Selamat Datang and Kopivosian to Borneo!

The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) is holding its 22nd conference in the thriving city of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah state, on the  beautiful island of Borneo. Our ISQOLS past president Liz Eckermann  grew up in Sabah and she envisioned and successfully bid for an ISQOLS Conference in Sabah. Sadly, she passed in 2019, and it is in her memory that this conference is hosted in the land of her birth. The theme of the conference is “Human Happiness and Wellbeing in an Uncertain World”, which reflects both the changes that have occurred in our world post-pandemic, but also the unique capacity for post traumatic growth and quality of life improvement. 

ISQOLS conferences provide a space for scholars to provide their research findings on quality-of-life, well-being, and happiness, as well as to discuss their relevance for policymaking. Hence, for the 22nd conference, local policymakers and leaders of government, academia and industry will be in attendance during opening and closing sessions, and will hopefully gain insights to change local policies with global values. ISQOLS gathers scholars from all corners of the world, from different disciplines, with different methodological and theoretical perspectives, and following different approaches, but with one common goal: generating research-based knowledge to contribute to the well-being in societies. To that end, we are involving local non-governmental organizations, grassroots movements, and community leaders in our conference as well in order to allow these research-based knowledge to trickle down to where it matters most. 

We also expect a stellar cast of keynote speakers who reflect pioneers and leaders in Quality of Life in the Asia Pacific region, and who will open our eyes to new values and ways of being in QoL research and practise. Confirmed keynote speakers include:

• Simon Eckermann, Senior Professor of Health Economics at Wollongong University Australia; 

• Andrew Clark, ISQOLS Board Member, and Paris School of Economics, Chaired Professor, Director of the National Centre for Scientific Research CNRS;

• Mohsen Joshanloo, our ISQOLS 2018 Young Scholar Award recipient and an associate professor in psychology at Keimyung University South Korea and Honorary Principal Fellow, Centre for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne.

Please see our conference schedule and learn about the conference venues and location. We look forward to receiving your submissions and seeing you in Malaysia!

Sincerely,

ISQOLS 2024 Conference Planning Committee