We are happy to invite you to our network’s conference to be held at the Tampere University, Finland, on 8–9 October 2026. 

The theme of the conference is Creating New Spaces – for collaboration, research, and public engagement. You can find more information from the conference website and the call for papers below: 

The conference invites us to think together about how we can create and sustain new spaces for collaboration, research ideas, theoretical development and public engagement. These spaces are grounded in the everyday lives, needs, and knowledge of LGBTQI+ people themselves.

At a time when LGBTQI+ rights are under threat across the world and hard-won legal protections are being rolled back, the work is more urgent than ever. This urgency is felt acutely by trans and non-binary people, whose access to healthcare, legal recognition, and social belonging is increasingly contested and often in ways that affect people’s everyday life in multiple ways. Anti-gender movements have not only targeted LGBTQI+ communities from outside, but have actively worked to sow division within them, making solidarity and a commitment to the well-being of all community members a research and political necessity. Research communities can themselves be spaces of hope where knowledge is broadened collectively and connections are built and cultivated across borders and disciplines, but only when that knowledge is rooted in the lived realities and well-being of the communities we work with and within.

This conference is an opportunity for both established and early-career researchers to share ideas, present their work, forge new partnerships, and collectively reflect on Nordic LGBTQI+ health and welfare research. We particularly welcome contributions that push beyond deficit frameworks toward research that takes seriously what thriving, care, and hope look like for gender and sexual minorities. 

The keynote speakers at the conference include Professor Annie Pullen Sansfaçon, Université de Montréal.

The suggested papers may deal with - but are not limited to - topics such as: 

• Minority stress, resilience, and protective factors among LGBTQI+ people
• Affirmative practice in psychiatry, psychology or social work
• Trans and non-binary health and welfare
• Intersex research
• Minority joy, trans joy and hope-providing care
• Access to and experiences of gender-affirming healthcare
• Older LGBTQI+ adults and care
• HIV/AIDS: histories, ongoing impact, and community responses
• Sexual and reproductive health and rights 
• Methodological and theoretical questions in LGBTQI+ health and welfare research
• Research ethics and community accountability
• Migration, mobility and demography

You can find the preliminary program on the conference website. Please submit your abstract (max 250 words) by 31 May 2026 by using the submission form. You will be notified of acceptance by 15 June 2026.

The conference is free for all participants. We look forward to meeting you in Tampere!

Warm regards,

The Organizing Group and The Nordic Network for LGBTQ+ research on Health and Living Conditions 

The event is organized in collaboration with the Nordic Network for Trans Studies.