On behalf of the Scientific Programme Committee, we invite psychologists and experts from related fields to present their work at the 18th European Congress of Psychology: ECP 2023.  We aim to deliver a high quality, engaging event to attract academic, teaching and practitioner psychologists from across the continent of Europe, including the UK, and indeed from the world as a whole. 

We are keen to receive submissions that reflect the breadth of our diverse psychological community. From academics, teachers, researchers and practitioners as well as the wider psychological workforce. We also want submissions from undergraduate, postgraduate and early career members to ensure representation at all stages of the career pathway.

We also welcome applications from the following groups of people who are under-represented within psychology:  Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people; people with disabilities and, people who identify as LGBTQ+. 

The theme of ECP 2023 is “Psychology: Uniting Communities for a sustainable world”. While the world has been united in the face of a global pandemic, we have also never been more divided. Issues of inequality driven by poverty, race, gender, climate crisis and many more have been catapulted to the fore, showing how volatile the world can be. This raises questions of how society can come together and make change. As individuals, we are stronger together. When we are united, we have the power to influence and advocate for change.  Psychology can be the driving force to unite and harness the power of community on a global scale. Using psychology, we can address the issues that have been magnified across the world. As one, we can build a fairer and more sustainable world.

ECP 2023 aims to provide a forum to bring together the leading experts in psychology from across Europe and our international colleagues to discuss, debate and celebrate the impact of psychology research and practice on our communities and society at large. Delegates will have the opportunity to submit oral presentations, seven minute quick-fire sessions, symposia, electronic posters, and panel discussions. There will also be a dedicated student stream and three minute oral presentations – ideal for students and early career researchers to present their thesis or early research findings and experiences from practice.   

The ECP 2023 will provide a stimulating venue for discussing current trends, innovative research and future directions across all of the diverse domains of psychology and related disciplines. We welcome abstract submissions to all of our thematic streams, but we particularly encourage delegates to submit abstracts related to our four interdisciplinary themes:

• Psychological responses to the pandemic: Lessons learned from the pandemic; communicating scientific evidence to the public and policy makers for behaviour change; changes to working practices (eg hybrid working; tele-health; virtual consulting with clients) and community health and well-being. 

• Poverty and inequalities: Digital inequalities; the digital divide; health inequalities, the impact of poverty on mental and physical health, cognition and development across the life-span and within different communities.

• Climate change and sustainability: Environmental psychology; Interventions to encourage more sustainable behaviours at the individual, community, organisation and societal levels; eco-anxiety and eco-grief; supporting refugees and migration caused by the environmental crisis.

• Conflict, diplomacy and peace: Political psychology; Defence and security psychology; crisis and trauma; the rise of authoritarianism; trust in governments and institutions; social cohesion; supporting refugees and migration caused by conflict; psychology’s role in diplomatic relations and peace-making; post-conflict trauma recovery and resolution. 

To create a coherent programme, sessions and grouping of similar papers, we invite authors to choose a thematic stream that best describes and most closely matches the content of their abstract(s).

All authors submitting an abstract should read the submission guidelines before submitting an abstract. Abstracts accepted for presentation will be published in the conference proceedings and <<confirmation of related journal >> prior to the ECP 2023.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and meeting you in Brighton in 2023.

ECP 2023 Scientific Committee Co-Chairs:

Dr Debra Malpass, British Psychological Society

Professor Philip Murphy, Edge Hill University.