Abstract Submission
Submission portal is open from 22 September to 3 November 2025.
The presentation types are paper, poster, e-poster and symposium. Please see the following guidelines for each types of presentations. All proposals must be submitted using the online submission system Kongressi.
The theme of the conference is Childhood and Boundaries.
The aim of the conference is to highlight perspectives on childhood studies that challenge how the boundaries of childhood have traditionally been understood and open up new ways of looking at childhood and its meanings in today’s world. Boundaries of childhood can be approached as social, geographical, institutional, legal, cultural, methodological and ethical. We invite researchers from different fields to consider how boundaries, boundlessness and crossing boundaries or porosity manifest themselves in childhood and childhood studies. We will discuss the boundaries of childhood, adolescence and adulthood, as well as the social, legal and cultural boundaries faced by children. We welcome insights that challenge traditional ways of understanding childhood and open up new directions for exploring this stage of life.
We invite presentations to the conference that examine boundaries in childhood and childhood studies through, for example, the following questions:
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- What are the methodological and ethical boundaries of childhood studies?
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- What does it mean to grow and live on boundaries — physical, symbolic, or experienced?
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- What kind of opportunities do children have to define their own boundaries?
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- Where are the boundaries of childhood in different cultures and communities?
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- What are the boundaries between the researcher and the child participating in the research, and what do interpreting and crossing these boundaries mean for science?
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- What are the legal and ethical boundaries related to children’s access to information and decision-making in various social activities and services?
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- How are the boundaries of normal childhood, development and growth defined?
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- How do adults colonise childhood and how is childhood utilised, for example, in politics?
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- How, for example, can perspectives from sociology, history, cultural studies, psychology, education, law, arts, health sciences and other fields enrich childhood studies and open up new, cross-border opportunities for collaboration?
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- What are the methodological and ethical boundaries of childhood studies?
Paper sessions bring together up to three presentations on ongoing or completed research projects. Each session lasts 90 minutes in total and includes maximum of three papers. Every paper is allocated 30 minutes, consisting of a presentation of up to 20 minutes followed by approximately 10 minutes of discussion. The maximum length of an abstract proposal is 250 words. The word limit applies only to the abstract text and does not include the title or author information.
Poster sessions provide a chance to present a project in a visual format, using a poster. Presenters are expected to engage with participants during the poster session, ensuring opportunities for interaction between presenters and attendees.
Abstract proposals may be up to 250 words in length. This limit applies only to the abstract text and does not include the title or author information.
Posters should be prepared in A0 size, portrait orientation (84.1 cm wide × 118.9 cm high). Each presenter is responsible for bringing their own poster to the conference.
Posters can be delivered to the CARELIA hall either during registration or no later than Thursday before lunch (12:00–1:00 p.m.).
E-posters are included as part of the remote participation package, alongside keynotes and panel discussions. They provide remote participants with the opportunity to engage in an interactive e-poster exhibition that can be accessed online.
Each e-poster has a scheduled time slot during which participants can interact directly with the poster presenter via remote connection. In addition, discussion can continue throughout the conference in written form, allowing participants to ask questions and provide feedback at any time.
E-posters also gain visibility on-site, as they will be displayed on screens in the CARELIA hall in Joensuu, enabling both in-person and remote participants to view them.
Size of E-Poster: It is strongly recommended to use a size of 19.05 cm × 33.87 cm (width × height), with a simple and clear font (e.g., Arial, Arial Black, Calibri) and a regular text size of no less than 28 for the body of each section. The exact font size may be adjusted depending on the amount of content and the chosen layout (Maximum 4 Megabytes (4 MB)).
Detailed instructions regarding e-poster specifications and submission will be provided in the acceptance letter.
A symposium is an organised session built around a shared theme. Submitting a symposium requires preparing an overarching abstract for the whole symposium, describing the theme, approach, and the presentations included.
A full symposium lasts 90 minutes. The organiser of the symposium determines the structure of the session and the allocation of time between presentations and discussion.
The overarching abstract should be a maximum of 250 words and outline the theme, approach, and included presentations, as well as how the symposium will be carried out. Each individual abstract within the symposium should also be no more than 250 words and must clearly indicate that it is part of a particular symposium.