Inaugural Flourishing Life Symposium 2026

Flourishing and its denial: relational approaches to human and planetary becoming

9–10 November 2026 | Bloemfontein | In person

What makes a life go well, and what diminishes it? This question belongs to no single discipline. It is asked in philosophy and theology, in health and psychology, in economics and ecology, in law, education, and the arts. The Flourishing Life Research Theme at the UFS takes this question as its own, with a distinctive proposition: flourishing is relational. No life flourishes alone.

The inaugural symposium will bring together scholars from across UFS faculties, partners in the wider research community, and members of the Flourishing Life Research Network. It will explore flourishing and its denial at every scale – from the intimate to the planetary – through conceptually ambitious and empirically grounded contributions.

Key dates

• Call for papers opens: 21 July 2026

• Abstract submission deadline: 31 August 2026

• Notification of acceptance: 15 September 2026

• Symposium: 9–10 November 2026

Streams of conversation

Submissions are welcome across seven thematic streams:

• Conceptualising flourishing across traditions.
• Health, well-being, and the flourishing life.
• Economies of flourishing.
• Justice, dignity, and the conditions of flourishing.
• Human and planetary becoming.
• Flourishing in a global and digital age.
• Knowing flourishing.

What you can submit

• Individual papers (15‑minute presentations)
• Panel proposals (three to four linked papers)
• Emerging‑scholar and postgraduate papers (with mentorship)
• Practitioner and community contributions
• Creative and visual works (art, photography, film, spoken word, performance)
• Posters (student and emerging researcher work in progress)

Submission guidelines

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, together with the paper title, four to six keywords, your chosen stream, and a short biographical note of up to 100 words stating your affiliation. Postgraduate and early-career applicants should indicate clearly if they wish to be considered for the emerging-scholar stream. Panel proposals should add a panel rationale of up to 400 words.

Those offering creative works or posters should submit, in place of an abstract, a short proposal of up to 200 words describing the work and its relation to the theme, together with an image or sample – where relevant – and any space or technical requirements.

Who may participate

The call is open to scholars across all faculties of the UFS, postgraduate students and emerging researchers, partners of the Flourishing Life Research Network, and the wider scholarly and practitioner community whose work speaks to the conditions of flourishing and their denial.

After the symposium

Selected papers will be considered for an edited volume, making this event the seedbed for the theme’s first research clusters and the start of a sustained scholarly conversation.

The symposium is convened by Prof Narnia Bohler-Muller – Professor and Research Theme Leader: Flourishing Life, University of the Free State – under the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies (Prof Vasu Reddy).