Submissions
Call for contributions
Building|s for People Symposium explores how built environments are shaped across scales—from the human experience to buildings and urban systems—while critically addressing context, equity, and real-world applicability. Building|s for People brings together experts from academia, policymakers, and industry to discuss the following topics:
Theme 1
Humans at the center
Focus on perceptions, behavior, and lived experiences.
Occupant behavior & adaptation
Human-building interactions & well-being: cultural and contextual definitions
Informality & Agency: modified environments in resource-constrained settings
Theme 2
Responsive buildings performance
Focus on design, systems and implementation.
Affordability, materiality & low carbon
Passive & active systems in context/climate-responsive design
Controls, operation & energy performance
Refurbishment and adaptation of existing buildings
Theme 3
Urban systems and transitions
Focus on infrastructure, governance, and large-scale dynamics.
Urban development for climate resilience
Integration within energy systems and grids
Governance, regulation, and implementation frameworks
Cross-cutting themes
Submissions across all themes are encouraged to explicitly address the following overarching considerations:
Equity and affordability implications: who benefits, who is excluded
Limits of applicability and transferability: what does not generalize and why
Underlying assumptions embedded in methods, models, or design solutions
Call for abstracts – submission guidelines
Prepare an informative summary of no more than 350 words. The summary must clearly present:
- The purpose of the study contribution
- The methods or approach
- The key results or expected outcomes
- The interpretation of the findings
The summary should be self-contained, providing a clear and accurate indication of the scope, content, and contribution of the work. Submissions are expected to explicitly engage with at least one of the symposium’s cross-cutting themes.
Submission format
At this stage, only abstracts are being accepted.
Review and selection criteria
An international expert panel will evaluate the abstracts using a double-blind review procedure. Acceptance or refusal will be based on the following criteria: content quality, significance, originality, relevance, and clarity of expression.
Post-acceptance formats
Upon acceptance, contributions will be assigned to one of the two formats:
- Extended abstract
- Poster
The organisational team and scientific committee will determine the contribution format based on the reviewers’ recommendations and the symposium program constraints. A limited number of abstracts will be selected for oral presentations; all accepted contributions will be invited to present in the poster sessions.