Fifth Subsistence Marketplaces Bottom-Up Immersion Conference

"From Research Insights to Social Impact in Real-Time"

June 1-5, 2026
Marrakesh, Morocco

(Nearby visits, including Casablanca, to be determined)

Hosted by TBS Education, Morocco

Application Process: All applicants must submit an application; those wishing to present research have the option to submit an abstract.

Application Deadline: November 30, 2025
Applications will be processed periodically as they are received. Acceptance is subject to constraints on maximum capacity.

Participant Expectations: Participants will be assigned to tracks based on interests shared in the application process. Field visits, based on track assignments, are required; research presentations, with prior approval, are optional.

Registration Deadline: January 5, 2026
Includes payment of non-refundable conference fee and signature of waiver.

Estimated Registration Fee: Conference registration fees are expected to be in the vicinity of $500, with a 50% discount for students and participants who reside in African countries.

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Conference Chairs

Steven Chan, Thomas Jefferson University, USA

Edem Klobodu, Queen’s University, Canada

Pallavi Singh, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Conference Directors

Delphine Godefroit-Winkel, TBS Education, Morocco

Madhu Viswanathan, Loyola Marymount University, Emeritus – University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

This is an informal description of the Fifth Subsistence Marketplaces Bottom-Up Immersion Conference. We invite you to read and consider participating in this unique, one-of-a-kind experience. Unique to this conference, immersion in communities in the earlier days of the conference will culminate in designing and piloting specific educational interventions for positive impact.

Conference Description

The stream of subsistence marketplaces has pioneered a unique, bottom-up approach to research, education, and practice at the intersection of poverty and marketplaces. The term “subsistence emphasizes the qualitative nature of life circumstances wherein the ability to meet basic needs is chronically under threat (Viswanathan and Rosa, 2007)." Building on seven biennial conferences, four immersion conferences, and four virtual conferences in the last two decades and accompanying publications, we announce the fifth immersion conference on subsistence marketplaces. True to the bottom-up approach that characterizes the subsistence marketplaces stream, this conference is envisioned to take place on different continents over time, thus providing an opportunity for researchers, educators, practitioners, and students to engage directly with urban and rural subsistence marketplaces through conversations and observations. Immersion conferences have been held in India, Tanzania, Morocco, and Mexico.

For our fifth immersion conference, we return to Morocco, in the city of Marrakesh. Our field visits will be in rural, semi-urban, and urban settings, as well as social enterprises and businesses. It will also combine aspects of virtual and in-person conferences by having a call for paper submissions. The participants will meet for debriefs and paper presentations after field visits. Unique to this conference, the immersion will unfold through gaining and then using insights to design and pilot a specific educational intervention for positive impact.

Why is this conference unique?

This is a bottom-up immersion conference, meaning we emphasize field interactions. If we are truly bottom-up in the subsistence marketplaces stream, then our forums should push further and be spent in the field as well, gaining bottom-up insights.

What will happen at the conference?

We will spend much of the day in the field, then return to reflect, discuss, and regroup for the next day. We do so in groups or tracks with distinct interests. We remain fluid in allowing ideas from the participants and insights from the field to emerge and guide the process. We will have time and process built in for reflecting on insights, designing, and then piloting an impactful educational intervention, and reflecting on learning for research and practice. Our process is bottom-up in this aspect as well, but guided by much experience, which will provide an appropriate top-down structure. We will also have time allotted for paper presentations based on submissions.

What else can we do?

This is Morocco! We have built in time for sightseeing. Participants can also arrange to extend their stay.

Who makes this happen?

TBS Education in partnership with the entity, Subsistence Marketplaces (www.subsistencemarketplaces.org), and local social enterprises (Amis des Ecoles https://amisdesecoles.org/).

What is the process building up to the conference?

An application process will be followed by registration and formation of thematic teams based on expressed interests. We envision rural and urban visits as the venues for observations and interviews, with a period in the spring when we align groups and encourage interactions based on interests and preferences. We plan to seek initial preferences from each group as to what they want to see and with whom they want to interact – the latter ranging from individuals to households, communities, leaders/experts, and enterprises. Two online forums in spring 2026 will provide opportunities for team members to interact with each other.

What this conference is NOT

This conference is not a forum for conducting research, which, of course, requires a variety of procedures and formalities. The focus is on field interactions, which are intended to stimulate discussion but do not constitute the basis for any formal research. We are exploring ways in which formal research could be conducted during the conference. However, this is not guaranteed, and applicants should view the conference as a setting for field interactions but not formal research, until further communications on this topic.

Opportunities for publications

A special issue or a special section of the Subsistence Marketplaces Journal is likely to be published based partially on articles developed from the conference.

How to apply

All applicants must complete a simple application form that asks the following:

An overview of your interests (research, education, social enterprise, business, government, etc.) related to subsistence marketplaces.
An outline of how your topic enhances understanding of and well-being in subsistence marketplaces.
A description of how/why immersive experiences will help you develop deeper insights into your topic of interest.
Your prior experiences in subsistence marketplaces (if any). Note that prior experience in this area is NOT a requirement. In fact, we encourage those without prior experience to participate.

In addition to indicating your intention to participate, which can be done immediately, we will need you to complete a separate registration form to process your payment for the conference, which will be open soon.

Even if you will participate in paper submissions, please complete the required application form.

Abstracts for individual presentations (1,000 words max) are due November 30, 2025, to subsistencemarketplaces@gmail.com.

Who can apply?

We invite academics, researchers, educators, practitioners, and students interested in gaining firsthand experience in subsistence marketplaces. Although prior research or professional experience in subsistence marketplaces is not required, we expect participants to have topics related to subsistence marketplaces that they plan to pursue in their future research, education, or practice.

Background Information

For almost 20 years, the Subsistence Marketplaces Conference has been a leading biennial forum for evolving and sharing research, education, and fostering best practices for social and commercial enterprises in subsistence marketplace communities.

Scholars and practitioners worldwide have participated in these forums through conferences, publications, and educational initiatives, beginning with the first Subsistence Marketplaces Conference in 2006. Research by this community has appeared in various outlets, sustained through a series of special issues/sections in academic journals (with more than 60 articles in conference-related special publications and many more in other outlets).

Since its origin, subsistence marketplace research has accumulated a substantial body of knowledge paralleling other approaches to poverty, such as the capabilities approach and base-of-the-pyramid research, providing unique and complementary insights.

The term “subsistence marketplaces” was deliberately coined to reflect the need to study these marketplaces across resource and literacy barriers in their own right, beyond being new markets for companies. Business and exchange happen in many different ways across the world. Such exchanges are worthy of study from the inside out as well as the outside in. The term “marketplaces” denotes this focus and emphasizes the need to understand preexisting marketplaces before designing or presuming solutions.

More information on the Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative can be found at subsistencemarketplaces.org.