Call for Papers for the 7th Student-led Climate and Energy Transition Nest Conference at the College of Europe in Natolin

Concept

From a window of opportunity for growth to a geoeconomic challenge, the European Green Deal has been confronted with various hurdles since its presentation in 2019. In 2025, it undergoes revisions to close EU’s competitiveness gap and secure continued political support. The conference aims at exploring the EU’s levers of action for an effective climate policy in the face of internal and external challenges.

Having regard for the interdisciplinary approach fostered at the College of Europe in Natolin, and seeking to build on this strength, the conference should, through its problem‑solving approach, contribute holistically to the contemporary debate within the EU. Together along students, researchers and policymakers, we aim at fostering a diversity of angles through which climate policy is to be successfully tackled. This synergy allows us to ask the rights questions, in order to elaborate the most appropriate, informed and realistic answers.

"The European Union Climate Policy in Crises: Continuously Absent Solutions to Persistent Challenges"

Theme & scope questions:

The Climate and Energy Transition Nest at the College of Europe in Natolin is committed to critical thinking and thought-provoking discussions on the European Union’s most pressing issues. Keeping in mind these engagements, the Climate and Energy Transition Nest has chosen the topic "The European Union Climate Policy in Crises: Continuously absent solutions to the persistent challenges” to encapsulate the theme of its annual conference.

The main questions that the conference seeks to explore include but are not limited to:

  • To what extent is the development of the EU climate policy interlinked with social security and cohesion as well as the electoral cycles in Europe?
  • How does the EU reconcile energy security and climate ambitions?
  • What instruments to wield and partnerships to build to pursue EU climate objectives and international competitiveness in the era of «confrontational geoeconomics»?
  • How to improve the governance of the EU climate and energy policies and achieve strategic autonomy?

Topics:

The European Union Climate Policy in Crises: Continuously absent solutions to the persistent challenges

This conference assumes that the challenges in pursuing climate action in the European Union arises from a wide range of factors. Among these are socio-political, security, and economic factors. Therefore, the conference strives to explore the challenges as well as policy gaps in pursuing climate action in the European Union today by inquiring into:

  1. Narrative constancy: In the wake of the EU’s multidomain objectives, a need for reflection on a consistent strategy regarding climate change requires discussion whether to position the EU as green leader and assert its sovereignty in a world where the Trump II administration rejects any domestic or multilateral climate policy and China monopolizes transformative technologies and resources.
  2. Social security and democratic cycles: a broad consensus on the EU climate action prevails among the political spectrum, but Europeans demand more pragmatic action. Therefore, the conference aims to discuss how to implement ambitious policies at the crossroads of climate action, social justice and sufficiency, and democratic acceptance.
  3. Supply chains and technology dependencies: In the face of resource scarcity, energy security, “global race to secure supply-chains", startling trade tensions, and technology competition, the conference will ponder upon an EU strategy for international energy, technology and raw materials cooperation, which paves the way for energy security.
  4. Competitiveness: In the pursuit of decarbonization and green investments, how should the EU assert its competitiveness and global innovation leadership, while acknowledging its limits? The conference will shed light on the improvement of the energy market, its governance to enhance the energy security of the Union.

Call for Applications

The organizers invite 200-to-300-word abstract submissions and CVs of potential participants by 11:59 PM CET on 31 January 2026 to energyconference.natolin@coleurope.eu. 

Contributions shall be submitted in English in the form of an abstract. Each abstract will be reviewed by a selection committee comprising academics and practitioners. The results of abstracts review will be returned to applicants in February 2026. The successful applicants will need to submit a 7000–9000-word paper by the end of April 2026 to be included in the conference proceedings. The conference program will be announced in May 2026.

Audience

The conference is intended primarily for members of academia, students, scientists, researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and members of civil society hailing from one or more fields mentioned above, who are seeking to contribute to interdisciplinary research on the climate policy of the European Union.

Date of the conference

The conference shall take place on June 16 2026, at the College of Europe in Natolin. 

Post-conference publication

The authors of selected papers presented at the conference may be invited by the College of Europe to submit final papers for publication in the post-conference journal subject to prior peer-review process. The peer-review process will be conducted by the College of Europe in academic year 2026/27 in cooperation with an editor.