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The Conference on Global Coal Transitions – Call for Participation

Reductions in coal production and consumption occurring unevenly around the world are driving a wide variety of social, economic, political, and environmental impacts. There is an urgent need to coordinate academic and policy work focused on coal transitions and foster mutual understanding and sharing of insights from diverse transition experiences.

The Conference on Global Coal Transitions creates an opportunity to showcase the state of knowledge about:

  • The social and economic costs and benefits of the transition away from coal in regions across the world;
  • Comparison of coal transition trajectories in US and international contexts;
  • Innovative best practices for managing coal transition at scales from local to national, including strategies for economic development, revenue distribution, community planning, workforce retraining, and alternative forms of energy development;
  • Ongoing consequences for international relations and security;
  • The interaction of environmental change with quality of life and indicators of health and well-being;
  • Questions of equity and justice in energy development patterns and outcomes;
  • The efficacy of existing regulatory and governance regimes; and,
  • Social acceptance and risk perception of energy technologies

Through facilitated interactive workshop activities, invited experts and symposium participants will produce a roadmap for future cross-disciplinary research priorities. Participants are encouraged to submit manuscripts to a special issue on Global Coal Transitions in Environmental Research: Energy edited by Max D. Woodworth and Jeffrey B. Jacquet and planned in conjunction with the conference (full manuscript submission deadline: Sept. 15, 2024).

Conference Dates and Venue: Wednesday 17 July & Thursday 18 July, 2024, at the 4-H and Nationwide Conference Center on the Ohio State University Campus in Columbus, Ohio.

Conference Field Day: Friday, 19 July, 2024. Participants are invited to take part in a field trip to the Ohio River Valley to experience eastern Ohio’s coal region and meet with the Ohio Environmental Professionals Network Field. Field trip includes breakfast, lunch, and visits to Ohio coal transition sites and communities.

Registration: Registration portal will open March 2024.

Approaching Deadlines:
1 December, 2023: Deadline for Organized Session proposals
15 February, 2024: Deadline for Paper and Poster Presentation abstracts

More information can be found here.