[Commlist] CFP: Language, Time and Sustainability

*The Sixth International Conference on Ecolinguistics (ICE-6)*

*Language, Time and Sustainability: Ecolinguistics For, With, After and 
Against the Future*

21 - 24 September 2022

Graz, Austria

https://ecolinguistics-2022.uni-graz.at/en/conference/ 
<https://ecolinguistics-2022.uni-graz.at/en/conference/>

50 years after Einar Haugen applied the heuristic ecology metaphor to 
language, ecolinguistics has become a field of linguistics which lies – 
together with other areas of the environmental sciences – at the centre 
of the most pressing and threatening issues of our times (poverty and 
inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, war and conflict, 
etc.).Broadly speaking and depending on varying conceptions of 
ecolinguistics, it investigates the role of language in the development 
and possible solution of ecological and environmental problems (Fill 
1998) and examines the influence of language in the context of 
life-sustaining relationships of humans with each other and with other 
forms of life (Stibbe 2015). Ecolinguistics should therefore be 
conceived as an important instrument in developing and achieving 
sustainable ways of living.

In 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development, 
which formulates 17 goals with the aim of ending poverty, protect the 
planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone on earth. These 
goals have grown out of the awareness that the future of the planet and 
the well-being of human beings is at stake if we continue with our 
present unsustainable lifestyles and are meant “to stimulate action in 
areas which are of critical importance for humanity and the planet” 
(www.un.org <http://www.un.org>). These goals are, however, extremely 
comprehensive as they include the three dimensions of sustainable 
development, i.e. economic, social, and environmental. Interestingly, 
though, the role of language has largely been neglected in the 
sustainability debate (Trampe 2021). The question of what role language 
has played in causing the current ecological crisis and what role it 
could or should play in making the world a more sustainable and livable 
place is basic to ecolinguistics and still needs to be explored with 
respect to sustainability (Stibbe 2010).

Temporalities play an essential role here because social, cultural, 
biological, geographical and economic dimensions of time require 
harmonization or at least coordination to achieve sustainability (Adam 
1998, 2004). This is where ecolinguistics comes into play as it deals 
with – among other issues – temporalities (Weinrich 2001) of 
environmental issues: How does the linguistic construction of pasts, 
presents and futures have an impact on what is conceived, performed and 
carried out as sustainable? Temporalities surface in tenses, time 
frames, expectations and projections into the future, yet also in 
addressing and involving actors, institutions and the biological world 
and many more (Harré et al. 1999). A variety of questions related to 
temporalities (Elias 1992) in connection with ecolinguistics and 
sustainability still need to be addressed, such as: How does the 
temporal dimension come into play in relation to various ecological and 
sustainability issues? How do different temporalities and concepts of 
time (e.g. natural, physical, cultural, individual, etc.) interact with 
each other in connection with various themes and topics but also 
questions of power? How could language work in favor of a better future 
– or futures – while also including present pasts and past presents 
(Koselleck 2005)? How are normative temporalities constructed in 
environmental management, policy or laws, and are these sustainable? 
What is the role of generations and their interrelations in achieving a 
sustainable future? What role do temporalities and other issues play in 
creating more harmonious relationships between humans, other forms of 
life and their natural environments?

/Potential topics, areas and themes to be addressed are: /

·Linguistic and biological diversity from a sustainable point of view

·Climate change and the language of the pasts, presents and future(s)

·Ethical and temporal dimensions of concepts of a natural en- or 
convironment

·Contested framings, temporalities and political agendas of 
environmental degradation

·Sustainability in the context of natural resources and environmental 
justice

·Temporalities and intergenerational tensions in the ecological debate

·The role of ecolinguistics for sustainable environmental education

·Features of an ecolinguistic perspective on sustainability communication

·Theoretical ecolinguistics and aspects of a sustainable theory of language

·Ecolinguistics as a transformation science

·Applied and sustaining ecolinguistics: Notes from fields and 
experiences all over the globe

*References:*

Adam, Barbara (1998). /Timescapes of Modernity: The Environment and 
Invisible Hazards/ London: Routledge.

Adam, Barbara (2004). /Time./ Cambridge: Polity Press.

Elias, Norbert (1992). /An Essay on Time/. Oxford: Blackwell.

Fill, Alwin (1998). “Ecolinguistics –State of the Art 1998.” /AAA – 
Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik/23.1: 3-16.

Harré, Rom, Jens Brockmeier, und Peter Mühlhäusler (1999). 
/Greenspeak://A Study of Environmental Discourse/. Thousand 
Oaks/London/New Dehli: Sage.

Koselleck, Reinhart (2005). /Futures Past: On the Semantics of 
Historical Time/. New York: Columbia University Press.

Stibbe, Arran (2010). /The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy: Skills 
for a Changing World/. Cambridge: Green Books.

Stibbe, Arran (2015). /Ecolinguistics. Language, ecology and the stories 
we live by/. London/ New York: Routledge.

Trampe, Wilhelm (2021). “Zur Relevanz von Sprache innerhalb der 
Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation.” Paper presented at the 46^th Austrian 
Conference of Linguists, 9-12 Dec. 2021.

United Nations Sustainability Goals. 
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ 
<https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/>

Uryu, Michiko, Sune V. Steffensen and Claire Kramsch (2014). The ecology 
of intercultural interaction: timescales, temporal ranges and identity 
dynamics. /Language Sciences/41: 41-59.

Weinrich, Harald (2001). /Tempus: Besprochene und erzählte Welt/. 
München: C.H. Beck.

*Conference organisation*

We are planning to hold the conference in person. However, if the 
Covid-19 situation should prevent international travelling and large 
meetings, the event will be moved online. There will be a *special 
student workshop which will be exclusively online* (even if the 
conference takes place on-site), allowing participation from all over 
the world. Of course, students are also welcome to attend the conference 
in person.

**

*Academic committee*

Hermine Penz (University of Graz)

Martin Döring (University of Hamburg)

Alwin Fill (University of Graz)

Georg Marko (University of Graz)

Wilhelm Trampe (University of Osnabrück)

*Confirmed Plenary Speakers:*

Alwin F. Fill (University of Graz, Austria)

Miao Xingwei (Beijing Normal University, China)

Peter Mühlhäusler (University of Adelaide, Australia)

2 more are still pending

**

*Local organizing committee:*

Hermine Penz (University of Graz)

Eva Katharina Bauer (University of Graz)

*International student workshop (online)*

The ICE-6 will host an international online workshop for students.  
Students currently working on any aspect of ecolinguistics, including, 
but not restricted to, those outlined above, are invited to submit an 
abstract.

**

*SUBMISSION GUIDELINES*

Abstracts (250 words max., including references, but excluding paper 
titles, authors’ names and affiliations) should be submitted to 
https://ecolinguistics-2022.uni-graz.at/en/abstract-submission/ 
<https://ecolinguistics-2022.uni-graz.at/en/abstract-submission/>by 31 
March 2022. The language of the conference is English.

Please specify whether the abstract submitted is for the regular 
conference or the student workshop.

**

*Calendar*

*Submission deadline:*31 March 2022, 18:00 CET

*Notification of**acceptance: *15 May 2022

*Registration:*starting**May 2022 (regular fee: € 200,-; reduced student 
fee will be available)


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