Greetings from the Association for Borderlands Studies Executive Team
It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 2027 Association for Borderlands Studies (ABS) World Conference, to be held in Elvas, Portugal and Badajoz, Spain, from September 2-5, 2027. We are delighted to be bringing the ABS community back together in this historically rich border region. The 2027 World Conference is co-hosted by the Portalegre Polytechnic University and the University of Extremadura.
The Association for Borderlands Studies (ABS), a leading international organization dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of borders and border-related issues, has organized a World Conference every four years in different border regions of the world in collaboration with a host country institution. The first World Conference was held in June 2014 in Joensuu, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia under the leadership of the University of Eastern Finland; the second in July 2018 in Vienna, Austria and
Budapest, Hungary under the leadership of the University of Vienna; and the third in February 2023 in Eilat, Israel under the leadership of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Each conference has convened over 300 border scholars and policymakers from around the world to explore current research and practice, while engaging with pressing global and regional challenges facing border and transborder communities.
The fourth World Conference will be held in the Eurocity Badajoz-Elvas-Campo Maior (EuroBEC), a cross-border region encompassing the twin cities of Elvas, Portugal and Badajoz Spain: fortress towns that have faced each other across the Spanish-Portuguese frontier for centuries and now embody the everyday cooperation of a peaceful borderland. The conference brings together scholars, practitioners, and students of borders as equal participants in a shared conversation, and we warmly welcome all of you to submit and present your work under the general conference theme of “Borders in Motion: Cooperation, Governance and Territorial Change”.
Beyond the formal program, the conference offers the opportunity to build lasting connections across disciplines and career stages, to test emerging ideas in front of an engaged international audience, and forge collaborations that outlast the 4-day conference. The World Conference offers a remarkable opportunity to experience how border studies are evolving across regions and disciplines, and to help shape where it goes next.
We look forward to welcoming you to the EuroBEC in September 2027.
On behalf of the host institutions, we are equally pleased to welcome the international ABS community to our cross-border territory. Luís Loures, Rector of Portalegre Polytechnic University, Rui Alexandre Castanho, Vice-Coordinator of VALORIZA / Portalegre Polytechnic University, and José Cabezas Fernández, on behalf of the University of Extremadura, join the ABS Executive Team in extending a warm welcome to all participants and in inviting you to experience the academic, territorial and cultural richness of the Elvas-Badajoz border region.
Xavier Oliveras Gonzalez (ABS President), Jamie Ferrill (ABS Vice President), Machteld Venken (ABS 2nd Vice President), Jennifer Bettis (ABS Executive Secretary & Treasurer).
Luís Loures (Rector, Portalegre Polytechnic University), Rui Alexandre Castanho (Vice-Coordinator, VALORIZA / Portalegre Polytechnic University), José Cabezas Fernández (University of Extremadura).