The abstract submission deadline, 18^th June 2025, for the 11^th World Sustainability Forum (WSF 11)  – Sustainable and Resilient Cities is approaching!

The World Sustainability Forum is an event organised and hosted by MDPI and the Open Access journal Sustainability and partially sponsored by the MDPI Sustainability Foundation. The event is important for bringing together leaders in sustainability research to discuss current sustainability issues and brainstorm potential solutions. In previous years, it’s been held sporadically; however, from 2025, it will be held annually.

The event will be held over 48 hours in the beautiful and historic setting of Barcelona at Espai Pujades from 2-3 October 2025. With the deadline for submissions approaching, we go over important details you need to know about this exciting conference.

Event details

The forum was first held in 2011 and since then has contributed to policy-relevant, change-oriented, and transdisciplinary research from and collaboration with science and technology, life sciences, and social sciences. WSF focuses on a specific theme at each event. In previous years, it has covered a wide range of fields closely related to sustainability and sustainable development, including:

• Environmental Sustainability
• Economic Sustainability
• Social Sustainability
• Renewable Energy Self-Sustainability
• Energy Return-on-Investment
• Governance and Sustainability
• Sustainability Assessment and Policies
• Remote Sensing for Sustainable Management of Land and Biodiversity

The previous WSF event in 2023 was held over 24 hours, in three different locations, as well as online. The forum began in Singapore, where the focus was on sustainability for social community impact, then moving to Basel, Switzerland, where the chairs led discussions on sustainability within industry, university and corporate settings. The final location was Toronto, Canada, where research focused on sustainability in the built environment.

WSF 11 aims to inspire urban resilience and environmental sustainability with a clear focus on forging partnerships and harnessing innovation to create novel solutions for today’s most urgent sustainability challenges. It provides a platform and opportunity for sustainability researchers to brainstorm solutions and collaborate towards shared goals for measurable progress in ecology, sustainability and environmental development. The focus for this year’s event is urban resilience, landscape and sustainability for social community impact.

WSF 11 speakers

During the event, we will hear from an impressive list of keynote and invited speakers who will address these topics.

The keynote speakers include;

• Dr. Cosimo Magazzino from the Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy.
• Dr. Weiqi Zhou from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• Dr. Adel Ben Youssef from the Université Côté d’Azur.
• Dr. Federica Farneti from the Department of Sociology and Economic Law, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
• Dr. Sara Gonzalez Garcia from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain
• Cor Schipper from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Dr. Jim Lynch the distinguished Professor of Life Sciences Emeritus, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
• Dr. Brian D. Fath from the Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, USA

If you would like to read more about the exciting speakers presenting at the event, please see here.

MDPI is excited to welcome all participants to Barcelona to explore sustainability and environmental development. This is an in-person event only, so it is not possible to participate online.

What is the purpose of WSF 11?

The conference is an opportunity for leading scientists, researchers and industry experts to  present research in sustainability-related fields and inspire collaboration between disciplines.

Why did MDPI launch the WSF series?

WSF provides a platform for researchers to present and engage with research-relevant stakeholders on questions, issues and challenges surrounding sustainability.

Event sessions

The conference will have six sessions, each with its own subject matter and guest speakers. The sessions are as follows:

• Emerging technologies implementation for sustainable and resilient cities and communities
• Sustainable reporting and communication in the private and public sector
• Climate change and socio-ecological systems
• Sustainable urban landscape
• Circular economy
• Renewable energy

Participating in WSF 11

We encourage the submission of abstracts for (WSF11)—The 11th World Sustainability Forum – Sustainable and Resilient Cities. Participating in this conference can help to disseminate important ideas within the wider community and allows for a bigger platform for visibility.

To submit an abstract, be sure to visit the Sciforum platform. You can also register online to participate in the event. Don’t forget, the early-bird registration deadline is 7^th August 2025. The regular registration deadline is 18^th September 2025.

Information regarding the venue, accommodation and other travel information can be found on the Sciforum platform, which can be accessed here.