Thank you for your interest in submitting a proposal for the LSE Festival: Breaking the rules.
The annual LSE Festival is one of the School’s largest research public engagement initiatives, bringing thousands of people to hybrid, online and in-person events held over the course of a week and engaging hundreds of thousands more with videos and event recordings. Holding an event as part of the Festival is an excellent way to collaborate with colleagues, boost the profile of your research and reach out to new audiences.
We are inviting you to develop ideas for events and activities around a theme for next year’s Festival, taking place from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 June 2027.
Who makes the rules, who benefits from them, and what happens when they are broken? From the erosion of the international rules-based order to challenges to social, economic and political norms, LSE Festival 2027: Breaking the rules will explore a world in flux. As global crises accelerate and new technologies reshape society, we'll examine when breaking the rules threatens stability, when it drives progress, and whether the rules we inherited are still fit for the future.
We are looking for event ideas that bring together LSE research and expertise with non-academic perspectives to ask whether the rules that govern all aspects of our lives (international, national, political, fiscal, cultural) should be reimagined for the future. We encourage you to think broadly about the theme and to consider different event formats including workshops, performances, film screenings, exhibitions and family day activities. All events should be of interest and accessible to a public audience.
If you have an idea please do submit an outline proposal by Monday 2 November via the following form.
Your proposal should include an explanation of the idea for the event, how it fits with the theme and ideas for speakers (if applicable). The Festival is aimed at a broad public audience, and events should bring together academic and non-academic perspectives, framing research in an accessible way.
Ideas will be considered by the Festival Steering Group, and we will work with successful proposals to develop them, aiming to confirm plans by early 2027. The Festival budget will cover all logistical costs and reasonable travel expenses, but please give an indication in your proposal of what these are likely to be.
If you are already planning activities that week please do also get in touch, we would be happy to work together if appropriate, but also want to ensure we don’t clash with other plans as we develop our programme.
If you have any queries please contact comms.events@lse.ac.uk.