SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

OPEN SPACE: PEOPLE SPACE
An International Conference on Inclusive Environments
Edinburgh, Scotland: 27-29 October, 2004
www.openspace.eca.ac.uk

Abstracts are due for submission by 16th February 2004

OPENspace: the research centre for inclusive access to outdoor
environments, is hosting a three-day conference in Edinburgh to review
recent research and debate current issues surrounding good design for
open space and social inclusion - spaces and places for the 21st century.

The programme will include contributions from an international array of
experts covering the major themes of the conference: children
and young people; disability and social inclusion; health and restorative
environments and tourism and leisure. Key speakers already confirmed
include Marc Treib, architect and modernist landscape historian, Jan Gehl,
urban designer and public open space expert, Judy Ling Wong, Black
Environment Network, Ken Worpole, urban policy expert and Nilda Cosco,
educational psychologist.

We invite proposals for presentation at the Open Space: People Space
Conference in October 2004 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. We welcome
proposals on topics relating to inclusive outdoor environments and to the
main thematic areas of the conference:
Space to Grow: making space for children and young people
Urban lifestyles, which even rural children often live these days, place
many restrictions on their freedom to explore and enjoy their environment.
Topics under this theme will embrace a range of issues from the benefits
of natural environments for child development to aspects of autonomy and
social identity in teenage experience of outdoor places.
Design for All: making space for social inclusion
People's perceptions of accessibility in the outdoor environment will
determine the success or otherwise of practical measures. It is important
to understand the psychological as well as the physical dimensions of
access, whether the focus is on older people, disabled people, minority
ethnic groups or the public as a whole. Topics here will include design
for outdoor environments so that people feel confident and feel safe.
Healthy Places: making space to improve quality of life
Many studies have argued that being out in the landscape, whether in a
city park, a town square or a countryside setting, is potentially good for
people's health. The landscape can play a vital rôle as a "restorative"
place. Topics under this theme will include the value and accessibility of
nature on people's doorsteps as well as issues of healthy lifestyles in
relation to the broader environment.
Tourist Places: making space for leisure and recreation
Developments in the tourist industry are focused on maximising the number
of visitors who can access different environments in ways that are
enjoyable and which do not damage the very qualities those visitors wish
to experience. This has a particular impact on historic and
environmentally sensitive environments. Topics here will include methods
for high quality, inclusive landscape and urban design which is
appropriate to local character and sense of place.

FORM OF PRESENTATIONS
Abstracts are invited for presentations of four types: individual papers;
symposia of several papers gathered under a topic by a symposium chair;
workshops involving discussion round a topic introduced by a group of
experts; and posters.
Proposals for symposia or workshops must be prepared by someone who takes
responsibility for gathering contributors and getting their agreement to
participate, and who will prepare the abstract and chair the session.

FORMAT FOR ABSTRACTS
Authors who wish their proposals to be considered for presentation should
submit an abstract in anonymous format suitable for peer review.
The Abstract should be in English, using Arial Font 12-point, and fit on
one, A4 sheet of paper. It should set out:
1. Presentation Title
2. A succinct and informative abstract of no more than 400 words. Up to
four key references may be included beyond this word length.
The abstract must NOT include the author's name - all contact information
should be included in the body of the email or on a separate document,
which should indicate the author(s) and affiliation(s) including postal
address, e-mail address and fax number for contact.
Submissions must identify the type of presentation - Paper, Symposium,
Workshop or Poster.
Abstracts are due for submission by 16th February 2004.

SUBMITTING YOUR ABSTRACT
For submission please first complete the abstract submission form
/conference/confabstractform.htm>. All abstracts should be submitted
electronically to the OPENspace research centre by attaching them to the
abstract submission form. All abstract should be produced as Microsoft
Word documents with suffix .DOC. Save your abstract using the surname of
the first author as the file name (e.g. smith.doc).

PEER-REVIEW AND PUBLICATION
Every abstract will be blind-reviewed by at least two reviewers and all
those accepted will be published in the conference proceedings.
Authors of papers and symposia which are accepted for the conference will
be invited to expand their abstracts into short papers (max 2000 words)
for inclusion in the conference proceedings (authors of workshops and
posters will only have their abstracts published). Authors of accepted
papers and symposia will be notified of the detailed requirements for
submitting short papers by the end of March 2004 and summary papers must
be received by 31st July 2004
After the conference, selected presenters will be invited to prepare full
length papers for consideration as contributions to a post-conference book
around the major themes of the conference. These papers will be subject to
a further review and editorial process.

The Conference Sponsors
OPENspace Research Centre is based at the School of Landscape
Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art and the School of the Built
Environment at Heriot-Watt University. Over the last two years, the work
of OPENspace has focused on the fundamental issues surrounding access,
quality of life and social inclusion as well as the development and review
of practical guides and applications.   Partners in the conference include
IPA, the International Play Association, and the City of Edinburgh
Council, who will be hosting workshops within the conference.

For further information visit the website: www.openspace.eca.ac.uk