THEMATIC GROUPS

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Rural Planning

Published: 15 April 2026

Our spring webinar series is happening!

You can view the first webinar here: https://zoom.us/signin?_x_zm_rtaid=BKmW0dF8QcuQyJJYsYtV5g.1776288095574.46575c3a9687785e4258fd3982b16768&_x_zm_rhtaid=577#/login

The first seminar discussed neo-endogenous rural development, conceptualised in the early 2000s as an approach to rural development that is locally rooted yet outward-looking, and characterised by dynamic interactions between local areas and their wider environments.

Rather than being a theoretical and normative framework, it was a contribution that aimed to explain how things work on the ground, highlighting a dynamic urban-rural and local-global relationship, as well as various actors in the production of rural development discourse (within and beyond rural areas).

A quarter of a century later, what is the relevance of neo-endogenous rural development today? How have such approaches been adapted and evolved? And what do these contributions mean for the Global South?

In our first webinar, Prof Bettina Bock and Dr Shengxi Xin introduced spatially differentiated versions of neo-endogenous rural development and considered the implications of such theorisations for both the practice of rural development and rural planning scholarship. 

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Ethics, Values and Planning

Published: 07 April 2026

As part of its Seminar Series, the AESOP Thematic Group on Ethics, Values, and Planning is organizing an online session entitled “Spatial Segregation as a Tactic: Voluntary and Involuntary Forms of Separation in Intentional Communities.”
The seminar will feature Tore Sager Professor Emeritus from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) as the invited speaker.

In this seminar, it is aimed to explore segregation as a deliberate and tactical act in the context of intentional communities, while also questioning whether such voluntary forms of separation can ever be fully detached from involuntary or structural dynamics. By focusing on intentional communities’ self-chosen spatial strategies and their ethical and political implications, the session seeks to open a broader discussion on autonomy, exclusion, and the ethics of spatial separation.
The seminar is inspired by Prof. Sager’s paper “Planning by Intentional Communities: An Understudied Form of Activist Planning,” as well as by his extensive scholarship on ethics, planning theory, and communicative approaches. His work provides an ideal foundation for examining how intentional communities can be understood as actors of activist planning and how their spatial practices raise critical ethical questions for planning theory and practice.

The session will consist of a 30-minute presentation by the invited speaker, followed by a 20-minute open discussion with the audience.
Date: March 20, 2026
Time: 15:00 CET
Format: Online via Teams (50 minutes)

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Planning/Conflict

Published: 30 March 2026

After about ten years of activities, the AESOP Planning/Conflict thematic group launches a

call for applications to become involved in the TG’s coordination.

Envisioned is the establishment of a coordination committee in charge of the TG and of its activities,

composed of:

- one co-coordinator, particularly in charge of relations with AESOP,

- two co-coordinators, particularly in charge tasks such as internal communication (TG website and relations with members) and external communication (relations with academic partners and contributors).

In taking over coordination of the TG, the first tasks of the new coordination committee would be:

- to adopt a basic TG charter of self-governing rules (e.g. internal tasks and responsibilities, tenures etc.) of the coordination committee members,

- to appoint a scientific advisory committee to support the TG’s activities,

- to improve communication with TG members and their involvement,

- to discuss and adopt a strategy and program of activities for the coming years.

For choosing the new coordination committee members, a two-steps procedure is proposed:

1. application: please express your interest before May 15, 2026 providing a brief statement of your motivation and of your ideas for contributing to the TG’s activities, using the following link:

https://forms.gle/iMSgxbQzVh5N25xs8

2. voting: upon publication of applications, a link for voting in anonymized form will be provided open to all through the AESOP TG website and the AESOP newsletter.

For an overview of the AESOP Planning/Conflict thematic group and its past activities, please see the dedicated website:

https://aesop-planning.eu/thematic-groups/planning-conflict

The general rules for AESOP TGs can be found here:

https://aesop-planning.eu/images/uploads/thematic-groups/Guidelines_for_AESOP_Thematic_Groups_TGs_.pdf

Thanks for your interest!

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Planning and Complexity

Published: 30 March 2026

CALL FOR PAPERS

Complexity Unpacked: Analytical Tools & Practical Insights for Uncertain Futures

24th Conference of the AESOP Thematic Group on Planning and Complexity

Location:         University of Nicosia, Department of Architecture, Cyprus
Date:               8–9 January 2027

[ Download Call for Papers as PDF ]

Planning operates within, and as part of, complex socio-spatial systems. Cities and regions are not merely objects of intervention but evolving, relational, and adaptive assemblages shaped by multiple interacting actors, institutions, infrastructures, and environments. They are characterised by non-linearity, emergence, uncertainty, path dependence, and cross-scalar interdependencies.

Complexity thinking has offered planning theory powerful shifts: from prediction to adaptation, from control to learning, from linear causality to feedback and co-evolution, and from optimisation to resilience and robustness. Yet an ongoing challenge remains: how can the conceptual advances of complexity thinking be meaningfully translated into planning practices, analytical tools, and institutional routines?

We invite contributions that explore this translation. Rather than treating complexity as metaphor alone, we seek work that operationalises (applies) complexity — that mobilises methods and tools capable of engaging with uncertainty, interdependence, and dynamic change in planning contexts. We welcome contributions that critically reflect on how complexity-informed tools reshape professional roles, decision-making cultures, and planning epistemologies. The theme positions tools not as neutral technical devices, but as socio-technical instruments embedded in institutional, political, and normative contexts. We encourage submissions that interrogate both the promise and the constraints of complexity-based approaches in real-world planning settings.

By unpacking both theoretical foundations and practical applications, the conference seeks to advance dialogue across scholars and practitioners committed to engaging complexity not only as a conceptual lens, but as a mode of planning action.

Scope & Topics

The conference invites contributions that explore the reciprocal relationship between complexity theory, analytical tools, and planning practice. We welcome work that moves across conceptual, methodological, and empirical domains, recognising (the co-evolution of theory and practice) that theory and practice co-evolve. We are particularly interested in how analytical approaches such as agent-based modelling, network analysis, system dynamics, exploratory scenario planning, resilience assessment, serious games, participatory methods, and hybrid qualitative–quantitative methods:

• Make visible feedback loops, emergent dynamics, and relational structures
• Support reflexive and adaptive governance
• Enable experimentation and learning in planning processes
• Facilitate participation and co-production under conditions of uncertainty
• Reveal limits, blind spots, and ethical implications of modelling complex systems

Submissions may engage with, but are not limited to, the following interconnected strands:

1. Conceptualising Complexity in Planning

Contributions that advance, reinterpret, or critically reflect on core complexity concepts and their relevance for planning, including:

• Emergence, self-organisation, and non-linearity
• Co-evolution, path dependence, and feedback dynamics
• Adaptation, resilience, robustness, and transformability
• Uncertainty, indeterminacy, and limits of prediction
• Relational, assemblage, and socio-technical perspectives on urban systems

We particularly encourage submissions that make explicit how these conceptual developments inform methodological choices or planning interventions.

2. Operationalising Complexity: Methods and Analytical Tools

Contributions demonstrating how complexity thinking is translated into concrete methods, including:

• Agent-Based Modelling (ABM)
• Network analysis of spatial, social, or infrastructural systems
• System dynamics and causal loop modelling
• Scenario planning and exploratory futures approaches
• Resilience metrics and adaptive capacity assessment
• Gamification, serious games, and simulation platforms
• Participatory modelling and co-production tools
• Hybrid qualitative–quantitative and mixed-method approaches

Submissions may focus on methodological innovation, technical development, or comparative application across contexts and scales.

3. Complexity in Practice: Governance, Institutions, and Learning

Contributions examining how complexity-informed approaches reshape planning practice, governance, and institutional cultures, including:

• Adaptive and reflexive governance arrangements
• Experimentation, learning, and iterative planning processes
• The role of modelling and simulation in decision-making
• Institutional uptake and resistance to complexity-based tools
• Ethical, political, and normative implications of operationalising complexity
• The evolving role of planners within complex adaptive systems
• A complexity take on the role, use and limitations of AI in planning

We welcome both empirical case studies and theoretically grounded reflections that illuminate the promises and constraints of complexity-informed planning.

Submission & Key Dates

Abstract Submission (max. 500 words):                    15 June 2026
Notification of Acceptance:                                         July 2026
Extended Abstract Submission (max. 2500 words):  15 October 2026
Conference Dates:                                                     8–9 January 2027

Submission

Please submit abstracts to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Important: Include title, abstract, author names, affiliation, contact information and keywords.

Conference Format & Venue

The conference will include paper presentation sessions, method-focused panels, case study discussions and interactive and participatory formats aligned with complexity-based approaches.

It will be hosted by the Department of Architecture, University of Nicosia, Cyprus.

Contact

For inquiries regarding the theme, submissions, or participation, please contact:

Conference Organising Committee Member
Solon Solomou – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For updates, please also watch the thematic group's LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12735445

The conference is organised within the AESOP Thematic Group on Planning and Complexity by Solon Solomou and the local organising team in Cyprus together with Christian Lamker and Jenni Partanen (thematic group coordinators). More information on the thematic group at https://aesop-planning.eu/thematic-groups/planning-and-complexity

Title image: AI-generated by ChatGPT