Teachers' Conference 2026 – teaching for democracy and sustainability

Explore how your teaching can support a more sustainable and democratic future. The 2026 Teachers’ Conference invites you to reflect, share and be inspired by practice-based insights in higher education pedagogy.

Stockholm University's seventh biennial Teachers' Conference will take place on Thursday, March 19 at 9-16.15, 2026 in Campus Albano. An opportunity to meet colleagues and share experiences on teaching, development and research in higher education pedagogy.

Programme

Pick and choose from fifty inspiring and enriching sessions. English contributions are presented in English alongside the Swedish ones in the programme.

The full conference programme with abstracts

Registration

Join the conversation!

The Teachers’ Conference is more than an event—it is a community. Our network brings together educators who are committed to making higher education more impactful, inclusive, and prepared for the future. Final date to register for attendance: 9 March 2026

Registration is now closed.

Who should attend?

The conference is aimed at teaching staff, pedagogical leaders and colleagues with teaching-related tasks at the university. We also have a number of places reserved for university teachers at KTH and KI (as part of the Stockholm Trio collaboration).

The Teachers' Conference is one of the university's educational initiatives for teachers and the development of teaching and learning at SU. The primary conference language is Swedish, with a dedicated content track offered in English. We encourage departments to reserve this day for the conference, allowing your colleagues the opportunity to attend. To facilitate participation, departments may consider combining the conference with pedagogical development work for teaching teams. Further information will be continuously published on the conference website.

Conference theme: Teaching for democracy and sustainability

In a time of rapid societal change — shaped by developments in artificial intelligence, environmental challenges, and shifting political landscapes — the question of how higher education can contribute to society’s efforts for democracy and sustainability is increasingly relevant. The 2026 conference on university teaching and learning invites teachers and educational leaders to reflect on how we design and deliver teaching in line with the Higher Education Act, which states that education should "...ensure current and future generations a sound and healthy environment, economic and social welfare, and justice."

Some of the key questions that may be explored include:

How can ecological, social, and economic sustainability be reflected in my subject—whether in content or form?
What does it mean to teach for students’ personal and intellectual development (bildung), rather than solely for academic achievement?
In what ways can generative AI support, challenge, or threaten my teaching and students’ learning?

The conference welcomes collegial exchange on these and other pressing issues.

Types of contributions

Have you - alone or together with colleagues - developed and tested new forms of teaching and examination, revised course and programme curricula or run collegial development projects? What do you do differently? What are your best practices? What experiences can you share with your colleagues? Your contribution is most welcome!

You can submit two different categories of contributions. Either scientifically characterised contributions so-called Scholarship of Teaching and Learning studies that report more or less systematic studies of university pedagogical practice. Or good examples of effective, creative and collaborative methods that have developed university pedagogical practice, a so-called Best Practice contribution. Types of submissions for the conference are oral presentations, round table discussions, workshops and poster presentations.

Format of presentations and abstract format

Descriptions – presentation forms and information about the abstract.

Swedish or English

The conference language is Swedish but there will be an English track to follow. You can therefore choose whether you want to write your abstract and conduct your presentation in English instead. The language you use in your abstract should also be used in the implementation. Please indicate clearly in your abstract if the implementation will be in English.

Each entry will be assessed in relation to the following criteria

Clarity and coherence of the contribution, including the title.
Contribution to the practice, development and evaluation of pedagogical development in education programmes at Stockholm University.
Value for the conference participants.
Adherence of the contribution to the proposed structure and timing of the different forms of presentation.
Active and productive engagement of the participants.
In addition to these criteria, the contributions will be assessed on the basis of how well they fulfil the guidelines for the chosen contribution category and presentation format.

Oral presentation

Each session will last 45 minutes including the presentations and discussion. Two presentations addressing a similar theme is followed by 15 minutes discussion and questions from the audience You may propose a single presentation (we will pair it up with a similar one) or suggest to be paired with a colleague submitting a presentation related to yours.

Abstract should contain the following: a clear statement of the aim, description of activities, outcomes of the project, experience/learning gained, recommendations to others who would undertake a similar project, reference to literature.

Round table discussion

A round table discussion lasts 45 minutes, of which the introduction or presentation of the subject may be a maximum of 15 minutes and no less than 25 minutes for further probing and discussion. Focus should be on experiences, learning and further ideas from undertaking a Best-practice or SoTL-project, and on activate the participants.

Abstract should contain the following: a clearly stated aim and elaborated background to the theme of the session, making it possible for the participants to familiarize themselves with the questions being addressed. Links to relevant literature is welcome. The abstract should end with the 2–4 questions that are planned to be addressed in the session.

Poster presentation

You produce your poster using the Stockholm University digital production tool, Tools: Visual identity on the University staff web: tools for visual identity. During the conference, you will have access to a poster screen for part of the day to present your contribution and answer questions.

Workshop

Workshops will be given a full 90 minute session. Explorations of themes related to research or practice while including a high level of creativity, innovative thinking, critic, active participation and planning of new and further activities/innovations.

Abstract should contain the following: a short and detailed description of aim, background/problem and theoretical foundation together with clarified intended learning outcomes, a detailed description planned activities, including calculated time for each step.

Important dates

Conference registration opens: 8 Sep

Deadline for submitting contributions: extended to 27 Nov

Notification of accepted contributions: 30 Dec

Program finalized: 6 Feb

Last day to register for participation: 9 Mar

Last updated: 2026-03-12

Source: Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching