The Seventh International Conference on Shared Parenting (ICSP) will be held in Brazil on the 23, 24 and 25 April, 2025.
The conference will be held in person with the option to join virtually for those unable to attend. Specialists in the field of shared parenting and other family related issues representing the academic sciences, the legal and family professions, and civil society are invited to present their research results, professional practice accounts, and examples of best practice and impact at this international, interdisciplinary and interprofessional conference. The theme of this conference is:
Shared Parenting in Practice: Challenges and Opportunities
Since the formation of ICSP in 2014, there has been a growing consensus globally that shared parenting, where children alternate their home life across households, represents not just a viable model of family life for children and young people but in the majority of cases the most desirable outcome for them where parents do not live together. However, the ways in which shared parenting is enacted and the extent to which it is understood and supported in practice varies enormously from country to country and across jurisdictions. This is due not least to the different ways in which shared parenting can be viewed, depending on whether it is being considered as a judicial decision, a family practice, an administrative framework, a discourse, an aspiration, an ideology or a political tool. To this we might also add a psychological or emotional imperative.
The conference organisers seek contributions that will help unpack and address the challenges and opportunities that arise for shared parenting in practice from and through these different lenses. We are delighted to be able to host the ICSP Conference for 2025 in Brazil, where shared parenting has come to the fore in recent years raising both challenges and opportunities in equal measure. As a powerhouse of Latin America, the legal, social and cultural drivers that surround all aspects of shared parenting in practice within Brazil can provide a helpful barometer of change and transformation not just within the Americas but across the global south more generally, making this a truly powerful and compelling opportunity.
The ICSP scientific committee cordially invite submissions for oral presentations that correspond to completed scientific research and practical accounts on a wide variety of topics linked, but not limited to, the conference theme. These include:
- Shared Parenting under Brazilian and South America Laws – (e.g. the rule of law and effectiveness of civil justice systems; recent legal challenges on the Brazilian Civil Code; Parental Alienation in the context of Brazilian and South America Laws)
- Family Violence and Child protection – (e.g. Family violence and UNCRC under the Istanbul Convention and Brazilian Law; Family violence and shared parenting under the Council of Europe law and the Barnahus model; Parental Alienation and family disruption; Research integrity and the UN report on Parental Alienation)
- Child Friendly Justice – (e.g. UNCRC under EU Charter of Human Rights and ECHR; Council of Europe programme 2022-2027; Children’s hearings and participation; Shared parenting recommendations)
- Representation of children and specialised training – (e.g. child advocates; legal, social work, early years and child educators, third sector; family mediation, family therapy)
- Shared parenting, mental health and self-esteem – (e.g. cooperative co-parenting, parallel parenting, parental conflict; trauma and attachment; neuroscience and neuropsychology; notions of home and belongingness)
- The child‘s best interests – (The evolution and/or devolution of shared parenting law, policy and practice; regulating family responsibilities; in camera family proceedings or allowing representatives of the press access to family courts)
- Shared parenting and wider familial and kinship groups – (e.g. shared residence and social and cultural capital; the role of grandparents, siblings and step-parents; shared parenting in the context of children with special educational needs and disabilities)
- Family and child public policy – (e.g. social policy – housing, parental leave, child support, child benefit packages, child and family welfare; the economics of shared parenting; economic policies in the context of changes in labour markets and economies)
- Shared Parenting and demographic trends – (e.g. shared parenting in the context of a decline in fertility; or where countries have witnessed rapid population growth)
If you are interested in submitting a paper for consideration to present at the conference, please prepare and submit a 350-450 word abstract of your oral presentation (format .doc/docx, .odt, .txt) by Friday 11 October, 2024 using the following link: Call for Papers ICSP Brazil 2025 – submission form
The abstract should be written in English or Portuguese. The primary language at the conference will be English, but translation services for multiple languages are being organised. Therefore, if you are uncomfortable presenting in the English language, ICSP is working to accommodate presentations made in Portuguese.
Please indicate whether you intend to attend the Conference in-person or online. Please also include the names of any co-authors and whether they intend to attend in-person or online. Your proposal will be reviewed by members of the ICSP Scientific Committee, and notifications of acceptance will be made by Friday 29 November, 2024.
For more information about the conference, please follow the link: Brazil 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact conference@twohomes.org.
Please note: We encourage contributions from Early Career Researchers (ECR) in any discipline working in the field of shared parenting.
And finally, in recognition of the importance of a wide range of media as a means to communicate ideas, and showcase practice, For the first time at a ICSP Conference the scientific committee are inviting innovative and creative non-oral presentation submissions in the CREATIVE ARTS and MEDIA that have as their theme shared parenting. These might include but are not restricted to:
Film /Documentaries, Photography, Art installation, Poster presentations, Short theatre pieces
Potentially running as a parallel stream throughout the conference.
About the Organisers:
The International Council on Shared Parenting (ICSP), founded 2014 and based in Bonn, Germany, is an international association with individual members from the sectors of science, family professions and civil society. The purpose of the association is first, the dissemination and advancement of scientific knowledge on the needs and rights (best interests) of children whose parents are living apart, and second, to formulate evidence-based recommendations about the legal, judicial and practical implementation of shared parenting.
Website: twohomes.org