Session 1

Digitalizing Islamic Environmental Narratives:

Exploring Faith and Ecology on Social Media

 Coordinator: Ömer F. Gürlesin: O.F.Gurlesin@tilburguniversity.edu

This session invites interdisciplinary papers analyzing the intersection of Islamic authority, digital spaces, and environmental advocacy in Europe. The session explores how Muslim organizations, religious leaders, and individuals in Europe use social media to shape environmental discourse through Islamic teachings. It examines the role of religious authority and values in addressing climate challenges and fostering engagement. 

Topics of Interest: 

• Strategies of Muslim organizations in environmental advocacy. 
• Case studies of religious leaders promoting ecological awareness online. 
• Individual and community interactions with Islamic environmental messages. 
• Key Islamic concepts, such as khilafah (stewardship) and mizan (balance), in digital narratives. 

Session 2

Religion-Inspired Climate Skepticism:

Discourses, Impacts, and Responses

 Coordinator: Frank Bosman: F.G.Bosman@tilburguniversity.edu

This session explores the complex intersections between religious beliefs, practices, and climate skepticism, highlighting how religious narratives, doctrines, or traditions inform and shape skeptical attitudes toward climate change and climate activism, both online and offline. 

Papers may address a range of topics: 

• Religious frameworks that foster or challenge climate skepticism. 
• Theological, eschatological, or moral arguments used by religious climate skeptics. 
• Case studies of religious groups or leaders influencing public opinion on climate change. 
• Intersections between religious identity, political ideology, and climate skepticism. 
• Comparative analyses of climate skepticism across different religious traditions. 

Session 3

From Creation to Apocalypse:

Christian Vocabularies in Climate Change Discourse 

Coordinator: Caroline Vander Stichele: C.H.C.M.VanderStichele@tilburguniversity.edu 

This session focuses on the online use of Christian language and images by religious and secular climate activist groups and how these vocabularies function in and help shape climate change discourse. Papers are welcome that address the following issues: 

• Ecological and eco-critical interpretations of biblical concepts and narratives. 
• The role of apocalyptic discourse and end of the world rhetoric. 
• The authority attributed to, and visual representation of religious figures. 
• The importance and argumentative use of religious documents. 

Session 4

Touched by the Earth:

Earth Imagery in Times of Climate Change

Coordinator: Deborah de Koning: D.D.C.deKoning@tilburguniversity.edu

This session deals with a variety of (online and offline) imageries of (the) earth as employed in climate change discourse. It specifically focusses on how people visually and ritually address (the) earth when they touch, talk, and think about the earth and how climate change communication can be enriched by understanding our shared and unshared perspectives on the earth. 

 We welcome papers addressing topics such as: 

• Comparative analyses of earth symbolism used among (religious) climate activists and climate skepticism. 
• Case studies of earth imagery used in rituals, art, and performances. 
• Earth imageries in Asian religions. 
• Intersections between religious rituals and climate activism with a particular focus on earth symbolism. 
• Contemporary earth imageries and practices in the context of ecological mourning.