Equine Cultures in Transition: Decent work, decent leisure, decent lives

REGISTRATION IS OPEN until Friday 2nd May - sign up here.

The call for abstracts has now closed. Acceptances were sent out on 28th February so please check your spam folder if you haven't received it. Alternatively email h.wadham@mmu.ac.uk and we will resend.

Since 2016, the Equine Cultures in Transition Conference has presented an opportunity for interested researchers to come together and share insights and experiences from across this exciting and emerging field of study. As always, we welcome academics and practitioners from all geographic contexts and disciplines across the social sciences, humanities and beyond to share their research on human-equid interactions, relationships and practices.

Hosted by the Faculty of Business and Law at Manchester Met, the 2025 conference will be organised around four overlapping streams, which will consider the various ways in which people, horses, donkeys and mules work, play and live together:

- Interspecies decent work (including equine-assisted therapy and organisational perspectives)

- People, equids, places (including historical, philosophical, aesthetic and ethical perspectives)

- Equestrian sport and policy

- Open stream

We are pleased to offer three formats for those wishing to present their research within a "traditional" panel:

- Format 1: 5-minute "provocations" designed to stimulate group discussions among all participants (this is our preferred format so we can get lots of interaction going in the various panels)

- Format 2: 15-minute presentation followed by Q&A (there will be fewer spaces on the programme for these, so do let us know if it's a deal-breaker for you!)

- Format 3: Paper development workshop(s), which will provide more in-depth feedback on a piece of work submitted ahead of time (this is particularly aimed at PhD students and early-career researchers, but we would be happy to accommodate others if we have space)

We will do our best to accommodate your preferences, subject to time/programme constraints.

Key dates

Friday 14th February 2025 – deadline for submission of abstracts (extended from 31st January)

Friday 28th February 2025 – notification of acceptance

Friday 2nd May 2025 – registration deadline

+ deadline for submission of full papers (only required for those participating in Paper development workshop - format 3)

Tuesday 3rd – Thursday 5th June 2025 - conference

If you have any questions, please do get in touch (h.wadham@mmu.ac.uk). We really look forward to hearing from you soon. In the meantime, please keep an eye on this page for updates about keynotes and other conference-related information.

Conference committee

Helen Wadham, Manchester Metropolitan University

Debbie Busby, Manchester Metropolitan University

Darcy Bornemann, Royal Veterinary College

Martha Geiger, London School of Economics

Tamlin Watson, The Donkey Sanctuary

Maryline Kiptoo, Manchester Metropolitan University

John Lever, Manchester Metropolitan University

Programme

More updates to follow over coming weeks. However, to get us started, we are delighted to announce that our keynote speakers will include:

Lynda Birke, former Professor of Biology, University of Chester, UK

Susanna Hedenborg, Professor of Sports Science and Associate Professor in Social and Economic History at Malmo University, Sweden

We are delighted that academic publisher CABI will be supporting the event also. Likewise, the team from Frontiers in Veterinary Science will be joining us to invite participants to join an upcoming special research topic on "Promoting the 3Fs in Equine Welfare."

We have also accepted a number of workshop proposals so there will be a wide range of activities & formats on offer!

Registration and pricing

Please register for the conference via the link here.

All prices are shown in £UK

Full conference 400

Full conference (concession) 300

Day rate 135

Day rate (concession) 100

Conference dinner 45

* The concession rate applies to registered students, retired academics/practitioners, and colleagues from category B and C countries, as designated by the International Sociological Association, details available here. If applying for the concession rate, please send an email to h.wadham@mmu.ac.uk with further information and/or a link to an institutional webpage etc. that will enable us to double-check your status.

Venue and accommodation

Accommodation

To book accommodation, please use the following link. Preferential rates are being provided by a number of local hotels, with the support of Marketing Manchester.

Getting to Manchester

Manchester is centrally located and easily accessible to national and international delegates. Just over two hours from London by train, with direct train links to most major UK cities. Manchester Airport is one of the largest and busiest in the UK, offering fast domestic connections and daily flights from over 200 destinations worldwide. Manchester is well connected to the UK motorway network, with the M60 encircling the city and excellent routes via the M6 to the north and south, as well as the M62 providing access to the east and west. For more information, see https://venues.mmu.ac.uk/visitor-info/travel-directions/

Venue

The conference venue is the Business School, home of Manchester Met’s Faculty of Business and Law. An impressive addition to Manchester’s skyline, our building has won several awards, including the Prime Minister’s Award for Better Public Buildings and the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Outstanding Example of Architecture in the North-West. Offering a range of lecture theatres and meeting rooms, the venue is fully accessible and has strong sustainability and food quality credentials. It is within easy walking distance of major hotels, restaurants and bars, as well as Piccadilly/Oxford Road train stations.