Comments and questions raised in online COEVOLVERS symposium "The significance of semiotics in NBS co-creation"

Today I have featured as commentator in the online symposium "The significance of semiotics in NBS co-creation", which was organised by the ERC-funded research project "Coevolutionary approach to unlock the transformative potential of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient communities (COEVOLVERS)". I commented on presentations by Juha Hiedanpää, Beáta Pántya and Lona Päll, while Riin Magnus chaired the event. About 30 people attended.

See also:

To feature as commentator at COEVOLVERS Nature Based Solutions symposium August 27th

Paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» scheduled for presentation April 23rd at NoSP 2026 in Tampere

I have been notified by the conference organizers of the Annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP 2026), which is to be held at Tampere University, Finland, April 22–24 2026, that my paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» has been scheduled for oral presentation as part of the session «Uexküll’s Environments and Lifeworlds», which will take place in Linna K109 on Thursday April 23rd at 11:30–13:00.

See also the full program and the abstract book of the conference.

Online semiotics workshop for University of Oran1 – Algeria scheduled, then delayed

I was scheduled to present a paper titled «Semiotics, animals, environment – Umwelt theory in the tradition of the Tartu-Copenhagen school of biosemiotics» online for University of Oran1 – Algeria, on Thursday January 8th, but pending formal approval this workshop has now been indeterminately delayed.

Paper presented at "Phenomenology in research" seminar featuring Scott Churchill

Today I have presented my paper "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" in the research seminar "Phenomenology in research», held by and at the University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The research seminar featured three lectures by Scott Churchill, along with my presentation, a presentation on reflexivity by Olga Lehmann, and a concluding panel/discussion session. The seminar was opened by head of department Liv Sand. Some 20 people attended.

Scheduled to contribute at "Phenomenology in Research" research seminar with Scott Churchill Nov. 19th

On Wednesday November 19th I will take part in a research seminar on "Phenomenology in research", which is to be held at University of Stavanger featuring Scott Churchill along with Olga Lehmann and myself. You can register for the seminar (in-person) here.

Session chaired, ecosemiotics presentation given at NASS XIV in Tallinn

Today I chaired the session «Complexity in Ecological Thought» at the 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies along with the 15th Annual Lotman Days, “Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence“ (NASS XIV), which is currently being held at Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia (June 11–13, 2025). As part of the session, I presented my paper «Ecological semiotics, lifeworld perspectives, and sustainability». About 25-30 people attended.

"Ecological semiotics" accepted for presentation at 25th Gathering in biosemiotics, Rotterdam

I have just been informed that my paper "Ecological semiotics" has been accepted for oral presentation at The 25th Annual Gatherings in Biosemiotics, which is to be held 25-29th of August 2025 at Erasmus University Rotterdam, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Moscow presentation at Sharov 70 conference held digitally

Today I have I presented the paper ""Semiotic agency" as a unifying concept for the life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities”" at the one-day conference  “The active forces of development and semiotic agency (Developmental and semiotic agency)", which was held in Moscow and online, hosted by the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAN) . Some 20 people attended altogether physically and online. 

See also:

Moscow presentation on semiotic agency scheduled (April 10th); Zoom link

Moscow presentation on semiotic agency scheduled (April 10th); Zoom link

I have been scheduled to give the presentation "Semiotic agency" as a unifying concept for the life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities” at 11.10-11.40 CET as part of the one-day international Conference “The active forces of development and semiotic agency” (Developmental and semiotic agency), which will be held at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAN) in Moscow, Russia, and online on Wednesday April 10th. The conference is held in celebration of the 70th year birthday of Alexei Sharov, with whom I co-wrote the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism. The conference, which is held in Russian (mainly) and English, starts with a presentation of this book. 

The conference, which lasts from 10.00 to 14.10 CET (11.00 to 15.10 Moscow time, GMT +3) can be followed via this Zoom link.

(Skimpy) conference plans for 2024 due to UIS budget cuts

I will not have the opportunity to attend all the conferences I would like, and have attended the previous years, this year - at least not physically - due to a lack of funding. My employer University of Stavanger (UIS) will only cover one conference participation this year, whereas I have had ca. 3-5 funded per year the last few years - a quite drastic change for me. As a professor, and a researcher who has at some points in the last few years been the most active at my faculty (Faculty of social sciences) regarding international conference presentations, I find this development worrisome - I feel I do not get the funding and support I need to do my job as well as I can. Some of these events it seems I can attend digitally, but I know from experience that that is not the same thing as attending physically.

I applied for external funding for conference participation from Nansenfondet, but have now been notified I did not get any funding.

I will now have to tell the organizers of the world congress of semiotics, in Poland, that I will not be able to attend, despite being a member of the world congress´ scientific committee. Moreover, I will have to attend the Gathering in biosemiotics, in South Africa, and  the world congress in environmental history, in Finland, digitally in stead of physically.

"If looks could kill" paper presented in Cognitive Semiotics Seminar at Lund University

Yesterday I presented my paper «If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology» digitally at the Cognitive Semiotics Seminar, with some listening in a room in Lund, Sweden, and more online, and altogether some 18 people attending.

To present "If looks could kill" paper in Cognitive Semiotics seminar November 16th

On Thursday November 16th, at 3-5 p.m. I will give another presentation in Lund university´s Cognitive Semiotics Seminar: "If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology". Attendance is possible physically and digitally (I will take part remotely).

See abstract, description and Zoom link here. 

IAVS13 conference website updated

The conference website of the 13th conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS) has been updated, with the abstract book and presentation of the plenary speakers in English, Spanish and French. Some of the info in my bionote is outdated (namely, I am no longer Vice-dean of research, President of the Nordic assosiation for semiotic studies or Editor in chief of Biosemiotics).

A conference poster has been posted in social media.

Paper "Wasted GDP in the USA" presented at ISQOLS 2023 in Rotterdam/Schiedam

Today I have presented my paper "Wasted GDP in the USA" at the 21st annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2023), as part of session 6J, “Well-being Indicators”, chaired by Nuno Nunes. S

This is the fourth ISQOLS conference I am attending and presenting at, in a row (the 2020 and 2021 conferences were held digitally).

Paper scheduled for online presentation October 4th at "(Un)Common Worlds III – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes"

My paper “A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis” has been scheduled for online presentation on Wednesday, October 4th at 4.00-4.30 PM as part of the session “Worldlings, onto-epistemologies, and becomings”, chaired by Anna Vladimirova, at the conference "(Un)Common Worlds III – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes", which is to be held October 4-6th at University of Oulu (Finland) and online.

See: Conference programme

Programme for conference "Henrik Steffens – The Prophet of the Anthropocene?"

The programme for the Henrik Steffens 250 year anniversary conference "Henrik Steffens – The Prophet of the Anthropocene?" has been published online some time ago, both on the University of Stavanger webpage and the webpage of Stavanger municipality.

I am scheduled to speak Saturday September 9th at 2-2.30 p.m.

«Wasted GDP in the USA» scheduled for presentation at ISQOLS 2023 on August 23rd

I have been notified by the conference organizers that my paper «Wasted GDP in the USA» has been scheduled for presentation as part of Session 6J, “Well-being Indicators” at 2023 International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies 21st Annual Conference: "Toward a People First Economy: A World to Win" (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, August 21-26th). The session takes place Wednesday August 23rd at 9-10:30 am., with my paper scheduled for 9.44-10.06. 

See the preliminnary conference program - as well as authors overview and keywords overview.

Presentation scheduled for 23rd Gathering in Biosemiotics (Copenhagen)

My presentation «A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis» has been scheduled for presentation at the 2023 Gatherings in Biosemiotics 23, which is to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, at University of Copenhagen’s Social Sciences Faculty Library July 31st–August 4th, at Wednesday August 2nd at 16.30-17.00.

Talk on phenomenological triangulation given in Cognitive Semiotics research seminar

On Thursday June 1st I gave a talk on phenomenological triangulation in the Cognitive Semiotics research seminar at Lund University, Sweden (online, via Zoom). The title of the talk was "Phenomenological triangulation in the study of animals as subjects of phenomenology – perspectives from cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics" (see event info and abstract here). Some 13 people attended the event, which lasted almost 2 hours including a 1-hour talk.

«A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis» to be presented at 23rd Gathering in Biosemiotics, Copenhagen

I have been notified that my paper «A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis» has been accepted for oral presentation at the 23rd Gathering in Biosemiotics, which is to be held in Copenhagen July 31st – August 4th.