ICSEI Voices

ICSEI Dialogic 2027: Call for Submissions

I BELONG HERE: Setting a New Agenda

Global approaches to creating belonging in our schools and education institutions

Guest Co-Editor: Professor Kathryn Riley UCL Emeritus Professor of Education, Director of the Art of Possibilities and Co-leader of the Global Leaders in Belonging Roundtable.

We are delighted to invite contributions to the 2027 ICSEI Dialogic:
“I Belong Here: Setting a New Agenda.”

Across the globe, many young people are growing up in a world that can feel increasingly divided and uncertain, a world in which too many struggle to feel that they belong.

This Dialogic takes a different direction. Its focus is on the possibilities that emerge when children and young people experience a genuine sense of belonging: when they feel safe, connected, known, seen and valued for who they are.

Through this issue, we aim to bring together voices and experiences from across the ICSEI community and beyond to build connections, deepen our collective knowledge, and share insights from policy and practice.

What are we looking for?

We invite contributions from ICSEI members, friends and their networks in a variety of formats:

• Written contributions: 500 – 750 words
• Video/audo contributions: up to five minutes

Submissions in languages other than English are warmly welcomed.

We encourage contributors to tell a story grounded in their own context: What is the story you want to tell, why does it matter, and whose voices and experiences will we hear?

Contributions might explore:

Why belonging and connectedness matter

What is the significance of belonging for children and young people in an increasingly fragmented world?

What helps create belonging

What strategies and approaches can schools, communities, organisations and education institutions use to help everyone feel connected and included?

How do we know we are making a difference?

What actions have been taken, and what signs of change or evidence of impact can be seen?

Our ambition

At the heart of this Dialogic is an ambitious agenda:

Every child and young person, whoever they are and wherever they are from, deserves the opportunity to be in a school, college or education environment where they feel physically and emotionally safe, connected, and that they belong.

Submit your contribution

Submission deadline: October 31, 2026

Please send your contribution to: [email protected]

The ICSEI Dialogic Committee will review all submissions, and contributors will be notified about acceptance by November 15, 2026.

Download Full PDF Here

ICSEI Dialogic Fireside Chat – Banff 2027

The conversation will continue at the ICSEI Congress in Banff, Alberta, Canada, in January 2027, where we will hold an ICSEI Dialogic Fireside Chat with Professor Kathryn Riley.

Further details will be shared once the Congress programme is confirmed.

We look forward to hearing from the ICSEI community and bringing together perspectives from around the world on what it means to create places where children and young people can truly say: “I belong here.”

For questions, please contact the ICSEI Dialogic team at [email protected].