The Urbenviron Association and the School of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Brasilia welcome you to attend the 5thUrbenviron International Seminar Brasilia 2012 that will be held in Brasilia, Brazil, October 18 to 20, 2012.

Aiming a consistent academic and technical contribution to the formulation of public policies and definition of actions to face the climate change, the Seminar focuses the responses of the urban space for climate change in terms of precaution, adjustments and mitigation.

The report “Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements” (UN-Habitat/ONU, 2011) draws attention about the role of cities in climate change discussions. If the emissions of greenhouse gases on cities encompass processes such as consumption and power generation, transportation and industrial production, urban areas appear as responsible for 70% of emissions, although they occupy only 2% of the planet surface.

As consequences of climate change, projections indicate greater trend of extreme weather occurrence and intense events such as droughts, gales, storms, floods, etc. on an increasingly hot planet. These phenomena and their serious consequences for the cities, in recent years, illustrate the need for an adaptation strategy of urban space.

It is important to understand the causes that are associated to the physical-chemical processes, as well as the impacts of climate change on the biophysical, economic and social environment.

After all, climate change is not only an ecological issue, because most of its consequences have direct impacts on lifestyle and consumption patterns of modern society. Several countries and regions are already suffering the effects of environmental changes, which are so important to the future of cities. Those changes require actions to adapt water supply systems, land use and occupation, as well as drainage systems, for example. On the other hand, regarding climate shift prevention, to rethink patterns of transport, energy generation and distribution, and waste disposal to reduce carbon emissions, is seen as an essential issue for safe urban spaces.

The challenge is not only technological but also from social, institutional and political order. Thus, land use and urban services regulation, information dissemination and civil society mobilization, and public institutions strengthening are among the issues that are part of the theoretical and methodological framework to tackle climate change.

The Seminar, organized by the School of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Brasilia in partnership with the Urbenviron Association, includes a series of keynotes, panels and roundtables with participation of experts from different fields of knowledge regarding the Seminar topics, and is designed to steer discussions in the breakout sessions.

Venue

Legislative Chamber of the Federal District, located at the Municipal Plaza, Monumental Axis, Brasilia, Brazil.

Seminar honorary chairman

Henrique Brandão Cavalcanti, former Minister of Environment, Brazil, and co-founder of the Urbenviron Association.

Seminar coordinator

Maria do Carmo de Lima Bezerra, School of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Brasilia.

Language

English

Proceedings

Full papers will be published in the ISBN registered Seminar Proceedings. Best papers are intended to be submitted to Emerald's International Journal Management of Environmental Quality (MEQ), ISSN: 1477-7835.

Best poster award

by the Urbenviron International Association for Environmental Planning and Management.

Discussion topicsEnvironmental governance and public polices

Regulatory framework;
Territorial planning as an instrument of urban governance;
Management of risks and disasters;
Capacity development of local authorities and civil society organizations;
Public-private/public-public partnerships;
Economic instruments and tools to improve sustainability;
Social organization;
Information production and dissemination for better governance;
Successful experiences.

Territory, urban mobility and transportation

Sustainable urban transportation systems;
Models and tools for planning, design and operation of urban transportation;
Information technology and transportation science;
Successful experiences

Urban planning for climate change: prevention, adaptation and mitigation

Land use planning to prevent climatic extreme events;
Natural hazards mitigation and adaptation;
Sustainable urbanization: concepts and implementation;
Standards and codes for sustainable neighborhoods;
Methods of environmental planning/Strategic impact assessment.

Sustainable urban infrastructure: water supply, sanitation, drainage, energy and solid waste

Sustainable urban infrastructure, green technologies, eco-technologies;
Innovative methods for urban infrastructure adapting cities to climate change;
Local and regional environmental sanitation planning;
Urban wastewater treatment, disposal, reuse and sludge management;
Solid waste collection, treatment, disposal, recycling, reuse and recovery.
Energy efficiency, renewable energy technology and requirements set by a changing climate.
Urban drainage.
Soil contamination, brown fields;
Successful experiences

Water management

River basin management and territorial planning;
Water supply, water treatment, water distribution;
Regulatory framework;
Policies and evaluation studies;
Successful experiences.

All accepted papers will be published in the Seminar Proceedings with ISBN. Depending on the characteristics of each paper, the International Scientific Committee will suggest one of the following presentation formats:

Slides for oral presentation at the thematic sessions;
Poster format for presentation in the display area, where posters will stay in place during the Seminar.

Deadlines

May 15
submission of an abstract (maximum length of 350 words) containing: purpose, design/methodology/approach, findings, originality/value, key words, paper type. Paper title with 125 characters maximum length. All abstracts must be sent to urbenvironfau@unb.br and to urbenviron@urbenviron.org.

June 22
publication of the abstracts selection results.

August 31
submission of a full-length 10-15-page paper, author’s registration and fee payment (at least one of the authors). Paper format A4, Microsoft Word, font Times New Roman 12, space 1.5, margins 2.5 cm on all sides. The text should contain: Number and title of the Discussion Topic; Title; Author(s) name (s), institution, address, email; Abstract of 10 lines; Key words; Introduction; Methodology; Discussion; Results; Conclusions; References.

Attention
if the delivery of your abstract or paper is not confirmed to you within one week after you have submitted it, please contact.