Call for papers (download) | Dates: April 10-11, Oxford

Charities, NGOs, civil society groups and individuals are increasingly turning to campaigning to help achieve social change. The eCampaigning & Fundraising Forum (ECF) event has, for the last 12 years, brought together campaigning practitioners from around the world for an annual knowledge-sharing event.

The Social Change Knowledge Exchange is an initiative to include and integrate academic researchers into the ECF event and community and provide space for academic researchers to participate alongside the open space discussions of the forum. This is the evolution of a previous call-for-papers in 2012 focusing on digital campaigning. While this call is not digital-focused, highlighting the role of digital (or not) in social change would increase its relevance for participants.

There is a wealth of academic and industry research into social change and impact related topics, but this research rarely crosses over into practice discussions with campaigners. Our aim is to foster meaningful links between researchers and practitioners, with a view to bringing relevant, informative research to campaigners, and connecting academics researchers with live datasets and experience to draw upon.

Topics

We are inviting researchers with interests in the following areas to propose short papers (10-15 minutes) to present immediately followed by group discussion in a series of mixed researcher and practitioner knowledge exchange groups throughout the event. Researchers can submit multiple proposed short papers and each one accepted will be assigned a separate time and place in the agenda. Ideas that would be welcomed (based on input from the ECF community) include:

• Innovations in social change; what are new theories and approaches to social change?
• What has been effective at influencing governments, corporations, media and/or public behaviour?
• Studies on risk communications: how can communication be better when risk is chronic and not imminent?
• Architecture of choice: how the way options are presented influence choice?
• What leads to actual change in public behaviour? For example, there has been lots of campaign messages over the last couple of years about tax avoidance of multinationals, and yet many so-called progressives are still buying their christmas presents at Amazon. Is it that the messages are not sticking, or are they not going deep enough to overcome other motivating factors (cost, convenience, etc). Or are they being framed in the wrong way?
• An academic analysis or evidence for/against the Finding Frames/Common Cause
• What is the capacity and capability of different people to campaign? If we were to recruit campaigners, what is it that we can realistically expect them to do, and is there any pattern (ie there's a stereotype of retired people as active but not internet literate; are parents at home more or less likely to campaign). There's some good profiling of fundraisers but less so of campaigners. Are fundraisers more likely to politically on the right and campaigners on the left? What does a right-leaning campaigner look like?
• Audience demographics and propensity to act.
• Demographics of social change. e.g. Is campaigning inclusive? Which different demographics and engagement approaches should campaigners consider?
• The psychology aspect of what motivates people to take part in a campaign.
• Characteristics of campaigns that achieved their objectives
• Case studies and characteristics of failed campaigns and analysis of why they failed.
• Attracting and retaining support for a campaign/movement
• What evidence is there on the impact of community engagement on a campaign's effectiveness? What type of difference does it make? What makes a community more likely to support or promote a campaign? /li>

We are particularly keen to have contributions that provoke debate or point to future directions for practice in campaigning and/or social change. Specifically, we are keen to hear from researchers that can provide practical suggestions for campaigners in additional to any theoretical or methodological insights. Poster submissions are also welcome.

The Social Change Knowledge Exchange will take place during the open space sessions on the 10th and 11th of April 2014. Each researcher will convene a group on their topic and present their paper for 10-15 minutes, followed by an open group discussion. Participants self-select to join a presentation and discussion, so the title and description need to be compelling.

Researchers are encouraged to particulate in the eCampaigning stream of ECF including other open space sessions. Researchers without papers are also welcome to apply as participants of the eCampaigning stream (or any other stream) of the eCampaigning and Fundraising Forum.

The lowest participation fee for ECF 2014 is: £375, but researchers making a presentation in the Knowledge Exchange will be eligible for a reduced fee (£250) which covers both days including lunches. Accommodation and dinner are available on site at an additional cost.

Papers can be submitted for inclusion in a short peer and practitioner-reviewed proceedings to be produced after the event and potentially a video of the paper’s findings.

Research connections

Campaigners generate a wealth of data, from media coverage, e-mail metrics and campaign participation rates, to social network data and supporter profiles. Additional discussions beyond the original presentation and discussion of the paper can be formed to explore how practice data can be made available for research, and how practitioners can draw upon research data and findings more effectively.

Call for Papers

Abstracts should be submitted to email by the 31 January 2014. Extensions will be considered on request. Accepted presentations will be notified mid to late February.

Abstracts of between approximately 200 and 300 words should be sent to [email protected]

Programme Committee

• Janelle Ward, Assistant Professor, Department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam
• Duane Raymond, Founder and Director, FairSay and eCampaigning Forum
• Jess Day, eCampaigning writer and consultant