Call for Papers

The 12th International Conference on Communities & Technologies (C&T 2025)
July 21-23, 2025
University of Siegen, Germany
https://2025.comtech.community/

Deadline for submission of papers: March 14, 2025

The 12th International Conference on Communities & Technologies (C&T 2025), to be held at the University of Siegen, Germany from July 21-23, 2025, cordially invites you to submit research papers, case studies, workshop proposals, posters, demos, panels/symposia, community events and doctoral research plans for potential presentation or facilitation at the conference!

The biennial International Conference on Communities & Technologies (C&T) is the premier international forum for stimulating debate and disseminating research on the complex connections between communities – in their multiple forms – and information and communication technologies. C&T is brought to you by EUSSET, the European Society for Socially Embedded Systems, who also brings you ECSCW.  We welcome researchers, designers, educators, industry, practitioners, and students from the many disciplines and perspectives bearing on the interaction between community and technology.

The theme of C&T 2025 is “Approaching the Future, Embracing the Past” Papers and proposals are accepted from a variety of relevant perspectives including technology, philosophy, social sciences, policy, design, business, activism, health-care, industry, art, the humanities, and so on.

TOPICS

Examples of relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Diverse communities and their relationships to technology; urban and rural, health and care, migrants, refugees, indigenous peoples, LGBTQ, activists and social movements, low-income communities, alt-right and hate groups; the developing world and non-Western societies; professional communities, communities of practice, research communities;
• Bottom-up movements, grassroots developments, civic activism, community engagement, participatory publics, communities and innovation; ethics, power and social justice issues; perspectives on the spread of technology and its impact on different societies; Learning from historical grassroots movements to democratize access to technology and knowledge.
• Classical Design Principles in Modern Technology: Applying traditional design methodologies to enhance user experience and accessibility in digital products. Resilient Systems and Adaptive Strategies: Learning from historical technological failures to build resilient and adaptable future systems.
• Crowdfunding, collective and civic intelligence, community learning, early warning systems, collective awareness, collaborative awareness platforms; social cognition; community emotion; happiness; historical memory;
• Community owned and operated technology, peer production and the commons, DIY and maker communities (makerspaces, fablabs, crafters); community agriculture; How indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to contemporary technological innovations.
• Civic problem-solving, communities in relation to urgent and complex challenges to the health of the planet and the people that inhabit it; collaborative systems; partnering with education; government, civil society, and movements; resilience and rebuilding in the face of technological or societal disruption;
• Support of community processes: sensemaking, online deliberation; issue, argumentation and discussion mapping; community ideation and idea management systems; collective decision-making; group memory; participatory sensory networks;
• Community development and growth in domains such as education, healthcare, urban planning, industry 4.0 or environmental sustainability; cross-disciplinary insights into community-centric approaches; explorations of underrepresented or unconventional perspectives on community growth; novel qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method approaches to studying community development and dynamics; participatory and co-design methodologies involving community members in the research process.
• The future of communities and technology; simulations, utopian or dystopian design; durable relationships and long-range goals; and
• Development and support of the Communities & Technologies community; social and technological critique; effectiveness and other measures.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

Papers (full and short):
March 14, 2025 (23:59 AoE), paper submissions due

Workshops:
March 29, 2025 (23:59 AoE), workshop proposals due

Case studies:
March 29, 2025 (23:59 AoE), case studies due

Doctoral colloquium:
April 25, 2025 (23:59 AoE), Doctoral Colloquium applications due

Posters/demos:
May 5, 2025 (23:59 AoE), posters/demos due

Community Events:
May 5, 2025 (23:59 AoE), posters/demos due

EUSSET Grant for student and community organizations to attend C&T 2025:
May 30, 2025 (23:59 AoE), applications due

Student Volunteers:
April 25, 2025, applications due

Early-Bird Registration:
June 15, 2025, early-bird registration ends

For further details, see https://2025.comtech.community/

GENERAL CHAIRS

Konstantin Aal, University of Siegen
David Unbehaun, Clausthal University of Technology