Calendar

Roundtable 2026

16th Annual Roundtable - Leadership for Systems Change

Explore how system leadership can drive coordinated action across sectors, institutions and communities to address society’s most complex challenges — from healthcare and education to sustainability and social transformation.

We invite paper abstracts and symposium proposals for:

  • Empirical research: Scholarly research exploring the dynamics of relational coordination and relational leadership in systems change - early stage work is welcome!
  • Reflections from the field: Practitioner-led accounts of leading systems change in healthcare, education, businesses or public policy.
  • Methodological innovations: New ways of measuring, mapping, and observing leadership and coordination across boundaries, qualitatively and/or quantitatively.
  • People development: New ways of developing human resources to engage in and lead systems change.

Submission formats:

We encourage diverse voices and interactive dialogue. You may submit:

  • Individual abstracts: Concise summaries of empirical or conceptual work.
  • Group proposals: 3–4 abstracts joined by a common systemic theme.
  • Interactive workshops: Hands-on sessions focused on RC tools and leadership practices.

Key dates

12 June Submission deadline
14 July Notification of acceptance
31 July Registration deadline for presenters
7 August The programme is published
12-14 November RCC Roundtable 2026 at BI Norwegian Business School

If you have any questions or wish to receive feedback on your idea before submitting, please feel free to contact the RCC Team at relationalcoord@brandeis.edu.

Requirements

Abstract specifications
  • Word limit: 500 words per abstract (not including the title and author[s])
  • Content: Your abstract should provide 1) a concise summary of your empirical or conceptual work, 2) your context, 3) your methods of inquiry, 4) your key findings or learnings and 5) implications for action.
  • For workshop proposals, the abstract should include 1) a concise summary of the workshop, 2) your learning objectives, and 3) a description of the interactive elements you plan to incorporate.
Presentation formats

For each accepted proposal, presenter(s) will be notified of the designated presentation format:

  • Individual presentations grouped together into a session: Four 15-minute oral presentations grouped together either in your proposal or by the Roundtable organizers, followed by interactive group discussion 
  • Shift & Share: 5-minute oral presentation followed by 15-minute small group discussion, repeated 4 times
  • Workshop: 1 hour hands-on interactive session
Registration

To be included on the programme, all presenters must register for the Roundtable. The RCC wants to expand opportunities to participate in the Roundtable, so feel free to write to the RCC at relationalcoord@brandeis.edu to inquire about scholarships. For those who are able, please contribute to the scholarship fund when you register.
 

Submissions