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Conference Aims and Organisation

Aims

The WEA Online Conferences seek to increase the relevance, breadth, and depth of economic thought considering:

(a) the variety of theoretical perspectives;
(b) the range of human activities and issues which fall within the broad domain of economics; and
(c) the study of the world’s diverse economies.

The World Economics Association facilitates the organisation of conferences with a view to supporting the development of research and to enhance its social nature in an inclusive and pluralistic context. Specific aims include the following:

  • To bring together on-going research works from contributors all over the world
  • To facilitate discussion and interaction on the conference papers by members from a variety of countries, perspectives and cultures
  • To encourage members to become involved in research and in discussions around specific themes
  • To support researchers at initial stages of their projects to develop them further by drawing on the expertise of a large number of colleagues from all over the world

All conferences are web-based, in the spirit of the WEA mission, and they are hosted and supported by the WEA Conferences team. Each conference is led by a high-level expert in the specific field (the Conference Leaders), along with his or her chosen co-leaders.

The WEA Online Conferences have already a long tradition of high standard web-based events dating back to 2012. So far, our Conferences have been open access, with the content stored in the Conferences’ Archives. In response to the challenges of new approaches to the dissemination and discussion of research in economics – brought about by, for example, the new ability to track downloads and other uses of the online content – the WEA Online Conferences introduce some new solutions to their functioning (see the “Follow-up” section in the Conference Guidelines).

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of 1,500 words (including references) related to
research at various stages of development, including work-in-progress (see the Guidelines
for Submissions
).

At the end of each Discussion Forum (see below), the WEA Conferences Planning and
Organisation Committee can organise a Webinar session led by Conference Leaders, as well
as a book as part of the WEA Conference Book Series. (can we add the link to Publications.
we need to update the list? 

In order to support our services, the WEA Online Conferences may be charging a registration
fee for certificates in order for those who have submitted abstracts or even engaged as
discussion forum

We are growing fast, and we need your support!

Organisation

The WEA has established a Conference Planning and Organisation Committee whose role is to develop the conference programme and to support the Conference Leaders in the organisation of the specific conferences. The organisation of each conference will be the responsibility of the Conference Leader(s).

The Conference Planning and Organization Committee will have responsibility for:

  • Deciding which conference themes – and related leaders – to accept
  • Suggesting conference themes and seeking possible leaders
  • Supporting the leaders in developing the Conference Call
  • Supporting the leaders in the selection of papers and in the moderation of comments
  • Support the Conference Leader in seeking contributions of papers and discussions/comments

The Conference Leaders are responsible for:

  • Writing up the Conference Call with the support of the Chair of the Conference Organisation Committee
  • Preparing the publicity/announcement material to be posted on WEA
  • Soliciting papers
  • Reviewing submissions, deciding on acceptances and communicating with authors
  • Inviting possible discussants
  • Soliciting comments to paper
  • Moderating comments
  • Establishing sessions- if the scope of the conference warrants it – and appointing session Chairs
  • In consultation with authors, deciding on whether to develop edited publications from the conference papers

The Conferences Planning and Organization Committee will give as much support as possible in all these tasks

Members of the WEA Conferences Planning and Organization Committee

Maria Alejandra Madi, Chair
Małgorzata Dereniowska, member
Jake McMurchie, webmaster and technical support

Maria Alejandra Madi has a MA in Philosophy, PhD in Economics (UNICAMP, Brazil). She is Chair of the World Economics Association Conferences Programme and co-editor of the WEA Pedagogy Blog. Currently, she is also Assistant Editor of the International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education and VP of the Ordem dos Economistas do Brasil. In addition to a long-term professorship at UNICAMP, Brazil (1983- 2013), her career includes visiting professorships at the University of Manitoba (2008) and the University of Kassel (2010). More recently she co-edited some of the WEA books: The economics curriculum: toward a radical reformulation, Ideas toward a new international financial architecture? and Capital and Justice. She also co-edited some of the Green Economic Institute books: The Greening of Global Finance, besides Value, Valuation, Valuing and Green Investment, Green Economy & Green Finance. Her recent authored books include Global finance and Development; Small Business in Brazil: competitive global challenges and Pluralist Readings in economics: key concepts and policy tools for the 21st century. Her recent co-authored book is Introducing a new Economics: Progressive, Pluralist, Sustainable (Pluto, 2017)

Małgorzata Dereniowska holds a PhD in Philosophy, MA in Social Communication, and BSc in Ecology from Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland); is the member of the World Economics Association Conferences Planning and Organization Committee, co-editor of special issues for Ethics in Progress and International Journal of Sustainable Development, and co-author of Positional Analysis for Sustainable Development: Reconsidering Economics, Policy and Accounting with Judy Brown and Peter Söderbaum (Routledge 2017). She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education and Environment, Space, Place. She has written on a variety of topics in ethics, environmental thought, normative aspects of economics, and sustainable development.