The 8th Conference of the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (IAACS), titled Curriculum Studies in the Post/Anthropocene, took place from June 24 to 27, 2025, at the Institute of Education of Mauritius.

Researcher Elsa Estrela, a member of the association, participated in the conference with the presentation Towards a democratic curriculum: the narrative paradigm to achieve a state of viscosity. Her presentation sparked a highly relevant discussion, encouraging the exchange and sharing of perspectives and approaches, as well as the national integration of the curricular concepts discussed.

Held every three years, this conference aimed to address the evolving intersections of curriculum theory and the complex challenges posed by the Anthropocene and beyond. In this context, it explored the implications of these developments for curriculum studies, engaging with contemporary theories in fields such as new materialisms, feminist materialisms, speculative realism, object-oriented ontologies, and agential realism.

The themes addressed in the parallel sessions and thematic panels included: Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Curriculum; Posthumanist Theories and Materialism; Sustainability, Social Justice and Planetary Challenges; Decoloniality and Cultural Narratives; and Methodologies and “complicated conversations”. The conference also featured three keynote lectures by highly relevant scholars in the field:

• Lesley Le Grange, from Stellenbosch University, South Africa, questioned the 50 years of the concept currere and proposed rethinking it within the posthuman framework, challenging traditional subjectivity through the lens of posthumanist theories and the “thick now”.
• Bill Green, Emeritus Professor at Charles Sturt University, explored the tensions between national and post-national curricula, reflecting on decolonization and epistemic justice in different contexts.
• João M. Paraskeva, from the University of Strathclyde, presented the concept of Itinerant Curriculum Theory, advocating for epistemological freedom and curricular autonomy.

The conference reinforced the urgency of rethinking the curriculum in a world marked by multiple crises—environmental, technological, and social—defending interdisciplinary, critical, and open approaches. The emerging curriculum is not merely a teaching tool but a co-creator of sustainable, pluralistic, and inclusive futures—navigating between humanisms, technologies, and living ecologies.