Scientific Board of first IACS Symposium joined

I have agreed to join the Scientific Board of the 2027 Symposium of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS), with the theme "Minds Without Bodies? Bridging Perception, Semiosis, and Intelligence: Humans, Animals, Machines". The symposium, the first of its kind, is to be held at Babeș-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on 9–11 September 2027.

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

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

On August 27th I will take part as a commentator in the online symposium "The significance of semiotics in NBS co-creation", which is held by researchers involved in the ERC-funded research project "Coevolutionary approach to unlock the transformative potential of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient communities (COEVOLVERS)". 

The symposium, which takes place 1-3 p.m. CET, features the following three presentations, with comments/questions from me:

• Juha Hiedanpää – Co-creating multispecies significance: Some lessons for spatial planning and decision-making 
• Beáta Pántya – Art-based Multisensory Methods for Healing Garden Co-Design 
• Lona Päll – How to Discover Interspecies Relations with Semiotic Methods?

To register, see the event webpage.

To be commentator at concluding symposium for Lund University´s Centre for cognitive semiotics

I´ve agreed to be one of the commentators at the concluding symposium for Centre for cognitive semiotics, which will take place December 17th at Lund University, Sweden. The symposium language will be Swedish (cf. Seminars).

17/12: All-day symposium, summarizing the program "Centre for Cognitive Semiotics" (2009-2014) Pufendorf institute (Note: In Swedish)

Nordic Semiotic Paradigms – NASS 25 years: Where do Cognitive, Bio- and Existential Semiotics Meet?

A symposium at the 27th International Summer School for Semiotic and Structural Studies (Imatra, Finland – June 8-12, 2012)

Within the days June 8-12, 2012, the symposium “Nordic Semiotic Paradigms – NASS 25 years: Where do Cognitive, Bio- and Existential Semiotics Meet?” will be arranged in Imatra, Finland, as part of the 27th International Summer School for Semiotic and Structural Studies. NASS’ president Luis Emilio Bruni will chair the anniversary symposium, which will take place at Hotel Valtionhotelli.

The Imatra ISI symposium marks the 25 year anniversary of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS). The venue of the anniversary symposium, Imatra, is appropriate given that it was at a meeting in this Finnish town that NASS was founded in the summer of 1987. The first Executive Committee of NASS counted representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The current board, elected at the Seventh Conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies in Lund in May 2011, involves Ordinary Representatives and Supplementary Representatives from these five countries and further Estonia.

The theme of the NASS anniversary symposium draws on the work of several notable Nordic scholars in the fields of cognitive semiotics, biosemiotics and existential semiotics. These are all promising, novel, dynamic subfields in contemporary semiotics. Neither of them are but regionalparadigms – rather, Nordic researchers have been instrumental in establishing and consolidating them at an international level, with a sphere of influence which by far exceeds the Nordic region. How has Nordic semiotics come to be so influential? And, as the title of the symposium asks: Where do these fields meet? A number of scholars are involved in both cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics, and there is clearly a thematic overlap in-between the two. And what of existential semiotics – on what points does it overlap with biosemiotics, and with cognitive semiotics? Furthermore, how can these various Nordic paradigms acquire informative inspiration from each other, and find common ground to cultivate further? Despite differing inclinations and academic taste, such a project should not be unattainable, given that cognitive semiotics, biosemiotics and existential semiotics are all concerned with the semiotics of life.

The symposium/research seminar will consist of papers presented by both invited lecturers and participants. The aim of the summer school is to offer the participants both up-to-date research and an opportunity to discuss their projects with leading specialists in various fields. The duration of presentations will be 30 minutes, and the working languages of the seminars are English, French and German. Active participants – i.e., participants presenting papers, must register by April 15th. Passive participants can register until April 30th. Active participants must send a short Curriculum Vitae and a one-page abstract of his/her paper to info@isisemiotics.fi and submit the registration form online. Passive participants must submit the registration form online by April 30, 2011. Participation fee for the whole summer school is 200 EUR (this covers lunch and two coffees a day June 9–12 and an elegant evening reception and buffet on June 9th). For payment instructions and information about accommodation, see the pages of The International Semiotics Institute (ISI).

Summer Symposium on Sustainable Systems

Unfortunately I did not get the chance to submit an abstract to the Summer Symposium on Sustainable Systems (4S), an interdisciplinary symposium for doctural students and post-doctoral researchers (Sannäs, Finland, June 14-17, 2010).

The aim of the symposium is to bring together motivated researchers and high level keynote speakers with an interest in interdisciplinary systemic approaches to complex issues under the theme of closed-loop sustainable material systems.

4S theme this year:

Harmonizing Policy, Technology, Product Design and Resource Management