, as communities strive to sustain livelihoods amid growing uncertainties. This WG adopts the concept of ‘ecotopia’ to explore how development research can foster just, resilient, and sustainable futures. Viewing the SES as interdependent systems linking people and nature, we ask what sort of ‘ecotopia’ is needed to sustain the well-being of SESs in the Global North and South. We invite contributions that adopt a ‘deep sustainability’ perspective, using ‘systems thinking’ to envision transformative futures that foster justice in SESs.
Submissions
Submissions may present ongoing research, theory, case studies, or opinions on topics (not limited to) collaborative natural resource governance, gender and equity, land use and sustainability pathways, indigenous/locally led conservation, agency and ecological care, environmental education, resilient forestry and policy perspectives. The session insights will be used to develop a blog piece for the Just Ecological Political Economy (JEPE): The HELSUS Global South Encounters blog. The session is part of the HELSUS Postdoctoral study, “Future ‘Ecotopias’ of Sustainability in Nordic Forests Systems”. For further inquiry, contact the session conveners.
WG Coordinators: Ayonghe Nebasifu (HELSUS Postdoctoral Research Fellow, akonwi.ayonghe@helsinki.fi), Karen Heikkilä (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, karen.heikkila@helsinki.fi), and Alizée Ville (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, alizee.ville@helsinki.fi), International Forest Policy team, Department of Forest Science, University of Helsinki.