Programme

The European Conference on the Social Sciences (ECSS) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The European Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment (ECSEE). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either of these conferences permits attendance in both.

This page provides details of the conference schedule, presentations and other programming. For more information about presenters, please visit the Speakers page.


Conference Programme and Abstract Book

The online version of the Conference Programme is now available to view below via the Issuu viewing platform. Alternatively, download a PDF version. The Conference Programme can also be viewed on the Issuu website (requires a web browser). An Issuu app is available for Android users.

The Conference Programme contains access information, session information and a detailed day-to-day presentation schedule. All registered delegates who attend conference receive a printed copy of the Conference Programme at the Registration Desk on arrival. Only one copy of the Conference Programme is available per delegate, so please take good care of your copy.


Conference Outline

Tuesday, July 09, 2019Wednesday, July 10, 2019

09:00-9:30 Conference Registration & Morning Coffee | Renaissance Foyer

09:30-9:45 Announcements & Welcome Address | Renaissance Hall
Brian Aycock, IAFOR, Japan
Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan
Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners | Renaissance Hall

09:45-10:30 Keynote Presentation | Renaissance Hall
Ensuring Equality from the “Low Carbon Dividend”
Tom Houghton, Curtin University, Australia

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break | Renaissance Foyer

11:00-11:45 Keynote Presentation | Renaissance Hall
The End of Refugee Law?
David James Cantor, University of London, UK

11:45-12:00 IAFOR Documentary Photography Award | Renaissance Hall

12:00-12:15 Conference Photograph | Renaissance Hall

12:15-13:30 Lunch Break | 2F Restaurant

13:30-15:30 Parallel Session I

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break | Library Terrace

16:00-17:00 Poster Session | Library Terrace

17:00-18:00 Conference Welcome Reception | Library Terrace

19:15-21:30 Official Conference Dinner (optional extra)
Meet at the Hotel Lobby near the Bartholomew Square (back) entrance at 18:50

09:30-10:00 Conference Registration & Morning Coffee

10:00-12:00 Parallel Session I

12:00-13:15 Lunch Break

13:15-14:45 Parallel Session II

14:45-15:00 Coffee Break

15:00-16:30 Parallel Session III

16:30-16:45 Closing Session


Featured Presentations

  • Why Do We Protect Refugees?
    Why Do We Protect Refugees?
    Keynote Presentation: David James Cantor
  • Ensuring Equality from the “Low Carbon Dividend”
    Ensuring Equality from the “Low Carbon Dividend”
    Featured Presentation: Tom Houghton

Previous Programming

View details of programming for past ECSS conferences via the links below.

Why Do We Protect Refugees?
Keynote Presentation: David James Cantor

Why do we protect refugees? Is there something about refugees that singles them out for special attention? Does the refugee condition somehow make them deserving of the distinctive forms of assistance that they receive? For practitioners, policy-makers, academics, students and concerned citizens working directly with refugee issues, the ‘specialness’ of refugees is often taken for granted as self-evident. But this assumption is ever more questioned by others, including high-profile political figures and movements. Is it true? Are refugees special and, if so, why?

The question of why we protect refugees speaks directly to enquiries into wider currents of human ‘independence and interdependence’ that form the theme of this year’s ECSS conference. In his talk, Professor David James Cantor aims to step back from the discussion of policy and technical detail that often governs debate on refugee protection. Instead, connecting to these broader overarching themes, he offers a personal reflection on the more fundamental underlying question of whether there is a philosophical basis for asserting that there is indeed something ‘special’ about refugees that makes them distinctive in the present day and which justifies their protection globally.

Read presenter biographies on the Speakers page.

Ensuring Equality from the “Low Carbon Dividend”
Featured Presentation: Tom Houghton

Climate change has been described as the most pressing issue of the age and research shows that its effects will be felt unequally across the globe with the poor south more likely to suffer from rising sea levels and disruption of food production than the richer north. Mitigating actions, especially the replacement of fossil fuels with alternative forms of energy, could reduce this inequality and the continuing fall in the cost of renewables offers the prospect of cheaper energy for all, increasing energy access and reducing the incidence of energy poverty.

With reference to two recent studies into energy poverty in Western Australia, we show that the advantages described above are by no means guaranteed. While many are enjoying a “low carbon dividend” as they switch to more energy efficient appliances and install solar panels, the most vulnerable in society are often unable to access these benefits, owing to their income status or housing tenure, and may actually see their energy bills increasing as fossil fuel prices rise and measures to price carbon take effect. We explore the effects of decarbonisation and rising energy costs across different household types and discuss the implications for future policy.

Read presenter biographies on the Speakers page.