The XII AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Conference Strengthening the values of food in times and spaces of fragility invites scholars, practitioners, activists, and policymakers to explore how food values are mobilised, negotiated, and transformed across spaces and scales of fragility. Food has become a central arena for urban and territorial policies, involving a growing number of actors with heterogeneous interests and priorities. As such, food activates a dense and conflictual constellation of values, intertwined with the environmental, social, economic, and political fragilities that characterise many contemporary territories. Climate change, war, political instability, and widening inequalities challenge not only food systems, but also the institutional, spatial, and governance frameworks through which food is planned and managed.
To participate in the Conference, you can choose to submit an abstract for a regular track, or a proposal for a special session. Any special session must include at least 4 presentations.
Abstract for a regular track. An abstract of up to 250 words is required, as well as 5 key-words and 5 references (Harvard style). We suggest structuring the abstract as follows: hypothesis with reference to how food values are mobilised, negotiated, and transformed across spaces and scales of fragility; arguments that sustain the proposed thesis; case studies, if present; methodology; contribution of the paper to the Conference discussion.
Special session proposal. An abstract of up to 350 words is required, as well as 5 key-words and 5 references (Harvard style). We suggest structuring the general abstract as follows: a description of the theme and the extent to which it contributes to the Conference discussion; the indication of the participants (minimum 4) and a brief explanation of their contributions.
Conference Timeline
23 December 2025 > pre-call
13 February 2026 > open call (abstract for a regular track/special session proposal)
30 April 2026 > deadline for abstract for a regular track/special session proposal submission
29 May 2026 > notification of acceptance
21-24 October 2026 > Aesop 2026 Conference
