


How the Global Fair Trade Movement works to transform trade in order to achieve justice, equity and sustainability for people and planet.

Fair Trade International Symposium
The Fair Trade International Symposium (FTIS) is the leading global gathering for scholars, practitioners and policymakers working on Fair Trade.
The FTIS takes the form of a regular, large-scale conference event that gathers interested parties from all across the world in order to showcase the latest and highest quality research undertaken in the area of 'Fair Trade'. It aims to bring together both the world’s leading and newly emerging academic researchers, along with practitioners, policymakers and the general public, for the development and consolidation of collective knowledge on the subject of Fair Trade.
The FTIS is an initiative of scholars interested in Fair Trade and Fair Trade practitioners representing the main Fair Trade institutions including the World Fair Trade Organization, Fairtrade International, with the support of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office.
The FTIS process is steered by a group representing Fair Trade academic networks and the above mentioned Fair Trade movement organisations.
Each edition of the Symposium is organised by a Scientific Committee, composed of appointed academics by the host Institution, and a Steering Group.
Past editions
The past editions of the Fair Trade International Symposia took place in:
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2002 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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2006 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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2008 Montpellier, France
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2012 Liverpool, UK
Next editions
The FTIS Steering Committee decided to support an on-line event to provide a space to step back and reflect on long-term impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on Fair Trade on 10 and 11 June 2020. Read more here.
The VIIth edition of the Fair Trade International Symposium (FTIS), which was going to take place in the week of 8 June 2020 in San Cristóbal de las Casas (Chiapas, Mexico), hosted by ECOSUR, had to be postponed, due to the on-going Covid-19 crisis, to 2021 (exact dates to be confirmed later in 2020).
The host of the VIIIth edition will be the University of Leeds (UK), probably in 2023 (to be confirmed).