Beyond Oil 2023: Refuelling Transformation

This year's theme is "Refuelling Transformation"

Society is inevitably moving beyond oil.  

And yet, the ongoing energy crisis demonstrates that transforming to low-carbon societies is bound up in multiple crises, backlashes and setbacks. Fossil fuel displacement remains both urgent and challenging. We have the knowledge and technology needed, and with political and individual will, we can refuel transformation in a just and inclusive manner. The historical moment also asks us to rethink, re-evaluate and reflect on existing transformative efforts. 

Join us in a collective reckoning of the present, informed by the past, facing the future.

Beyond Oil is an interdisciplinary and international conference organised biennially by the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET) at the University of Bergen. We provide an arena to discuss how to move society beyond oil, in its broadest sense. This conference edition dives deeper into questions and answers to how we can rethink and critically reflect on what transformation includes (and excludes). We invite scholars from a range of disciplines to unpack and jointly explore how we can revive and refuel transformation to mitigate climate change.  

Confirmed keynotes for the conference:

• Associate Professor Zarina Patel, University of Cape Town
• Professor Derk Loorbach, director of DRIFT, Erasmus University Rotterdam

We invite abstracts on a range of topics, including: 

• From buzzword to deeper meaning: Refuelling transformation  
• Stagnation and opposition of sustainability transformation: Who, where and why? 
• Practices, policies and measures moving transformation forward 
• Whose transformation? Actors, roles and responsibilities 
• The dark side of sustainability transformation 
• Critical reflections on a just transformation 
• Knowledge producers' role in shaping transformation 

The first round of Call for Abstracts is now closed. 

Practical information

• Questions can be sent to beyondoil@uib.no 
• The format for the parallel sessions are 8-minute presentations followed by group discussions.  
• The conference will be organized in line with the CET Travel Policy. 
• This is an in-person-only conference, but keynote sessions will be streamed, recorded and posted online subsequently. We are also working on offering hybrid arrangements for some plenary sessions. Let us know if you are interested in presenting digitally. 

Conference fee

• 1200 NOK (Dinner is an extra 300 NOK)
• Bachelor and Master's students: 250NOK

If you have a good reason for a fee waiver, please submit a short explanation to beyondoil@uib.no once you have submitted an abstract.  

Conference venue: House of Literature (Litteraturhuset) Østre Skostredet 5, 5017 Bergen

How to get there:
If you arrive at Bergen Train station, you are already in the middle of Bergen city. The train station is within walking distance of most facilities in the city centre, including the House of Literature.

If you arrive at Bergen Airport, Flesland, there are several ways of getting to the city centre:

• Bergen light rail runs from Bergen airport to ‘Byparken’, in the city centre. The trip takes 45 minutes.
• The airport bus (Flybussen) has frequent departures to the city centre. The bus ride will take 25-45 minutes, depending on the traffic.

Follow updates and the conversation on Twitter #Beyondoil23.