Organisers and partners
30 November | 1 December 2021
Descartes Campus - Marne-la-Vallée
The 5th edition of FUTURE Days will be held on 30 November and 1 December 2021.
FUTURE Days is the annual event which brings together the scientific community around the theme of the cities and territories of tomorrow. FUTURE Days is an event for stakeholders to meet and exchange ideas, from across all urban-related sectors, including transport, mobility, housing, construction, planning, resource management and associated services (waste, water, energy), culture, architecture, education, and economic and social development.
This event has been designed to address issues from a global and multidisciplinary perspective. FUTURE Days is therefore aimed at professionals from a wide range of disciplines in human and social sciences, as well as information sciences, engineering sciences and life and environmental sciences.
This call for papers is therefore aimed at researchers from all disciplines who are interested in adopting a cross-cutting approach.
FUTURE Days also incorporates non-academic views from local authorities and the socio-economic sector in each session.
The theme for the 2021 edition is decarbonised cities and territories.
Decarbonised cities offer a solution to the challenges of both our dependence on fossil fuels and global warming. Although it is widely agreed that decarbonation must be achieved, the mechanisms for this decarbonation are hotly debated among scientific communities.
In general, three mechanisms are put forward to support the trajectory towards the decarbonation of cities.
The first mechanism is reducing consumption (insulation of buildings, less motorised travel, advances made in industry, etc.). Mobility and construction, among other issues, thus represent the greatest challenges in decarbonising urban territories. The city then reduces its energy consumption, mobility and waste production at source, and develops re-use and the circular economy. However, the mechanisms for reducing consumption are still a subject for debate, with questions raised about territorial development, urban forms of transport, building renovation and modes of production and consumption.
The second mechanism is waste hunting. This involves recovering the energy lost through various types of activity that it can be redirected to where it is needed. A great deal of scientific research is being conducted on the organisation of this recovery, examining the required level of investment and ways of using existing networks. This approach also calls for the application of systemic reasoning in order to understand the links and complementarities between the different activities and the various spaces and timeframes.
Finally, the third mechanism concerns alternative decarbonised forms of energy. Once again, the methods for transporting and storing CO2, as well as for producing and deploying these alternative decarbonised energies, present scientific challenges.
However, the implementation of decarbonised cities requires the involvement of all parties, including corporate, economic, citizen and academic stakeholders. The methods for implementing these forms of collective intelligence should also be called into question.
Furthermore, the decarbonation trajectory of cities requires a precise vision of the public’s consumption, direct emissions and greenhouse gas footprint. This also presents a challenge both in terms of data production, the relevant scales and timeframes, as well as management and governance.
It is therefore essential to raise questions about the decarbonation of cities, in view of history, as the city of tomorrow may sometimes have to be reinvented before being invented. It may also be useful to make comparisons with other territories in order to provide the best possible support for transitions; there are sometimes existing solutions and their transposition must be analysed.
The contextual realities of cities must be taken into account. Cities have specific local situations and particular historical contexts that can adversely affect the expected results of solutions thought to be generic and replicable.
It is therefore expected that papers will examine the issue of the decarbonation of cities and will fall under the following sessions:
S1: technological, social, political, economic and regulatory mechanisms for the decarbonation of cities and territories
S2: measurement of consumption, emissions and the footprint of cities and territories
S3: multi-scale and inclusive governance for the decarbonation of cities and territories, including the social aspect of decarbonation
S4: historical factors relating to the decarbonation of cities and territories, and their impact
S5: international comparison of decarbonation trajectories of cities and territories
S6: links between the decarbonation of cities and their environment
S7: acceptability of decarbonation policies and measures
Abstract proposals can be submitted in English (or French) (1,500 words maximum) before 18 July 2021, midnight.
Proposals for papers will be selected by the scientific committee for the conference (see composition below).
Particular focus will be given to:
Download the call for communications
| May 27, 2021 | Opening of the call for communications |
| July 18, 2021, midnight | Closure of the call for communications |
| September 10, 2021 | Selection of proposals by the Scientific Committee |