Call for abstracts: Rethinking environmental learning in architecture
Posted on: 12 February, 2026
An international conference exploring the future of environmental learning and spatial design is set to take place in London from 3–5 September 2026.
‘Learnings/Unlearnings: Environmental Learning, Spatial Design, and Participatory Pedagogies Within Institutions and Beyond’ is being developed collaboratively by the London School of Architecture (The LSA), Sweden-based KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and University of the Arts London.
The organisers are inviting 300-word abstracts across a range of formats, including 15-minute papers or performances and 75-minute workshops.
‘Re-evaluating educational environments’
Building on a 2024 event held in Stockholm, the conference invites diverse voices from those working within education to explore the links between environmental learning, spatial practices and pedagogy.
The programme will be structured around three strands:
- Institutional Space – examining how architecture and material culture shape learning within formal settings.
- Edge Conditions – focusing on collaborative and participatory practices at the margins of institutions.
- Civic Space – highlighting grassroots and community-led approaches beyond institutional boundaries.
Nicola Antaki, module leader at The LSA and part of the organising committee, said:
“As educational environments continue to evolve and support increasingly diverse learning needs, the importance of re-evaluating their purpose, design and use remains essential if communities wish to foster pedagogical space that is both inclusive and equitable.”
Keynote speakers include Jos Boys of The DisOrdinary Architecture Project, Akil Scafe-Smith of Resolve Collective, and Pelin Tan of the University of Batman in Turkey – each bringing perspectives that cross pedagogy, activism and spatial practice.
Research questions include:
- How can environmental learning enable sites and spaces, both within and beyond the institution, to become more accessible, equitable and ethical?
- How can knowledge, shaped through collaborative art, design and spatial practices be used to enhance civic engagement, widen participation in higher education as well as built environment professions? What can be gained from these practices?
- What are the histories, theories, methods or practices that help us understand how educators have developed environmental learning? How have they facilitated student engagement, both within the institution and beyond it?
Submissions should include a title, image, strand, format and short biography, and must be sent to learningsunlearnings@gmail.com by Sunday 15 March 2026.
More information can be found here.
