AESOP Congresses - Naples 2007- 'Planning in the Risk Society'
The XXI Aesop Conference hosted in Napoli – for the second time in Italy – it was a good success in terms of results for our growth both like association and scientific community.
The conference’s theme, “Planning in the risk society”, it was largely discussed in 14 tracks and 11 roundtables, very well organized and graded also from our trackchairs and colleagues that proposed new discussion spaces that enriched the usual conference setting.
In all these large thematic session scholars, academics, researchers and students tryed to decline the challenges of planning in the context of ‘risk’ both in terms of environmental concerns consequent upon climate change but also social and economic concerns linked to crime, terrorism, poverty, exclusion and marginalisation, amongst others and so on.
More than 600 participants (considering also the PhD students that will join the main Congress from the Workshop in Paestum), coming from 40 between European and not European countries, in a great numbers of presentations discussed about the (contemporary) risk society implications for planning theories and practices, territorial cooperation and cohesion policy, education and practice, global challenges to local socio-economic development, multicultural societies, participation and governance, housing, urban decline and social exclusion, law, institutions, and property rights, urban design and physical form, transport and mobility infrastructures, new technologies, culture, heritage and spatial planning and environmental one with landscape and rurban areas.
Moreover the large number of roundtables were an interesting confirmation of needs to address specific issues as well as to strengthen and expand working groups engaged on a permanent basis on special issues like: “Research ethics in the context of racialised conflict and oppression” (organizer Lo Piccolo, Thomas), “The challenges of the European spatial planning to the regional planning systems in italy” (organizer Belli, Mesolella Fabbro), “Convergence and transfer: the experience of comparing France and Britain (organizer French and British Planning Study Group), “(How) does planning theory affect practice?” (organizer Alexander), “Informality matters” (organizer Hillier), “Changing concepts of space and place in spatial planning" (organizer Davoudi, Bailey), “Climate change, cities, and urban planning” (organizer Pizarro),”Urban transport planning for the XXI century: learning from Naples and Campania?” (organizer Bertolini, Hull) “Territorial attractiveness: crossing points of view” (Ingallina), “A common European core curriculum for planning education?” (organizer Marson, Fubini), “Revolutionary urbanism: the politics of inclusion” (organizer Roy). One timemore we’d like to thank all the roundtables organizers for their attention and work also oriented to invite and involve new or unusual guest of the Association events.
A big number of Associations (internal or strictly related with Aesop) and thematic groups meetings took place during the conference. They confirmed the vitality of members and their interest to use as much as possible the conference days to exchange information, experiences, relations and also to organize every time more interesting events.
At the end we really like to thank all the Aesop members the give us help and trust that let us to do so well our work.
Dr Daniela De Leo and Pr. Francesco Domenico Moccia (conference chair)
Here you can download AESOP objectives for the period 2007-2010, presented by AESOP President Peter Ache.
