Call for Papers - SCUPAD Congress - OUT OF THE BOX: Diverse Tools for Planning

Via the Planet listserve:

"OUT OF THE BOX: Diverse Tools for Planning

 - CALL FOR PAPERS -

 The Salzburg Congress on Urban Planning and Development (SCUPAD) invites abstracts for papers to be presented on its 2013 Congress “OUT OF THE BOX: Diverse Tools for Planning” to be held 9 - 12 of May, 2013 in Salzburg, Austria. Researchers and practitioners in planning who wish to present and discuss their work on planning tools are invited to submit an abstract of their proposed paper. The abstract should be no less than 250, nor more than 500 words long, and follow this structure:

·         Title of the paper,

·         Keywords,

·         Presenter’s name, affiliation and contact details (including email),

·         Short description of the subject / problem / strategy,

·         Relevance to the congress topic,

·         Methodology used,

·         Outcomes, results or brief conclusion,

·         References,

·         Intention to contribute a written paper to the congress proceedings (not required).

 Abstracts should be submitted by email to papers@scupad.org no later than 15th December 2012. 

Presenters will be notified by 1^st February 2013 whether their paper is accepted for the Congress. In addition to a presentation at the Congress, authors can choose to contribute with a written paper to proceedings of the congress. The maximum length of these contributions is 8 pages. Upon acceptance of submitted proposals, authors will receive more detailed instructions including a template for the paper and instructions for the presentation. Papers should be sent by email to papers@scupad.org prior to the congress to be included in proceedings. As an incentive to produce contributions, one presenter per paper will get free congress participation. The best paper presented at the congress will be chosen for the SCUPAD Prize of Excellence 2013 offering free congress participation in the next year. 

 The topic

Planners throughout the world use a variety of tools in their efforts to shape healthy communities. These range from traditional spatial planning and regulatory tools, to innovative processes for engaging authentic public participation. They include targeted public and private funding streams supporting urban and rural regeneration as well as conceptual and design tools. Today new methods, processes and instruments are emerging, driven by technological advancements, shifts in planning paradigms and our awareness that the global challenges we face are more complex than we previously understood.

SCUPAD Congress 2013 will offer a trans-disciplinary look at today’s planners’ toolbox. Invited presenters will bring to light innovative tools used throughout the world, exploring examples from the well-wired and high-tech, to tools that engage and empower non-planners in efforts to preserve, re-imagine and shape the places they care about.

Our planning and development practices address everything from climate change, mobility problems, poverty, public health problems, housing, habitat and cultural preservation, among thousands of other interrelated forces. The tools we use and create today are as diverse as the people and places we plan with. We are no longer just planning for people; we are planning for an ecosystem.

Rapidly changing environments, our urgent need to create nourishing settlements for the millions of people born and migrating each year, and opportunities to bring elegance and justice to our places demands that we sharpen and expand our tools. Our increasing knowledge of the complexity of our work, and the risk of its unintended consequences, invites us to be more precise in selecting and creating the right tools for the right jobs.

 The Institution:

SCUPAD is an independent, non-profit international organization of planners, whose members are based throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America and recently from South America, India and Northern Africa. All SCUPAD members are professionals working at a high level in their respective organizations: planning and other government authorities, educational and research institutions, private development and consultancy practices. With its annual Congresses since 1965, SCUPAD presents topics for discussion of a contemporary nature and of critical relevance to urban planning and development. Unlike most other international conventions, SCUPAD developed its characteristic style as a more personal exchange among experts, engendering informality, international and transdisciplinary discourse and a lively social and professional network that carries on beyond the Congresses.

 More information about SCUPAD and the upcoming congress can be found at http://www.scupad.org/."