International Cycling Conference 2017 - Call for papers | Umweltbundesamt

1. Introduction

The invention of the “Draisine”, a velocipede which is the forerunner of the bicycle, by Karl Drais 200 years ago in Mannheim in 1817, had a major influence on mobility behaviour and transport planning but also on the social structures of societies. The “International Cycling Conference” (ICC) takes this opportunity to convene stakeholders working on cycling and active mobility.

Today, travel by bicycle and foot and also stakeholder commitment to these forms of travel are increasing in many countries all over the world. Research and practice, however, often go their separate ways. For example, findings from research are not necessarily integrated in practice, and research does not always account for the realities of what constrains or motivates policy development and implementation on the ground.

To further make the case for active mobility much more can be done to create or highlight synergies across fields of practice and research in transport planning, public health, environmental quality, climate change, economic and business development, or social affairs.

What is needed today is more collaboration between the fields of practice and research to ensure optimal solutions are implemented. The ICC aims to bring together a better understanding of all fields relevant to the promotion of active mobility, ranging from the determinants of active mobility to the development and impacts of policies and interventions, including the role of culture and governance. The ambition is to create a common framing through exchanging disciplinary perspectives.

The special characteristic of the ICC is the collaboration of research and practice. The ICC will give a platform to academics and practitioners involved in research and practice related to cycling and active mobility. Oral presentations from submitted papers from research and practice will be paired whenever possible so that researchers get direct feedback from practitioners and vice versa.

2. Conference themes

Contributions are welcome to the following themes but are not limited to them:

1. Determinants of cycling and walking, e.g. related to the individual transport user(s), to the transport system and the built environment, and to the social environment
2. Impacts of cycling and walking, e.g. on the economy, quality of life, health, safety, air pollution, noise, social inequalities and social capital 
3. Strategies and policies for promoting cycling and walking, e.g. best practice examples and evidence from evaluation studies
4. Mobility cultures, e.g. social practices and meanings of cycling and walking
5. Governance, stakeholders and networks
6. Developing technologies in transport and the future impacts and contributions they may have on active mobility

We welcome papers and contributions that cover more than one theme in interdisciplinary approaches and that deal with cycling and walking in a broad context e.g. with other forms of active mobility, urban and environmental planning, health promotion and road safety management. 

3. Possible Submissions

We provide different types of submission, to best suit your contribution:

1. Research presentation and full paper with option for publication in a peer-reviewed international journal
2. Research presentation without  a full paper
3. Practice presentation and full paper with option for publication in a conference summary for practitioners and policy
4. Practice presentation without a full paper
5. Poster and full paper
6. Poster without a full paper

All accepted abstracts will be published online. Research papers are expected to present novel findings that meet the standards of a scientific publication. Contributions from practice should present current activities in providing for and promoting cycling and walking, and lessons learnt from achievements and failures.

Abstracts of maximum 350 words are to be submitted by 16 December 2016 to ICC2017 [at] uba [dot] de. Please use the template on the web site and indicate your preferred kind of contribution. All abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific committee.

All submissions have to be in English. Full papers have to be submitted by 31 May 2017. Paper reviews will be sent to authors before the conference by 31 July 2017. Selected papers will be published in Special Issues of international peer-reviewed journals.

4. Important dates

• Abstract submission (max. 350 words): 16 December 2016
• Acceptance notice: 15 February 2017
• Full paper submission: 31 May 2017
• Reviews sent to authors: 31 July 2017
• Submission of oral presentations slides: 15 September 2017
• Submission final papers for publication: 30 November 2017

5. Scientific Committee

• Prof. Dr. Regine Gerike, Integrated Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Technical University Dresden, Germany (head)
• Dr. Audrey de Nazelle, Centre for Environmental Policy, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, UK
• Dr. Katrin Dziekan, German Federal Environment Agency, Dessau-Rosslau, Germany 
• Manfred Neun, President European Cyclists’ Federation – ECF and World Cycling Alliance, Chair of the Scientist for Cycling Advisory board, Brussels
• Prof. Dr. John Parkin, Transport Engineering at University of the West of England, Centre for Transport and Society, UK
• Elisabeth Raser, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria
• Prof Dr. Oliver Schwedes, Integrated Transport Planning, Technical University of Berlin, Germany

The conference is organised by UBA in cooperation with

City of Mannheim – Cycling Anniversary 2017 
European Cyclists’ Federation – ECF Scientists for Cycling
Difu – German Institute of Urban Affairs
GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
PASTA – Consortium of EU-Project Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches