Grounding the Future: Grassroots, Belonging, and Human-Centered Esports
in a Changing Digital Society
UiA Academic Esports Seminar 2026
The last decade saw esports rise rapidly as a global cultural force and just as rapidly enter a period of contraction. In this so-called esports winter, it has become clearer than ever that the long-term value of esports does not lie in its commercial peak, but in its grassroots foundations: the communities, learning cultures, collaborative practices, and digital identities that form around competitive play.
In FLARE, the Future Lab for Academic Research in Esports, we argue that esports is not a product of the tech industry but a people-centered arena where individuals learn to collaborate, communicate, negotiate identity, build a sense of belonging, and navigate digital complexity. Esports becomes a future lab for society precisely because it reveals how humans, not technologies, shape digital environments through interaction, meaning-making, and shared practice.
In times when professional esports struggles economically, the grassroots level has never been more critical. Schools, universities, local clubs, community organizations, and informal player groups now share responsibility for keeping esports healthy, inclusive, and future-oriented. Universities in particular play a pivotal role: if they wish to remain relevant in a rapidly shifting landscape, they must create human-centered learning environments where students can develop agency, reflection, digital competence, and collaborative capability, skills that cannot be reduced to technical training alone.
Academic esports, understood as the intentional and structured use of competitive game environments for learning, research, and social inclusion is a crucial pathway for this shift. It strengthens grassroots play, reveals invisible competencies, supports diverse learners, and allows institutions to anchor digital learning in real human practice. It is also one of the rare places where people from different backgrounds can meaningfully connect, develop confidence, and access educational or professional pathways that traditional systems may overlook.
The 2026 UiA Academic Esports Seminar, therefore, focuses on how grassroots esports can guide us toward healthier, more inclusive, and more sustainable digital societies and how universities, educators, and researchers can support this movement through practice, scholarship, and innovation.
One week before the seminar, UiA hosts the doctoral course “Esportification: Esports as a Future Lab for the Digital Society and Working World.” This intensive week gives doctoral students a focused introduction to how esports principles, team dynamics, engagement, and community practices can inform education, digital society, and the modern workplace. The course concludes with the creation of early project ideas, which participants will present at the seminar, adding emerging perspectives and strengthening the connection between doctoral training, academic esports research, and the broader grassroots focus of this year’s event.
Keynote Speakers
We are pleased to host three distinguished keynote speakers whose work bridges gaming, education, and digital society:
- Brett Abarbanel: Executive Director, International Gaming Institute, University of Nevada
- Benjamin Bays: Associate Professor of Instruction, University of Texas at Austin
- Nyle Sky Kauweloa: Director, UH Esports, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Themes include, but are not limited to, the following core areas:
1. Grassroots Esports & the Human Foundations of Digital Culture
Exploring how community-driven play, participation, and belonging in grassroots esports reveal the social, cultural, and developmental dynamics shaping today’s digital society.
2. Learning, Competence Development & Academic Esports Practices
Examining how structured competitive game environments support learning, reflection, digital competence, and educational innovation across diverse institutional and community contexts.
3. Inclusion, Wellbeing & Human-Centered Digital Environments
Investigating how esports activities can foster healthier, more inclusive, and sustainable digital spaces that support identity, agency, and long-term participation.
4. Future Work, Digital Society & Esports-Inspired Practices
Understanding how principles from esports, collaboration, coordination, adaptability, and shared meaning-making inform emerging forms of work, digital organization, and societal transformation.
Submission Guidelines:
• Research Abstracts: 350 words
• Author biography: 100 words per author
Important Dates:
• Abstract Submission: 27th February 2026
• Acceptance Notification: 13th March 2026
• Event Dates: 11th-13th May 2026
Submission:
Submit to: tobias.scholz@uia.no
Website: www.academicesports.net