Call for Abstracts - Why is nothing happening? Inertia, Delay, and Obstruction in Sustainability Transitions

[Jakob Lundgren]

Dear colleagues,

Apologies for cross-posting.

We have extended the deadline for submission of abstracts to our workshop on inertia, delay and obstruction in sustainability transitions to be held in Saulkrasti, Latvia on July 24 — 31 2026. The new deadline for submissions is May 15, with notification about acceptance on May 18. See below and attached for the full call for abstracts.

The workshop is held as a part of the transdisciplinary summer session of the Nordic Summer University, a nomadic, non-hierarchical academic institution based in the Nordics and Baltics.

Submit abstracts (max 350 words) and a short bio (max 200 words) to the coordinators: jakob.l...@hh.se and anders...@hh.se.

Why is nothing happening? Inertia, delay and obstruction in sustainability transitions

Call for Papers – Nordic Summer University Summer session 2026, Saulkrasti, Latvia, 24 July – 31 July 2026

Why do our societies move so slowly towards more sustainable ways of living, when it is well known that we are in a planetary emergency?

On the one hand, the necessary transition can be conceptualized as a slow and gradual process of socio-technical systems, where deep-seated and inert institutions change very slowly (Köhler et al. 2019; Schot & Kanger 2018). With such a systemic focus, mechanisms of inertia may involve technological path dependencies, market mechanisms and governance arrangements, as well as social institutions (Fünfschilling & Truffer 2014). Simultaneously, a range of actors and movements are involved in processes of delay. Beyond simple resistance to change by dominant regimes, some actors and movements are outright contesting sustainability transitions through various forms of obstruction and delay (Oreskes & Conway, 2012). Discourses and cultures of delay may also be entangled with reactionary political projects (Hultman et al., 2019). Furthermore, industry actors and social movements alike may enroll science and expert knowledge to mobilize publics or counter publics to particular agendas of resistance or change (Hess 2016).

We invite scholars – and in particular PhD students and early career scholars – to share and discuss work addressing the broad issue of inertia, delay and obstruction in a cross-disciplinary setting where differences and tensions can be explored and learned from. We are particularly interested in contributions focusing on the role of knowledge and expertise, and the relationship between experts or counter-experts and publics or counter-publics. This may also include more reflexive contributions focusing on how we conceptualize inertia, delay or obstruction; depending on how exactly we theorize what transitions or transformations entail and how we foreground the role of power, technology, markets, policy, and ecological constraints.

We welcome contributions from scholars in fields such as STS and sociology of knowledge, social movement studies, transition studies, policy studies, philosophy, or cultural studies. We also welcome non-academics who are active in social movements or in public policymaking to reflect on their practices. We welcome both empirical studies of impediments to societal transitions and theoretical work on conceptualizing transition obstacles.

Nordic Summer University (NSU)

This event is a part of the NSU Summer Session 2026. NSU is a Nordic independent academic institution, which organizes winter and summer symposia that draw international participants across disciplines in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Focusing

on crossing sectoral and disciplinary boundaries, NSU provides opportunities for participants to be challenged out of their intellectual comfort zones in a non-hierarchical space that encourages slow thinking and reflective dialogue.

This session is arranged by the three-year NSU study circle Act, React, and Reflect: Meta-perspectives on Climate Change Knowledge. The study circle focuses on the challenges to established forms of knowledge production posed by the need for a response to climate change. While the this session will prioritize contributions focusing on Inertia, delay and obstruction, we also welcome submissions relating to the broader theme of meta-perspectives on climate change knowledge.

Format & location

The summer session will be structured around in-depth discussions of participants’ submitted papers. This NSU summer session will take place in Saulkrasti, Latvia during a full week (July 24 – 31). An NSU Summer session hosts multiple parallel study circles, and participants are welcome to join other study circle’s session, and a range of cultural and social activities. Our summer session will also include a crash course in climate finance.

Travels, accommodation, and children

Accommodation (full board) is organized by NSU and included in the conference participation fee. Information about accommodation options and pricing are available below.

For participants with children, NSU organizes a “childrens’ circle” with daytime activities for children between 3-13.

Accommodation options and fees

• Institutional price/any room type: 1250€ (participants with institutional funding)

• Institutional price (PhD)/any room type: 900€

• Single room: 950€

• Bed in double room: 700€

• Double room 1 adult 1 child: 1000€

• Family room 1 adult 2 children: 1200€

• Family room 2 adults 2 children: 1800€

• Family room 2 adults 1 child: 1500€

• Camping: 500€

ECTS credits for PhD students Upon request, PhD students who attend the summer session and present a paper will be granted, through NSU, a letter recommending 3 ECTS credits for active participation.

Submission and important dates

Proposals should be written in English and include:

• Title

• Author name(s), affiliation and contact email

• Abstract (max 350 words).

• Bio (max 200 words)

• Submit your proposal by email to the coordinators: jakob.l...@hh.se and anders...@hh.se

• Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2026

• Notifications of acceptance: Accepted proposals will be notified by May 18th.

• Registration deadline: June 1st. Registration is done through the NSU website.

• Full paper deadline: Participants should prepare to submit a full paper by July 13th.

Papers may be work in progress at any stage of completion.

Coordinators

Jakob Lundgren (PhD), School of Business, Innovation and sustainability, Halmstad University, Sweden. Email jakob.l...@hh.se

Anders Hylmö (PhD),School of Business, Innovation and sustainability, Halmstad University, Sweden. Email anders...@hh.se

References

Hess, David J. (2016) Undone Science: Social Movements, Mobilized Publics, and Industrial Transitions. MIT Press

Hultman, M., Björk, A., & Viinikka, T. (2019). The Far Right and Climate Change Denial: Denouncing environmental challenges via anti-establishment rhetoric, marketing of doubts, industrial/breadwinner masculinities enactments and ethno-nationalism. In The Far Right and the Environment. Routledge.

Fuenfschilling, Lea, and Bernhard Truffer (2014) ‘The Structuration of Socio-Technical Regimes—Conceptual Foundations from Institutional Theory’, Research Policy, 43/4: 772–91.

Köhler, Jonathan, et al. (2019) ‘An Agenda for Sustainability Transitions Research: State of the Art and Future Directions’, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 31: 1–32.

Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. M. (2012). Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming (Paperback. ed). Bloomsbury.

Schot, Johan, and Laur Kanger (2018) ‘Deep Transitions: Emergence, Acceleration, Stabilization and Directionality’, Research Policy, 47/6: 1045–59