Fourth Baltic Conference on the Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences, BALTEHUMS IV: Worlds in Relation

 We are pleased to announce that the Fourth Baltic Conference on the Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences, BALTEHUMS IV: Worlds in Relation, will take place in Riga, Latvia, on 1-3 December 2026, hosted by the University of Latvia and the Baltic Studies Centre. The call for contributions is now open!

This year’s theme, Worlds in Relation, invites us to think with the Baltic Sea region as a landscape of transitions and intertwined histories and to explore how changing relations between humans, nonhumans, and environments are narrated, negotiated and tended across time. We welcome contributions from environmental humanities, social sciences, and related fields, including work on environmental histories and memories; seasonal rhythms and winter histories; water cultures and hydrosocial perspectives; climate change and biodiversity loss; human-animal relations and multispecies commons; everyday environmental practices and ecological knowledges; infrastructures and interventions in land and water; environmental philosophy and ethics of care; and artistic, literary, and sensory engagements with more‑than‑human worlds.

Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted via the online platform by 15 June 2026. The conference will be held on‑site in Riga, at the House of Science of the University of Latvia, and in keeping with BALTEHUMS tradition, there is no conference fee.  Further details, including submission links, can be found on the conference website: https://eztf.lu.lv/baltehums-iv/ 

We are currently finalising the keynote programme and other event details, including opportunities for more informal exchanges during the conference days and will share updates with you over the coming months. 

We would be very grateful if you could circulate this call through your networks and encourage colleagues, students and collaborators who work on the Baltic region (broadly understood) to submit proposals.

With warm greetings,

Anita Zariņa

Kati Lindström

on behalf of the BALTEHUMS IV organising committees