We are pleased to share this Call for Papers for the Biennial conference of the Future for Religious Heritage Network. The conference takes place October 23-25, 2026 in Leuven, Belgium. Submission deadline is May 15:
Under the title “The time is now: How to future-proof religious heritage together”, the conference will address two themes: community-driven and holistic approaches to heritage management, and policy frameworks and tools at different levels.
The call is open to researchers in relevant fields, heritage practitioners and professionals with practical experience, civil society organisations, NGOs, and community groups engaged in the stewardship, reuse, or revitalisation of religious heritage sites, as well as early-career professionals and researchers.
Conference themes
This Call for Papers welcomes submissions addressing one of these two topics:
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- From community-based to holistic: Different approaches to future-proofing religious heritage. Under this theme, we welcome papers exploring heritage management practices that adopt an integrated understanding of the multiple dimensions of religious heritage sites (social, economic, cultural), contributing to more sustainable, resilient, and future-oriented stewardship of historic places of worship across Europe.
- Policies and tools: Good Practices Across Europe. Under this theme, we welcome papers analysing policy frameworks and instruments (legal, financial, and strategic) at regional, national, and European levels, with a focus on addressing challenges related to conservation and adaptive reuse, and advancing more coherent and impactful approaches to safeguarding religious heritage.
Submission guidelines
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- Abstracts must have a maximum of 200 words
- They may include up to two illustrations
- They must be in English
- They must be submitted as a PDF or Word file
- They must indicate some information on the proposer (institution or individual, academic or professional). This information is out of the 200 words from the abstract.
- Proposals must discuss finished or advanced projects, not preliminary findings, teaching exercises, student projects, etc.
- Abstracts must be submitted through this form