2026 European PPE Network Conference

Welcome!

We are delighted to host the 2026 European PPE Network Conference from July 20th-22nd, 2026, with support from the PPE Network in Europe.

Key information at a glance:

• Submission deadline: January 15th, 2026
• Notification: March 1st, 2026
• Registration deadline: July 1st, 2026 (registration page t.b.a.)
• Keynote Speakers: Julia Nefsky (University of Toronto), Karolina Milewicz (Bayreuth), Maya Eden (University of Zurich).
• Programme t.b.a.

Page Menu:

• Submissions
• Organisers
• Registration
• Schedule
• Keynotes
• Logistics
• Things to do in Bayreuth

Call for Papers

Conference Theme: Governing the Future

How should we think about, plan for, and govern the future? This year's conference will focus on both conceptual and practical challenges of governing across time: how institutions balance short- and long-term goals, how individuals and collectives imagine or discount the future, and how ethical, political and economic reasoning can guide sustainable decision-making in a rapidly changing world.

Papers in all areas of PPE will be considered, but we especially encourage papers that: Integrate philosophical, political, and economic approaches to temporal or future-oriented questions that:

• Bridge normative theory and policy practice, particularly in areas like climate policy, fiscal planning, or technology governance.
• Examine concepts of time, foresight, and intergenerational responsibility across disciplines.
• Address emerging global challenges such as geopolitical tensions, threats to democracy, AI, demographic change or the climate crisis.

We anticipate discussion of questions such as:

• How should we weigh the interests of future generations?
• What are the ethical foundations of discounting and sustainability?
• What political and economic institutions can promote foresight and long-term governance?
• What are the epistemic and methodological challenges of forecasting in economics and politics?
• How should we think of democratic ideals or liberal values in the face of challenges like climate change, geopolitical tensions, or populism?
• How does technological change reshape political economy and how can governance frameworks adapt to transformative innovation?
• How do our visions of the future—utopian, dystopian, or otherwise—influence political and economic decision-making?

Submission Procedure:

Abstracts (max 500 words, in .doc or .pdf format) must be submitted in anonymized form, by email, to ppe-network-conference-2026@uni-bayreuth.de. The email itself must contain details on all contributors, the title of the abstract, their affiliation and the contact information for the corresponding author. Please also indicate in the email which of the author(s), if any, are graduate students. Participants can only send one contribution as first authors, but they can appear as second authors of other contributions. Any request for information should be sent to ppe-network-conference-2026@uni-bayreuth.de.

Important Dates:

• Submission: January 15th, 2026.
• Notification: March 1st, 2026.
• Registration: July 1st, 2026.

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Organisers

Programme Committee:

Johanna Thoma (Co-Chair, Bayreuth); Olivier Roy (Co-Chair, Bayreuth); Constanze Binder (Rotterdam); Katherine Furman (Liverpool); Francesco Guala (Milan); Lisa Herzog (Groningen); Roland Luttens (VU Amsterdam); Patricia Rich (Bayreuth); Annette Zimmermann (Bayreuth)

Local Organising Committee:

Johanna Thoma (Co-Chair); Olivier Roy (Co-Chair)

Contact information:

Programme Committee: ppe-network-conference-2026@uni-bayreuth.de
Local Organisers: Claudia.Ficht@uni-bayreuth.de

Registration

Attendence is free, but registration is necessary. Please write us at ppe-network-conference-2026@uni-bayreuth.de to get access to the registration page.

Schedule

This is the first draft of the schedule. 

Keynotes

Maya Eden
Maya Eden is professor of economics at the University of Zurich, and associate professor of economics at Brandeis University (on leave). She is  also an affiliate of the UBS Center and the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Her primary research areas are normative economics and macroeconomics.

Karolina Milewicz
Karolina Milewicz holds the Chair of Global Political Economy at the University of Bayreuth. Her research focuses on the role of international institutions and law in promoting international cooperation from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.

Julia Nefsky
Julia Nefsky is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. She work primarily in ethics, moral philosophy, social and political philosophy, philosophy of action, nad practical reason. She received her PhD in Philosophy from UC Berkeley in 2012. 

Logistics

Location:

The conference will take place on the campus of the University of Bayreuth. Rooms are still t.b.a. You can find a campus map here: https://www.uni-bayreuth.de/en/campus-map The campus is about a 30 minute walk from the centre of Bayreuth. There are also very regular buses from the centre and from the train station to campus (get off at stops “Mensa” or “Zentrale Universitätsverwaltung”). As well as all common route mapping apps, you can use this website to find connections: https://www.stadtwerke-bayreuth.de/bus-parken/fahrplanauskunft. It is easiest to pay for your ticket in cash on the bus.

Accommodation:

The following hotels offer special rates for conference participants. These rates are valid for a limited number of rooms - first come, first served! - for booking from July 20 to July 22, 2026. These can be booked directly (by phone or email) at the respective hotels using the code "PPE Network Conference Bayreuth." These rates are available until June 22nd, 2026. 

Hotel Ibis Styles Bayreuth:
Single room: $99.00 per room/per night
Double room: €119.00 per room/per night
Rates include breakfast.

Hotel Rheingold Bayreuth:
Single room: $81.00 per room/per night
Rate includes breakfast.

Getting to Bayreuth:

There are three main ways to get to Bayreuth.

• By train: Bayreuth does not have a long-distance train connection, but there are regular regional trains from Nuremberg and Bamberg to Bayreuth. The regional train from Nuremberg to Bayreuth takes about an hour. From Bamberg it takes about one hour and thirty minutes. When boarding the train from either Nuremberg or Bamberg, it is important to make sure you are sitting in the right section. This is because many of the trains are coupled with only one section going to Bayreuth. So make sure that the section of the train you are in is labelled ‘Bayreuth’ or ask someone for help. The train station in Bayreuth is called 'Bayreuth Hauptbahnhof'. You can find tickets and further information here on the Deutsche Bahn website.
• By car: If you are travelling by car, it is very easy to get to Bayreuth. The university campus is located near the A9 motorway exit Bayreuth-Süd. There are plenty of free parking spaces on campus. The hotels listed below all have their own car parks, although there is a small charge for parking.
• By plane: For those travelling by plane, if there is a suitable connection, Nuremberg airport is a very convenient option. From there, take the underground to Nuremberg main station and change to the regional train to Bayreuth. The total journey time is about 1 hour 30 minutes. Alternative, and much bigger airports are Munich or Frankfurt. From Munich airport, take the suburban train to Munich main station, then a long-distance train to Nuremberg main station and finally the regional train to Bayreuth. The total journey time from Munich airport is approximately 3 hours. From Frankfurt airport, take the long-distance train to Nuremberg main station and then change to the regional train to Bayreuth. The total journey time from Frankfurt airport is approximately 3 hours 30 minutes. You can find tickets and further information here on the Deutsche Bahn website. If you fly with Lufthansa to Frankfurt or Munich, the “Rail&Fly” add-on is a good option: for a small extra fee, it allows you to take any train and other public transport in Germany on the day of arrival and departure.

Accommodation:

Here is a list of five reasonably priced and conveniently located hotels. All five hotels are close to a bakery, where you can get a cheap breakfast as an alternative to the hotel breakfast. 

• The B&B hotel is centrally located and a good choice for those who want to explore the city centre. Bookings can be made by phone on +49 921 1513777-0 or by e-mail to bayreuth@hotelbb.com. 
• The FirstBoarding hotel is just a 5-10 minute walk from campus. Breakfast is not provided by the hotel, but each room has a kitchenette and there is a supermarket across the street. Bookings can be made by phone on +49 921 21076900 or by e-mail to info(at)firstboarding.de.
• The newly refurbished ibis styles and ibis budget hotels are located next to the train station, which is convenient for those travelling by train. Bookings can be made by phone on +49 921 800700 or by e-mail to HB3F5@accor.com.
• The Liebesbier Urban Art hotel is located in the city centre and is suitable for those with a slightly higher budget for accommodation. It is on the premises of the historic Maisel brewery. Bookings can be made by phone on +49 921 46008020 or per e-mail to sleep@liebesbier.de.

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Things to do in Bayreuth

Bayreuth is an idyllic town in Franconia (northern Bavaria), famous for its excellent beer and food, nestled between the Fichtelgebirge mountains and Franconian Switzerland. The surrounding countryside is characterised by large forests and mountains, ideal for hiking and climbing. The city itself also has a lot to offer. Bayreuth is world famous for the annual Bayreuth Festival, where Richard Wagner's operas are performed. However, the city has a rich history and cultural landscape that extends far beyond Wagner. Bayreuth is also home to the University of Bayreuth, which rightly holds the title of 'Germany's greenest campus’.

Sights:

It is easy to find your way around the city centre of Bayreuth and there are a number of sights within a short distance. The city tour offered on the first day of the conference will give you a good overview. The fairly large Hofgarten is a good place to take a stroll and at the western end is the New Palace. Also worth a visit is the Markgravial Opera House (far more spectacular from the inside than the outside), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The associated Opera Museum has just reopened and is well worth a visit. Other museums worth visiting include the Iwalewahaus, which displays the university’s impressive collection of contemporary African art, and the Kunstmuseum, which has changing exhibitions. For cultural events, have a look at the calendar of the cultural centre Neuneinhalb. It hosts concerts, poetry slams, film screenings and more. If you want to get an overview of the city and the surrounding area, consider climbing the towers of the city church. This is possible on Saturdays at noon as part of a guided tour. Booking is not necessary. If you are looking for peace and quiet outside the city, check out the Wilhelminenaue in the east. The local recreation area, which is laid out as a park, provides a refuge for both humans and animals - the sunsets from here are particularly beautiful. A bit further east is the Hermitage. This historic park dates back to 1715 and includes trick fountains and a palace. Last but not least, the Botanical Garden right on campus is highly recommended. The garden has a large outdoor area and greenhouses, which are organised according to the different regions of the world. You can find more information about the city's sights here.

Cafés, Restaurants and Pubs:

This part of Franconia is characterised by some of the highest density of breweries in Europe, with a variety of styles of beer that is unusual for Germany. The conference dinner at Liebesbier, on the historic premises of the Maisel brewery, as well as the brewery tour offered prior to the dinner will give you a taste of this — but we highly recommend trying out more of the local beers throughout your stay. The city centre of Bayreuth is quite compact and even if you don't know your way around, finding a café, restaurant or pub shouldn't be a problem. However, here are a few recommendations: For those who want to try Franconian food, be sure to visit the traditional Restaurant Eule. Richard Wagner used to be a regular guest here. Other places serving Franconian food include Oskar, Schinner Braustuben and Wolffenzacher. The Restaurant Kraftraum offers coffee and cake as well as meals. Here, all the dishes are vegan or vegetarian, and are less tied to tradition. If you fancy a pizza, try Hansel's Holzofen. For Indian food, try Namaste, and for Thai food, try Hua Hin. If you are looking for the Franconian beer garden experience, you should try the Lamperie, Manns Bräu or Herzogkeller. Or stick around on Saturday to join us on a short hike to countryside Biergarten Auf der Theta for lunch. Bayreuth’s pubs are largely characterised by a student atmosphere. Check out the Heimathafen, which also serves coffee and cake during the day, the Rosa Rosa, the Alte Schusterei, or Bottles, which is where the Young Scholars Event will take place..