Call for papers

Deadline to submit a proposal: February 10, 2026.

The symposium Penser les jardins : savoirs, pratiques et enjeux contemporains, organized as part of ACFAS, aims to bring together researchers from various backgrounds to examine the scientific, social, cultural, and political significance of gardens. The goal is to move beyond approaches that view gardens solely or primarily as instruments of public health and instead highlight their symbolic, relational, aesthetic, and epistemic dimensions.

The symposium welcomes original presentations from a variety of disciplines (social sciences, humanities, arts and culture, forestry, geography, planning, health sciences, etc.) to explore what gardens are or can be, what they make possible or impossible, and this in a diversity of contexts. Researchers, students, as well as users and/or citizen partners are welcome to submit a proposal for a presentation on the following themes:

• What is a garden? Definitions, boundaries, hybrid forms (e.g., garden/forest, garden/wasteland).
• Gardens and their relationship to living things. Ecologies, multi-species relationships, interdependencies, and shifts away from the human perspective.
• Gardens, care and kindness. Ethics of care, the plurality of practices of care, repair, hospitality.
• Gardens, health and well-being. Care, therapeutic and clinical practices. Prevention, recovery, rehabilitation, self-management. Uses and limitations.
• Gardens, knowledge and transmission. Knowledge (situated, indigenous, professional). Controversies and limits. Sensitive modalities and (im)possible methodologies. Intergenerationality.
• Justice, access and exclusion. Equity, inclusion, accessibility. Social boundaries and negotiation of presence and absence.
• Governance and techniques. Rules, control, infrastructures. Distinctions between « low-tech » and « high-tech » technologies and everyday innovations. Normative and ideological context.
• Multiple crises, possible futures, and speculative practices. Science fiction, imaginary fables. Transitions, tensions, and contradictions.

Proposals relating to other natural environments (forests, parks, wastelands, wetlands, urban farms, etc.) are welcome, provided they facilitate dialogue with the topic of gardens (by comparison, connection, continuity, hybridization, etc.).

Submission guidelines:

• A title (180 characters maximum, including spaces)
• A summary (1 500 characters maximum, including spaces)
• The thematic area covered by the proposal
• The list of authors of the paper, with the following details:
  • First and last name, as well as preferred pronoun(s)
  • Status, professional affiliation (university or other organization)
  • Email address

Selection criteria:

• Originality of the proposal
• Clarity of the proposal, coherence and legibility
• Clarity of the methodology, as well as the focus, context and relevance
• Alignment with the call for proposals
• Cohesion with other proposals received, to facilitate exchanges

Submissions should be sent at the latest by February 10, 2026, via the following email address: emilie.dionne.3@ulaval.ca

For any questions, please contact Émilie Dionne at: emilie.dionne.3@ulaval.ca. For more information, click here.