The focus of the conference will be on ways in which the diverse concepts and practices of spirituality can combine to secure personal and collective wellbeing. Providing the time and space to pause, reflect and wonder on the sacred in our everyday lives, this is an opportunity to connect more deeply both with others and with ourselves.

At a time when individuals and communities around the world are searching for meaning, healing, and hope, this theme offers an especially timely opportunity for reflection and conversation. Through the lenses of spirituality, social justice, and care for the Earth, the conference will explore how pathways towards individual and collective wellbeing might be re-imagined as we seek together to envision and co-create a future where sacred wholeness is at the heart of our lives, our communities, and our relationship with the Earth.

This conference will provide a space in which to consider all of these issues and developments and how they relate to one another; the methodologies and methods best suited to their study; and the role that spirituality and spirituality studies might play in shaping our collective future through research, education and practice.

Contributions are invited which address one or more elements of the conference theme.

DEADLINE

The deadline for receipt of Abstracts is

 17:00 GMT on 30 November 2026

Notification of acceptance will be sent by 11 January 2027. If your submission is accepted you must register for the conference by 2 April 2027 or we will not be able to include your presentation in the conference programme.  

Abstracts are invited for

> Individual oral paper presentations

> 'Dialogue pairs' (two people jointly presenting a topic in dialogue with one another)

> Symposia (these consist of a minimum of three papers on a related theme)

> Experiential workshops (these should be participatory and may include a creative element).

Contributors may present accounts and findings from theoretical research, critical reflection, studies in professional settings or/and in contexts involving learning, teaching or facilitation in the field of spirituality, including its interface with other cognate areas. They may be drawn from any academic, professional or community setting in which the study and practice of spirituality plays a part. Doctoral students and new researchers in the field are warmly invited to participate and will have an opportunity to join the INSS Spirituality Scholars Network.

Format

Each accepted oral presentation and dialogue pair will be allocated a total of 25 minutes (20 minutes for presentation + 5 minutes for Q&A) in one of the parallel sessions taking place at different times during the conference.

Two or three consecutive presentations will be scheduled in each of the seminar rooms used for the parallel sessions. They will be matched as far as possible in terms of theme or approach.

Please note: There is a limit of two oral presentations per presenter but that does not necessarily preclude participation in an additional joint presentation.

A symposium will be allocated a total of 90 minutes. It will consist of a minimum of three papers on a related theme. There is no limit to the number of papers in a symposium, but it will be restricted by time.

Depending on numbers, experiential workshops may be allocated up to 60 minutes each. Workshop proposals must indicate clearly the nature and extent of the activities in which participants will be involved.

All presenters will have the opportunity to submit a paper based on their presentation for consideration for inclusion in the Journal for the Study of Spirituality. Please note that ALL submissions to the journal are subject to a process of peer review.

Preparing your Abstract for Submission

Your Abstract will serve two purposes:

 1. It will be reviewed anonymously by the conference committee to select presentations for inclusion in the conference.

 2. If your presentation is accepted, your Abstract will be published in the conference booklet.* This will help to inform conference participants' choices of which sessions to attend.

Please note: Abstracts will only be published after the conference fee has been paid.