Save the date for SCUPAD 2013

The Salzburg Congress on Urban Planning and Development (SCUPAD) will take place between 9 and 12 May 2013 in the Schloss Leopoldskroon in Salzburg, Austria. The theme of the congress will be “Diverse Tools” for Planning: a reference both to the variety and the novelty of planning tools emerging in the last twenty years. The preliminary BLURB of the congress is below. The call for papers will be available soon. Save the date!

“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, to solar-powered, satellite-informed, graphical information systems and more. Today, new methods, processes and instruments are emerging that correspond to our awareness that the global challenges we face are more complex than we previously understood.

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.

SCUPAD 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.

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.

Please keep your eyes on your inbox for updates about our out-of-the-box look at planner’s toolboxes at SCUPAD 2013, May 9-12, Salzburg, Austria. We hope you’ll join us as we explore proven and emerging methods/technologies/processes, share our experiences, and help sharpen and possibly even take home some new tools” (SCUPAD Organising Committee).

Keep an eye on the WEBSITE for more information.