“From Grey to Green: Planning and the De-Carbonisation of the City"
The University of Birmingham invites you to join us at the Annual 2027 AESOP Congress – which will explore how to transform our cities into more sustainable, climate-resilient, safe, healthy, just and liveable places.
Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of the largest and most prestigious gathering of international researchers, educators and practitioners in Europe. The event will provide you the chance to:
Congress Theme
Cities are at the centre of the climate challenge—and of the solutions. Delivering rapid decarbonisation must happen alongside other pressing urban priorities: addressing housing needs, improving wellbeing, building inclusive prosperity, restoring biodiversity, and strengthening resilience. These demands are especially acute in (post)industrial urban regions, where the legacy of “grey” infrastructures, carbon-intensive economies, and uneven development shapes the pathways available for change.
AESOP 2027 invites contributions that examine planning as a key driver of grey-to-green transitions. This includes the governance, design, and delivery of climate adaptation and mitigation; blue/green infrastructure; sustainable mobility and accessibility; building retrofit and energy transitions; circular and regenerative urban economies; nature-positive development; and the evolving skills and roles of planning professionals. We also welcome work that engages with questions of equity, justice, health, and democratic participation—recognising that decarbonisation pathways are never purely technical, but deeply social and political.
Birmingham provides an ideal setting for this conversation. As a city shaped by industrial growth and renewal, rich civic institutions, and ambitious contemporary transformation, it offers a real-world context to explore how planning can move urban regions from grey to green in ways that are effective, fair, and enduring.
Key Dates
Venue
The AESOP congress will be primarily held on the University of Birmingham – Edgbaston Campus in Birmingham, UK, offering modern facilities for sessions and events. While we will have a range of accommodation in walking distance – the campus is easily accessible by public transport from any city centre hotel.
The city of Birmingham is the second largest city in the UK. It is a young, diverse, multiethnic and dynamic metropolis and embodies the unique challenges and opportunities of the decarbonisation agenda. Due to its industrial past and post-war modernist morphology, it is now at the forefront of attempts to tackle this most profound of planning agendas and as such has inspired our choice of the Congress theme this year.
Congress General Program
July 19th - July 23rd 2027
Mon 19/7
TUE 20/7
Break
Break
Wed 21/7
Break
Break
Thu 22/7
Break
Break
Fri 23/7
Break
LOC
The Local Organising Committee
