Friday, September 3, 2021

Open Call for Ecoversities Publications 2021-2022

 Source: https://ecoversities.org/open-call-for-ecoversities-publications-2021-2022

Dear friends,  

For the past 6 years, the Ecoversities Alliance has unprecedentedly swept across the globe to connect individuals and communities as an emergent ecosystem in reclaiming knowledge systems and cultural imagination. We acknowledge the growing layers of complexity and diversity within the network, yet many insightful cosmovisions and inspiring real-life stories remain hidden.   

Thanks to the support of a gifted grant, The Ecoversities Publication group enthusiastically invites publications and multimedia contributions from all over the world that challenge the dominant monoculture educational paradigm and investigate into the pedagogies of ecological, cultural and social regeneration.   

We hope to provide a generous space for personal self-reflection, emancipation of a multiplicity of perspectives and practices, unlearning and re-imaging higher education. 

CONTEXT

The Ecoversities Publications grant serves to surface and disseminate knowledge about un/learning processes and different pedagogies within the Ecoversities Alliance. Submissions can be either in the form of texts, articles, research papers, books, films, audio-visual material and illustration or other multimedia work. 

These publications serve to amplify the awareness about the diversity of thoughts, experiments, experiences emerging from Ecoversities initiatives. The rich platform makes room for deeper reflections, co-learning and exchanging ideas amongst our current and prospective members. 

The publication can encourage and nurture our collective capacities to tell our own stories and ponder new questions.  

——

The central inquiry of this open call is about re-imagining higher education from multiple perspectives. Some of the questions one may want to address in their work include: 

  • What future of education do we want to co-create? 
  • What kind of radical educational practices and experiments are you involved in or inspired by right now?
  • What are emergent knowledge and skills that are necessary for planetary transformation towards a regenerative and holistic society? 
  • What are challenges and opportunities of reimagining higher education in the time of crisis? 

We encourage applicants to consider the following proposed series or fields of our ongoing research: 

  • Feminist/Queer/Indigenous pedagogies
  • Southern epistemic and Decolonial perspectives
  • Ecology/Sustainability/Climate
  • Alternative Economies, Localization and right livelihood in theory and practises
  • Spirituality, Healing, ancestral knowledge and rituality
  • The role of technology and science in education and its critique
  • Powerful unlearning experiences of individual or projects
  • Any other topics you feel beneficial for our collective learning process

CIRCULATION 

The commissioned pieces will be circulated among members of the Alliance either as ‘stand alone’ pieces or in conversation with other pieces in curated series. Pieces may be published on the Ecoversities Alliance website and in partner magazines, journals and independent media platforms. Authors are welcome and encouraged to circulate their pieces and republish them in other contexts, with a mention of the original commission from Ecoversities. 

LANGUAGE

We are able to provide editing for English and Spanish texts. If you prefer to publish in other languages, we are happy to check if in our network we can find peer-review and translation.

HONORARIUM

  • The funds allocated are to be considered a symbolic honorarium and a form of appreciation.
  • All funds will be disbursed after the delivery of the final draft
  • The honorarium amount is based on the length of the contribution, within an adjustable margin, depending on the total number of applications we receive.

ALLOCATION AMOUNTS

  • Research paper/ Pamphlet / Short booklet between 5000 -15,000 words – $600
  • Long essays between 3000-5000 words – $400
  • Short essays/ Reflective pieces between 1200-2500 words – $250
  • Blog entries/ Op-eds between 500-1000 words – $150
  • Films – Range $350 – $1000 depending on length
  • Curated Podcast Series $250 – $500 depending on length, # of episodes
  • Multimedia and other publications – Amount to be discussed

TIMELINE 

  • Submit application by September 30th, 2021
  • Approvals will be notified by October 30th, 2021
  • Submit First Draft no later than December 30th, 2021 (please submit before, if you can)
  • Editorial Feedback will be returned by January 30th, 2022
  • Submit Final Draft no later than March 15th, 2022 (please submit before, if you can).

Experience has taught us that care and time are needed in the editorial process, to enable publications to be relevant, strategic, punctual and effective. It usually requires an average of  2-3 rounds of revisions. 

The peer-review process is a fantastic opportunity for relationality and for deepening our dialogue. We encourage you to submit your draft before the suggested deadline to allow for a smooth process with our editors.

ETHOS 

Please only apply if you are confident to be able to complete and submit the work by all required deadlines (knowing that there will be another opportunity next year).  We acknowledge that everyone has a lot to take care of and tend to. This applies to all involved in the group managing and editing the proposals, and we want to avoid feeling or putting pressure at any ends of our collaboration. 

We invite our applicants to consider how in this process we can all embody the ‘R’ protocol as a way to work together: Respect, Responsibility, Reciprocity, Rigour, Relevance. 

The selected contributors will be asked to fill and submit this letter of agreement. 

If at any point during the cycle you become aware that due to emergent circumstances you will not be able to make the deadlines, please contact us as soon as possible so we can renegotiate with you.

HOW TO APPLY

Submit your proposal form where you will be asked to:

  • Propose your publication idea with information on the content, format, length, and language 
  • Send an excerpt of writing/filming/drawing, or link to existing material, if possible 
  • Provide a short bio  
  • Indicate existing or suggested channels for potential distribution and dissemination of your work

IMPORTANT LINKS 

With love and excitement,  

Alessandra, Vu, Sierra, Manish, Dina, Franco, and Mahi for the Ecoversities Publication Group