The Global Association of Master’s in Development Practice Programs (MDP), in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), will hold the Fifth Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) on 18 & 19 September, 2017, at Columbia University in New York City. Abstract submission and conference registration will take place on the conference website.

If you would like to present at the conference, you must submit an abstract as directed below. The conference is also open to observers (i.e. non-presenters). Simply register on the conference website to join.

The conference theme is The World in 2050: Looking Ahead for Sustainable Development. The aim of the conference is to bring together persons involved in research, policy, practice, and business. Participants will share practical solutions for achieving the SDGs at local and national levels. Abstracts should be directly relevant to one of the following Topics. There are a large number of topics on offer this year, several focusing on specific SDGs:

• Poverty Eradication, Social Protection, and Equality in the SDGs
• Agronomy for Sustainable Development
• Tools & Technology to Improve Health in Rural Areas
• Health Economics
• Health and Sustainable Development
• The Role of Universities in the Implementation of the SDGs
• Education for Sustainable Development: An Issue of Consciousness and Values
• Gender and Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Use of Water Resources
• Water, Energy, and Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change and the SDGs
• Towards Affordable and Clean Energy through Life Cycle Thinking
• Governance of Energy Transformations: Key to Sustainable Electric Systems
• Green Growth: How Can We All Profit from the Low Carbon Transition?
• Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Approaches to Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Development Challenges in Urban Areas (Climate, Water, Natural Resources, Transportation, etc.)
• Fostering Equity and Social Inclusion in Cities
• Sustainable Consumption and Production
• Building Resilience to Climate Change
• Extreme Events Affecting Life and Livelihood for Small Island States
• Sustainable Blue Growth
• Conserving Habitats and Biodiversity in Latin America & the Caribbean
• The Role of Natural Resources in Peace-Building

And several cross-cutting:

• Economics and Demography of Natural Disasters
• Enhancing the Resilience of Livelihoods and Production Systems in the Sahel, Africa
• The Arts as a Tool to Raise Awareness of the SDGs
• Indicators, Feedback Loops, and Impact Evaluation for the SDGs
• Sustainability Science from SDSN Northern Europe
• New Technologies and Solutions for Development Practice

Interested presenters should submit an abstract of at least 300 words but not exceeding 500 words, in English, via the conference website. Each abstract may only be submitted once and under one topic. Failure to answer questions on the submission form or the submission of the same abstract under multiple topics is likely to result in the abstract being declined.

The scientific committee will review abstracts and send all decision letters by 30 May 2017. Abstracts can be accepted as either poster or oral (i.e. PowerPoint) presentations. Presenters invited to give oral presentations must submit a full paper by 1 August 2017 in order to maintain their position in the program. Presenters failing to submit full papers will be moved to poster presentations. Presenters who do not register before the 1 September 2017 deadline may also forfeit their spot in the agenda.

Presenters who will be submitting papers will have the opportunity to have their work submitted to Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development for the Fall 2017 issue. Consilience is a student journal ran by undergraduate and graduate students at Columbia University. It is the only such student journal in the country and maintains a wide international readership. After all papers are submitted for ICSD, they will be passed along to Consilience for submission. More information on that process will be available as September approaches.

Abstract Timeline

1 March 2017              Call for Abstracts Open

1 May 2017                 Deadline for Submission of Abstracts

1 June 2017                Abstract Decision Letters Emailed

1 August 2017             Submission of Full Papers with Accepted Abstracts Are Due

1 September 2017      Registration Deadline for Presenters

Click here to download a PDF of the 2017 Call for Abstracts to access offline or share.

SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT