Following successful conferences in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 we are pleased to announce a call for the fifth SLB conference in Copenhagen in June 2024. Gathering some of the most prominent international scholars in the field of street-level research this conference seeks to advance research on the role of street-level organizations in the delivery of welfare state policies.

The conference provides opportunities for paper presentations within themes that will enable a dialogue between researchers from different policy contexts. Furthermore, the conference will include keynote presentations from Professor Mirko Noordegraaf, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, on “Changing forms of professionalism in public service delivery”, and Associate Professor Anat Gofen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, on “Frontline organizations as experimental settings for policy change”.

The conference will host prominent researchers in the field, who will serve as moderators or participate in the closing panel discussion. We have confirmed participation from Michael Lipsky, Evelyn Brodkin, Michael Hill, Mark Considine, Gabriela Lotta, Bernardo Zacka, Vincent Dubois (and more to come).

We welcome papers that investigate policy-governance relations and dimensions of state-citizen encounters relating to one or more of the sessions presented below (please refer your abstract to one or more of these sessions). More information on these sessions can be found here. Please also note that submission of abstracts and registration for the conference is to be done at the SLB conference website (see also important dates below).

1. Management and organization of state-citizen encounters
(Chairs: Niklas A. Andersen & Flemming Larsen, Aalborg University)

2. Co-production in street-level bureaucracy
(Chair: Matilde Høybye-Mortensen, VIA University College)

3. Unemployment arrangements and policy delivery at the street-level
(Chair: Mathias Herup Nielsen, Aalborg University)

3.1. Categorization within labor market policies
(Chairs: John Brauer, Örebro University & Lisa Wallander, Lund University)
SESSION CANCELLED

4. AI technologies and their consequences for street-level work
(Chair: Ida Bring Løberg, Norwegian Directorate of Labor and Welfare)

4.1. Digital activation: how automation, algorithms and machine learning are reshaping public employment services
(Chairs: Ray Griffin, South East Technical University, Michael McGann, University of Melbourne & Sabina Pultz, Roskilde University)

5. Spatial environment and social interaction in policy delivery at the street-level
(Chair: Bernardo Zacka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
SESSION CANCELLED

6. Immigration, integration and street-level work in increasingly diverse societies, including special session 6.1. on integration work in the Nordic countries
(Chairs: Silje Andresen, Fafo, Maria G. Volckmar-Eeg, Fafo, Andrea Spehar, University of Gothenburg, Hanne C. Kavli, Fafo & Karen Breidahl, Aalborg University)

7.  Professional Mandate and Policy in Action: Practising Social Work in Street-Level Bureaucracies
(Chairs: Paul van der Aa, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Urban Nothdurfter, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bettina Leibetseder, Landshut University of Applied Sciences, Erica Gubrium, Oslo Metropolitan University & Leonie le Sage, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences)

8. Citizen responsiveness and public ethics of care in policy delivery at the street-level
(Chair: Michael Hill, University of Newcastle, Nadine Raaphorst, Leiden University & Marie Østergaard Møller, Aalborg University)

9. Power and equity in street-level encounters
(Chairs: Gabriela Lotta,  Fundação Getulio Vargas, Nadine Raaphorst, Leiden University, Michael Hill, University of Newcastle & Marie Østergaard Møller, Aalborg University)

10.  Collaborative innovation in street-level research: co-creating knowledge between research and practice
(Chairs: Mark Considine, University of Melbourne & Dorte Caswell, Aalborg University)

11.  Setting the scene for street-level bureaucracy in the global south: Opportunities and challenges in context-based approaches
(Chairs: Daniela Leonardi, University of Turin, Rebecca Paraciani, University of Bologna & Dario Raspanti, University of Florence)

12.  SLB from the client perspective
(Chairs: Vincent Dubois, University of Strasbourg & Merete Monrad, Aalborg University)

Submission of abstracts

Please submit your SLB2024 abstract using this link. 

Please make sure to consult the EasyChair Quick Guide on the conference website when preparing your submission.

Important dates

• Abstract submission deadline: 15th of February 2024
• Acceptance notifications: 4th of March 2024
• Registration opens: early March for presenters/early April for non-presenters
• Registration deadline for speakers with accepted papers: 1st of May 2024
• Deadline for full paper submission: 1st of June 2024

The conference is organized by WISER at Aalborg University and will be held in Copenhagen at Aalborg University Campus. NB! The conference is an in-person event and online presentations will not be possible.

If you have any questions about the conference, please contact us at SLB@conference.aau.dk.

Conference organizers

Dorte Caswell, WISER, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University – Copenhagen Campus. Frederikskaj 10B st., DK-2450 Copenhagen SV. caswell@socsci.aau.dk 

Marie Østergaard Møller, WISER, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Fibigerstraede 1, DK-9220, mol@dps.aau.dk 

Flemming Larsen, WISER, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Fibigerstraede 1, DK-9220, flemlar@dps.aau.dk