HSC 2025 One-Day Conference
‘Humanitarian Studies: Adapting and Reworking in New Times and Contexts’
12 September 2025 | At the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
Global political currents are buffeting humanitarian action and humanitarian studies in multiple contexts across the world, with decisions taken in places like Washington severely affecting everyday humanitarian actors. For humanitarian actors and researchers, these new times require adapting, reworking and remixing of humanitarian activities to ensure adherence to principles like ‘do no harm’, and continuing to work in vulnerable and fragile places. A major concern is the status of respecting and upholding International Humanitarian Law, including the protection of medical and humanitarian workers.
At the same time, humanitarianism has a strong focus on localised responses, with contextual actors and affected populations being required to take more and more of the brunt of funding cuts, and more and more of the tasks associated with humanitarian programming. The questions that are approach during this conference are: How can humanitarian studies adapt and remix within these new contexts? Where does power lie now, as the responsibilities and complications pile up? What is the role of academia/researchers in these challenging times? And how can we see the positive within a sea of negative headlines?
Supported by KUNO: Platform for Humanitarian Knowledge Exchange in the Netherlands, this third edition of The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre’s One-Day Conference brings together humanitarian scholars and practitioners to share their knowledge, pose questions, and exchange ideas.
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The 2025 edition of the HSC One-Day Conference will again take place at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. Lunch will be provided, and an exciting keynote speaker will be announced in the coming months!
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humanitarianstudiescentre@iss.nl
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Based at the International Institute of Social Studies
Kortenaerkade 12
2518 AX The Hague
The Netherlands
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