Conference Theme: “Intentional Community Resilience
in an Age of Uncertainty”

Dates: Wednesday July 9th - Friday July 11th, 2026

Medium: In person conference

Location: Lebensgarten Ecovillage, Steyerberg, Germany

Proposal Submission Deadline: November 1, 2025

 The International Communal Studies Association (ICSA) invites scholars, practitioners, and theorists to participate in our upcoming conference, “Intentional Community Resilience in an Age of Uncertainty” that will occur at Lebensgarten Ecovillage, Steyerberg, Germany, on July 10-12, 2026. 

Intentional communities – communes, co-housing, ecovillages, collectives, and other forms of collaborative living— are navigating an era of profound economic, social, political, and environmental turmoil. This conference will explore how these communities cultivate resilience in the face of pressing contemporary challenges and offer lessons to the broader society for effective social change. We seek in-person papers, panels, and workshops that examine how these communities foster climate resilience, advocate for democratic principles, mitigate the loneliness crisis, work toward peace, promote economic equity, preserve the communal spirit, and seek solutions to urgent global issues. Join us as we consider the crucial roles of intentional communities in shaping a better future.

Proposals:  While proposals that align with our 2026 theme of resilience are particularly encouraged, we welcome any and all proposals associated with contemporary and historical intentional communities, for the following conference formats: 

• Academic paper (a 20-minute scholarly paper).

• Panel (a group of two to four presenters in a 90-minute thematic panel, submitted as one proposal, typically with a scholarly focus).

• Workshop (a 60-minute session offering practical ideas for communities).

• Cultural/artistic event (a 60-minute cultural/artistic session led by the submitter – e.g., music, storytelling, poetry, etc.).

• Interactive event (a 60-minute session moderated by the submitter promoting audience participation – e.g., yoga, casual conversation, thematic discussion).

Please include all of the following in your proposal:

1. Title of presentation. 

2. Category: academic paper, panel, workshop, cultural/artistic event, or interactive event. 

3. Names, Professional or Community Affiliations (if any), and contact information of all presenters.

4. An abstract of no longer than 300 words, suitable for inclusion in the program book.

5. A 50-word maximum biography for each presenter. 

Individuals who submit proposals by November 1 will receive a notification of acceptance or rejection by December 1.

ICSA Conference Paper Publishing

ICSA will be publishing select conference papers as open-access publications through the Zenodo digital repository. A light peer-review process may be introduced, drawing on the expertise of ICSA scholars and invited reviewers from related networks. Selected papers will be chosen for publication among the accepted proposals based on quality and relevance of the research. Each published paper will be assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and will be discoverable and visible to a broad global audience, increasing the impact of your research. Publication is only available for paper proposals, not for workshops, cultural/artist events, or interactive events. If you are interested in having your paper considered for publication in the conference proceedings, please indicate your interest when submitting your proposal.