Panel Proposals 2027

The theme for 2027 is:

Polycrisis, Wicked Problems and Grand Challenges: Public Administrations in Search of Safety and Security

 

Conference theme

Public administrations today operate in a complex and unsettled landscape where crises rarely unfold in isolation. Climate change, geopolitical tensions, demographic shifts, digital transformation, fiscal pressures, public health emergencies, and challenges to democratic governance increasingly interact in ways that amplify uncertainty and strain institutional capacity. These overlapping dynamics, often described as polycrises, challenge governments to act under ambiguity, coordinate across sectors and levels, and sustain public trust while addressing problems that are difficult to define and even harder to resolve.

The IRSPM 2027 conference invites scholars to explore how public administrations understand, govern, and respond to such complex conditions. Wicked problems and grand challenges stretch the boundaries of public management and call for perspectives that shed light on how institutions and organizations evolve, coordinate, and build capacity under conditions of uncertainty. Addressing these issues requires collaborative approaches, innovative analytical tools, and institutional arrangements capable of navigating complexity while safeguarding democratic values.

The IRSPM 2027 conference theme places particular emphasis on safety and security, broadly conceived. This includes crisis management, preparedness, risk governance, civil protection, cybersecurity, information security, and societal resilience. It also raises fundamental questions about democratic accountability, legitimacy, inclusion, public service delivery, and the capacity of public organizations to protect citizens without narrowing the space for openness, participation, and public debate. Digital transformation cuts across all these concerns. Emerging technologies, critical infrastructures, and artificial intelligence may enhance coordination and problem solving, yet they also introduce new vulnerabilities related to privacy, cybersecurity, algorithmic accountability, and unequal access.

We welcome theoretical, empirical, methodological, and practice‑oriented contributions that advance public management scholarship on these themes. Proposals may explore how public administrations build capacity to navigate uncertainty, coordinate across levels and sectors, govern risks, strengthen resilience, and uphold democratic values in conditions shaped by polycrises, wicked problems, and grand challenges. We also encourage submissions that examine how evolving technologies, data infrastructures, and organizational arrangements influence safety, security, and public trust. Proposals that involve the conference theme through a variety of perspectives or research traditions are also welcome. Contributions that deepen our understanding of how public administrations can foster safer, more resilient, and more democratic societies in an era of overlapping crises are particularly encouraged.

Submission Process

IRSPM follows a two-stage process for developing the conference program:

1. Call for Panel Proposals (current stage)
2. Call for Abstracts (to follow)

We look forward to receiving your panel proposals and to welcoming you to Trondheim in 2027.

Call for Panel Proposals

We invite panel proposals that engage with the 2027 Conference theme — Polycrisis, Wicked Problems and Grand Challenges: Public Administrations in Search of Safety and Security — or that address other significant issues in public management, governance, public administration, or policy theory and knowledge. Proposals that are collaborative in nature, ideally with two or three co-chairs, are especially encouraged.

The Scientific Committee will evaluate proposals based on their scholarly contribution to the IRSPM community and their alignment with the overall coherence and diversity of the Conference program.

This call is open to IRSPM Special Interest Groups (SIGs), as well as to any IRSPM member or affiliated colleague with compelling ideas for convening discussions that advance knowledge, share experiences, explore lessons learned, or introduce new methods and conceptual frameworks. Proposals may include both traditional and innovative panel formats.

While the final composition of panels will depend on the quality and focus of submitted abstracts, panel chairs are expected to give due consideration to gender and diversity balance — both in the selection of papers and in arrangements for chairing and moderating sessions.

In cases where panel proposals are similar or overlapping in scope, the Scientific Committee may request that proposers collaborate to form a consolidated panel, in the interest of program coherence.

Responsibilities of Panel Chairs

Once accepted, panel chairs will be responsible for:

• Circulating a call for abstracts via the Conference website and their professional networks;
• Soliciting and reviewing abstracts in accordance with Conference guidelines and timelines;
• Making timely decisions on the acceptance or rejection of submissions;
• Providing constructive feedback to authors;
• Collaborating with the Local Organizing Committee on the scheduling of sessions and, where appropriate, arranging discussants;
• Nominating one paper from their panel for the Best Paper Award;
• Ensuring effective chairing and moderation of all panel sessions during the Conference;
• Submitting a brief post-Conference evaluation.

We look forward to your proposals and to your contributions to the IRSPM 2027 program.

Submission of Panel Proposals

Panel proposals should be submitted through the online submission form:

 

               SUBMIT YOUR PANEL PROPOSAL HERE

 

The submission form will ask for the following information:

Title of Panel
Names and Affiliation(s) of the Chair(s) and a contact email	Name: Affiliation: Role: Email: Name: Affiliation: Role: Email:
Description of the panel topic	No more than 500 words Introduce proposed topic, foreshadowing relevant theoretical framework(s) and acceptable methods.
Relevance to the field of public management and/or conference theme	No more than 250 words What is the relevance of the panel to public management scholarship and/or the conference theme

 

When

• The proposal for a panel should be submitted via the online submission form by 20 July 2026
• Notification of accepted panels will be provided by 24 August 2026
• The call for paper abstracts will open on 14 September 2026