Call for papers

Societies today are confronted by many sociopolitical and ecological challenges ranging from climate change to intertwined forms of oppression and sociocultural upheaval. In such a time of polycrisis, museums are faced with new dilemmas that call them to re-think their societal role and agency, both in the past and in the present.  Therefore, tools for emotional sustainability are needed. Emotional sustainability is a dimension of social sustainability, and it refers to the capacity to maintain and support emotional well-being within social environments. It involves the ability to recognize and manage emotions to foster healthier, more resilient individuals and communities.

Museums of varied kinds can play a central role in emotional sustainability both on an individual, professional, and societal level. By engaging in public debates, museums and different associated actors, such as audiences, artists, and varied communities, can build collective spaces and affective affordances for emotional sustainability. Through their exhibitions and other activities museums seek to act as counter forces against affective polarization, thereby potentially supporting more resilient societies. On the other hand, historically they have and still can increase polarization and produce societal ill-being, especially for minorities.

Emotional sustainability is also connected to issues within the museum institutions, and to the museum professionals’ capabilities for navigating the affective demands of their work and for employing emotional labour to cope with challenging situations. Museum professionals may experience ethical and affective strains when dealing with their institutions contested histories and emotional legacies, when caring for the collections is inadequate due to limited resources, or when their personal values conflict with the museum's policies or realities. 

We now invite abstracts for seminar presentations, posters and workshops that engage with different dimensions of emotional sustainability and museums. Papers can address either the societal level of emotional sustainability or focus on museum’s internal dynamics. Topics can include but are not limited to: 

• The role of different types of museums as builders/sustainers/challengers of emotional sustainability
• Museum's abilities to evoke empathy, manage climate-anxiety, and cultivate a positive mindset (radical hope)
• Affective (de)polarization in and through the museum
• Museum professionals' emotional labour and ability to cope with hazardous or otherwise difficult work tasks
• Art and emotional sustainability

Abstracts should be of maximum 300 words. They should also include a list of five keywords and a short bio of the author(s). All proposals must be written in English. Please submit your proposal by 30 April 2026 via .