Call for Abstracts

Guidelines and Instructions

The Walk21 Vienna 2015 Conference

Walk21 champions the development of healthy, sustainable and efficient communities where people choose to walk. Through the Walk21 Conference series and the Walk21 International Charter, Walk21 has a vision to create an environment where people choose and are able to walk as a way to travel, to be healthy and to relax. The City of Vienna is proud to be hosting the Walk21 conference from 20-23 October 2015. The motto „Stepping ahead” promotes activities and innovations towards the future of our resilient cities and healthy living environments.

We look forward to welcoming you to Vienna, one of the most liveable cities in the world and host of Walk21 2015. Together with experts from around the globe we will share insights and expertise on how to step ahead and on how to be a walkable city.

The Walk21 Conference brings together experts in the field of walking promotion, research, policy, planning and delivery. It is an opportunity to learn from international experience and to showcase local challenges and solutions. The conference will host more than 700 delegates from all continents.

Please submit an abstract for presentation that is relevant to the main conference themes wherever possible so that others can benefit from your experience, successes and contemporary research. The four main conference themes are:

• Walking towards new public spaces • Walking towards resilient cities • Walking towards safety and health • Walking together

Whether you are a politician, a planner, a campaigner or a practitioner, you are welcome to share your experience and be part of the discussion and all side events at Walk21 Vienna in October 2015.

The Program Committee looks forward to receiving your abstract from 24 November 2014 until 30 January 2015.

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Important Dates & Contact

Call for Abstracts opens 24 November 2014 closes 30 January 2015

Reviewing 5–22 February 2015 Notification of Acceptance 31 March 2015 Registration and payment for conference 21 May 2015 Upload your digital presentation 12–15 October 2015 Walk21 Vienna 2015 Conference 20–23 October 2015

Contact Andrea Weninger, Walk21 Vienna Program Director Ulla Thamm, Walk21 Vienna Program Director Assistant

Any questions please email us at: program@walk21vienna.com

Themes

01 Walking towards new public spaces The quality and walkability of public space is the essence of a liveable city and plays a major role in future mobility. Strategies to become a smart, efficient and attractive city help create a modern, mobile workforce. Vienna has well designed and accessible public spaces, attractive walking routes, safe infrastructure and is being managed, wherever possible, to be inclusive and barrier free. Still, the City is keen to be even more walkable by ensuring its public spaces are fully accessible, relevant and welcoming to people whatever their age, ability or culture.

We are interested to hear from good examples around the globe, of public spaces that are being planned in partnership with the people living in them in particular and how that improves their use, appreciation and the neighbouring economy.

Walking towards new public spaces

Abstracts are welcome on the following topics, but not limited to:

• Designing new public space that is walkable and invites people to sojurn

• Making public spaces work for transport and the economy

• Integrating street networks into public space design

• Managing behaviour in public spaces

• (Design) partnership processes, strategies and cooperation

• Overcoming emotional and physical barriers – inclusive access, universal design, gender- and age sensitive

planning

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02 Walking towards resilient cities Walking is the simplest and oldest form of mobility but is only relatively recently experiencing a renaissance in city development as part of planning for resilience. Proving to be effective at fighting the impacts of climate change, energy scarcity, obesity, air pollution and economic uncertainty, resilient cities are investing in walking as a democratic, cost-effective and inclusive solution. Resilient cities face future challenges with efficient long-term policies. Walking is one of these sustainable policies and will help make urban areas fit for the next century.

We are keen to hear examples of where cities are using walking policies and projects to improve resilience and in particular how they are measuring impact.

Walking towards resilient cities

Abstracts are welcome on the following topics, but not limited to:

• Walking as an effective tool for supporting climate change mitigation, climate change adaption, and urban

transition

• How walking can change suburban areas

• Enabling longer journeys

• Walking and carrying goods

• How walkability can help revitalise neighbourhoods and encourage urban equity

• The importance of walkability in developing countries

03 Walking towards safety and health Walking benefits personal health and delivers public health outcomes, which reduce the macroeconomic expenses on medical costs but at a cost to infrastructure budgets in order to ensure it is comfortable, attractive and safe. We particularly welcome experiences of where communities have developed practical cost / benefit partnerships to create a net benefit for communities.

We would like to hear examples of where safety and health has specifically been increased through campaigns, speed reduction strategies, a community reclaiming the streets etc. Shared spaces, pedestrian zones and the reclamation of public spaces in urban areas are currently gaining more attention. What other strategies can be pursued to keep pedestrians safe and healthy?

Walking towards safety and health

Abstracts are welcome on the following topics, but not limited to:

• Success stories of motivating less active people to walk more

• Walking as a measure of mental well-being

• Shared spaces which are also inclusive of peoples’ different needs

• The effectiveness of Vision Zero and other road safety targets as well as rebounding effects from traffic

safety measures

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04 Walking together Nearly every trip begins and ends with a walk. Walking is the connection of all modes of transport and public transport stops and hubs especially require a focus and synergy of information, space and infrastructure. But what is the best way to give people the right information about the walk stage to ensure it as good as possible. We particularly welcome examples of systems and service oriented information, multimodal transport projects and cooperation, awareness raising, and effective communication campaigns and tools.

Walking together

Abstracts are welcome on the following topics, but not limited to:

• Improving the walkability of public transport stops and hubs

• Successful communication strategies, campaigns, walking events, that have helped raise the profile of

walking and make it a more regular activity

• Using technology to improve confidence, accessibility, and navigation

• Methods and strategies for more inclusive planning

• Celebrations of walking, creative and artistic interventions to enhance walking and invite people to enjoy

moving about on foot

• Apps and other technology to inspire and measure (walking) activity

Research questions of particular interest to the City of Vienna Complementing the four main conference topics, the Walk21 Vienna program team is interested in abstracts considering the following specific research questions. Ideally, please assign your contribution regarding these research questions to one of the above mentioned conference themes.

• What is the best way to enhance the visibility of walking to ensure it is valued as an equitable mode of transport?

• What is the best way to give people walking a higher level of confidence on the street and in traffic to reduce their perception of being a ‘second-class road user’?

• What is the best way to estimate movement or to collect data on walking? What methods analyse the quality of social space in order to measure walking and urban design value?

• What methods of mode share measurement are most helpful to ensure successes from investment in walking can be identified?

• What rebound effects are known to result from measures to enhance the safety of pedestrians? (Is, for instance, physically separating pedestrians from other modes such as public transport the ultimate solution to keep them safe?)

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Formats

The Walk21 Vienna 2015 program will be an exciting mix of formats to encourage and enable a dynamic conference agenda, which will promote collaboration, provide new knowledge and support peer-to-peer learning. Walk21 is known as a communicative conference, hence the types of sessions being considered carefully by the Program Committee. The number of breakout session presentations is limited in order to encourage interactive discussions and networking. Contributions for interactive types of sessions are therefore most welcome and will be recommended to the Program Committee.

• Breakout session – a group of 20 minute presentations on a similar topic • Round tables – extended discussion with colleagues • Pecha Kucha – 20 slides x 20 seconds to tell your story • Workshops – focussed topic discussions with colleagues • Speed Dating – rounds of short presentations to a lot of people • Urban Laboratory – on-street real world experiments in walking

Please be aware that slight changes of the format descriptions may occur due to final programming.

01 Breakout session

This is an oral presentation in a session shared with other presenters to illuminate different perspectives and experience on the same topic. The presentations will provide the framework for the subsequent discussion and will be selected to encourage debate.

Time 20 minutes presentation, 10 minutes discussion

Audience 50-200 Interactivity, communication low Moderator/chair Yes No. of speakers/presentations 2 Technique & media Traditional audio visual aids are available; a digital media

presentation is possible but not mandatory.

02 Round table

A roundtable allows for extended discussion among a small cohort of colleagues, giving and receiving targeted feedback, engaging in in-depth discussions and meeting colleagues with similar interests. Roundtables are good venues for the hands-on exploration of case studies. Speakers are encouraged to provide insight into their topic and encourage questions and discussion taking advantage of the expertise and insights of other attendees to build a professional network. Please note that a roundtable is an interactive format and that presentations are limited to a certain length of time. Participants may change to another table in the room.

Time 10 minutes presentation, 20 minutes discussion, then participants move to another table

Audience 5-20 Interactivity, communication High Moderator/chair Yes, it’s you! No. of speakers/presentations max. 2 Technique & media There are no traditional audio visual aids available. You may

bring your own handouts, photos, folders, tablets (make sure your battery is charged!),…

Don’t forget! If you submit a round table, think about how to encourage questions and discussion. Please deliver information on your topic in form of an executive summary. Don’t forget to consider the goal of your work at the roundtable.

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03 Pecha Kucha

Pecha Kucha is a presentation format where there is a show of a maximum (!) 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images change automatically while presenters are talking, so that the story line of the talk is built around the chosen images. There will be no time to digress or get hung up on a detail but it can be a very engaging and exciting session. Remember, the images of your talk automatically change after 20 seconds. There will be 6 presentations per session. After the talks are finished, the presenters and the audience will have time for discussion.

Time total: 90 minutes, your presentation: 6 minutes

Audience 20-200 Interactivity, communication medium Moderator/chair Yes No. of speakers/presentations 1 per presentation / in the entire session: 6 presentations Technique & media Traditional audio visual aids are available; a digital media

presentation is mandatory, with a maximum of 20 slides. Don’t forget! Its’ 20 x 20 seconds.

04 Workshop

At a workshop, a smaller group of people deal with a specific topic or question. A workshop aims at working together with workshop participants targeting a common goal. Please note that a workshop is more of an interactive format and that your presentation is limited to a certain length of time. You can propose a workshop in collaboration with a colleague working in the same field.

Time total: 90 minutes

Audience 10-40 Interactivity, communication high Moderator/chair Yes, it’s you! No. of speakers/presentations 1 or 2 workshops per session, depending on the final

program planning Technique & media There are audiovisual aids available. Don’t forget! Beforehand, you have to consider the definition of the goal

of your workshop, your introduction to the topic/theme as well as interesting and relevant questions.

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05 Speed dating

A speed dating session gives you the opportunity to present projects, case studies and work to a great number of delegates. Your presentation lasts for maximum eight minutes, a smaller audience will ask questions and then there is a short discussion on the project with you. A bell rings, the audience circulates to another presentation in the same room and you present to a new small group. During this session, participants will be able to take in at least six presentations (which means you need to be prepared to give your presentation 6 times too – imagine how good you will be at it by the end!)

Time total: 90 minutes

Audience 500+ (in total) Interactivity, communication high Moderator/chair no No. of speakers/presentations 60-100 Technique & media A table! Bring your folders, hand outs, business cards,

tablets (make sure your battery is charged!),…

06 Urban Laboratory

The city of Vienna will be your urban (walking) laboratory. The Urban Walking Laboratory is an opportunity to use the public spaces in the city of Vienna to carry out experiments, pilot programs and deliver direct urban interventions. You can facilitate your own Urban Laboratory in Vienna, the participants will follow you outside the conference venue to the real urban fabric and discover your experience, ideas and research. Explore the city and its perceptions of public space and experience the impact of your idea. Set your interventions as a contribution of Walk21 to the host city.

Time total: 90-180 minutes, depending on the final conference program

Audience max. 20 Interactivity, communication medium Moderator/chair Yes, it’s you! No. of speakers/presentations 1-2 per laboratory Technique & media There are no audio visual aids available. Bring your own

handouts, photos, folders, white coats, tablets (make sure your battery is charged!),…

Don’t forget! Beforehand, you have to define the goal of your Urban Laboratory, make it as interesting and attractive as possible. Don’t forget to consider walking and travel times from and to the conference venue.

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Submission

• Please submit your abstract here: www.walk21vienna.com à Call for Abstracts Online Submission or here: https://swmg.conference-services.net/authorlogin.asp?conferenceID=4427&language=en-uk and create your user account (Internet Explorer version 4 onwards, Netscape version 4.7 onwards or equivalent). The Call for Abstracts opens on 24 November 2014 and closes on 30 January 2015.

• We can not accept abstracts sent as text or PDF documents by e-mail. • Make sure the content of your submission is pertinent to the conference themes. • Only abstracts in English will be accepted. • Use less than 20 words for the title. Please make your title brief and interesting. To make your title

attractive to conference delegates, you may choose to pose a question, state a hypothesis or make an assertion. The Program Committee reserves the right to change the title of the abstract slightly if necessary.

• The abstract must not exceed a length of 500 words. Please check your abstract wording and spelling carefully. It will not be possible to make changes after the Call for Abstract closes.

• As the reviewing process will be anonymous please keep your name out of the abstract title and the abstract itself.

• Be aware that you will be asked to agree that your abstract can be presented in the program outline if it is accepted. It is not permitted to change the main content of your abstract.

• Please provide a valid e-mail address as this will be how further information will be communicated about your submission.

• The Walk21 Vienna Program Committee and Program Team and Walk21 organisers are not responsible for lost or misdirected submissions.

Presentation and format criteria

• Your presentation at the conference will be in English. No translation facilities will be available. • Please select the most suitable format for your contribution. You can submit your abstract to a maximum

of two different format types. Please note that each type of format requires different phrasing and wording. Submitting for two formats does not influence the Program Committee’s general decisions regarding the importance of the contribution.

• Walk21 is proud to be known as a communicative conference and as such the Program Committee limits the number of sessions for lectures/presentations is limited in order to facilitate interactive discussions and networking. Contributions for interactive types of sessions are therefore most welcome.

• There is a maximum of two presenters per contribution. • The Walk 21 Vienna Program Committee reserves the right to change the contributor’s selected format if

considered benefiting quality of the presentation and the overall conference program. The contributor(s) will be personally advised of any changes made.

Reviewing criteria

• The evaluation criteria will be: relevance to the conference theme; content quality and professional rigour; innovation and cutting edge; pertinence; and, timeliness. The Program Committee is responsible for making the final decisions (including geographical, gender and quality considerations). We very much welcome abstracts with inter- and transdisciplinary (scientific) approaches as well as contributions that involve diverse partnerships (e.g. city administrations, politicians, industry, planners, artists, advocacy groups,...). In the same way, submissions made by contributors originating from different countries will also be appreciated.

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Reviewing process

• Every abstract will be reviewed by at least four expert reviewers. The reviewing will be anonymous. • The Reviewing Team consists of more than 50 international reviewers and is managed by the Walk21

Vienna Program Director, supported by the Walk21 organisation. Reviewers originate from many different countries and have relevant and unique insight into the different themes. The reviewers provide the foundation for decision-making by the members of the Walk21 Program Committee.

• Authors will be notified if their abstract was accepted or not by 31 March 2015. • All author(s), their titles of submissions and invitations to speak will be formally confirmed by the Program

Committee and immediately published in the program outline on the Walk21 Vienna website in April 2015. It is mandatory to agree to this process at the time of submission.

Copyright

• By submitting your abstract and/or presenting at Walk21 conference you guarantee that you have the right to present and submit the content of your abstract, of data, of pictures and photos. Please make sure to include all necessary sources in your presentation where relevant.

• Copyright in any abstract submitted to the Walk21 Vienna 2015 Program Team will be retained by the author(s), but, if selected for presentation at the conference, it is mandatory that the author will permit the conference organisers (the City of Vienna and Walk21) to use the abstract (whether in whole or in part) as a part of the program outline, promotion and presentation of the conference before, during and after the event.

• Copyright in any digital presentation given at Walk21 2015 will be retained by the author(s), but it is mandatory that Walk21 and the City of Vienna are permitted to share your digital presentation as part of the conference proceedings in order to spread scientific and relevant knowledge within the walking community and to augment the highly important outputs of the conference.

• It is planned that all of the abstracts, material presented at the conference and official photographs of activities taken during the event, will be shared among the participants. They will also be published on the Walk21 Vienna conference website and included in the Walk21 database and website. It is mandatory to agree when you submit your abstract.

• Contributors and presenters authorise Walk21 Vienna 2015, the City of Vienna and the Walk21 organisation to reuse and communicate their abstracts, in compliance with copyright law, following the conference.

• All Walk21 2015 abstracts and presentations (whether in whole or in part) must not be republished by any person and/or organisation than the author, Walk21 and the City of Vienna.

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Fees and registration

• Presenters will be offered a reduced conference fee of Euro 400 for the four-day Walk21 Vienna 2015

conference. The fee is including VAT. If your abstract is selected, you will be notified how to redeem your discount. If a selected speaker wants to attend the conference only on the day of his/her presentation, the fee is Euro 250,- including VAT. Please find all conference fees at www.walk21vienna.com

• The author(s) of the accepted contribution must register for the conference by 21 May 2015 at the latest. Accepted contributions will be automatically withdrawn from the program if the contributor’s registration and payment has not been received by this date.

• If selected for the program, at least one author must be available to present the abstract. The authors will immediately notify the Walk21 Vienna Program Director if they are unable to present an abstract or if the presenting author has changed.

• The selected speakers are responsible for their own travel and accommodation arrangements. • Contributions not conforming to the above guidelines will not be accepted.

We are looking forward to receiving your abstracts by 30 January 2015 at the latest. Please note that later submissions will not be accepted.