The 5th World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE)

The 5th World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE) will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from June 28 to July 2, 2014. After Venice (1998), Monterey (2002), Kyoto (2006), and Montréal (2010), the profession will convene in this unique World Heritage city that straddles Europe and Asia.

Hosted by Istanbul Technical University (ITU), WCERE 2014 is jointly organized by the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) and the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), in cooperation with the East Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAAERE).

There will be two types of pre-organized sessions at WCERE 2014 for which proposals are now invited.

(1) THEMATIC SESSIONS aim to advance theory and methods in the field of environmental and resource economics. They consist of three papers connected by a unifying theme. The theme is expected to be of interest to a relatively broad audience of environmental and resource economists. The individual papers are expected to be of very high quality, both with respect to scientific content and presentation. The Scientific Committee will select a limited number of proposed Thematic Sessions based on scientific quality and originality. The successful Sessions will run in parallel during the same time slot at WCERE 2014.

(2) POLICY SESSIONS aim to advance the application of environmental and resource economics in policy-making and to provide a forum of exchange between policy-makers and academics. Sessions are expected to be of interest to a broad audience of research economists. They will typically be formatted as formal presentations or as roundtable discussions. No papers are required. The Scientific Committee will select a limited number of proposed Policy Sessions based on significance and originality. The successful sessions will run in sequence as one session track during WCERE 2014.

Proposal, guidelines and rules

(1) THEMATIC SESSION: To propose a Thematic Session, the Organizer(s) should send an email entitled “Thematic Session” to scientific@wcere2014.org with the following information:

• Name(s) of the Thematic Session's Organizer(s)
• Proposed title of the Thematic Session
• A short description of the theme, including a motivation and an explanation how the three papers individually and jointly bear on the theme.
• Title, author names, and 100-word abstract for EACH of the three papers included in the Session.

For their organizers, THEMATIC SESSIONS entail particular responsibilities:

• Thematic Session Organizer(s) must commit to attend WCERE 2014 and to chair the specific Thematic Session.
• Thematic Session Organizer(s) are responsible for ensuring that the Session contributors are aware of and follow the rules below.
• There are no dedicated financial resources to support Thematic Sessions. All nominated participants in a Thematic Session have to pay the EAERE conference registration fees. No discount on the registration fees can be provided.
• All papers in the Session must be submitted and all nominated participants registered by April 30, 2014.

(2) POLICY SESSION: To propose a policy session, the Organizer(s) should send an email entitled "Policy Session" to scientific@wcere2014.org with the following information:

• Name(s) of the policy session's organizer(s)
• proposed title of the policy session
• a short description of the theme and its policy relevance to environmental or natural resource economists
• titles, speaker names, brief bios, and a brief description of the speaker's expertise and expected contribution to the session.

For their organizers, POLICY SESSIONS entail particular responsibilities:

• Policy Session Organizer(s) must commit to attend WCERE 2014 and to chair their Session.
• Policy Session Organizer(s) are responsible for ensuring that the Session contributors are aware of and follow the rules below.
• There are no dedicated financial resources to support Policy Sessions. However, policy-makers contributing to a Policy Session qualify for free access to WCERE 2014 on the day of their session. No further access or discounts on registration fees can be provided.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 1st December 2013.
Notification of the decision by the Scientific Committee is scheduled for December 15, 2013.

Mark Cohen, Vanderbilt University
Timo Goeschl, Heidelberg University
Erinç Yeldan, Yasar University
WCERE 2014 Scientific Programme Committee Co-chairs

Local Organising Committee Chair
M. Özgür Kayalıca, Istanbul Technical University

Further Information
Further information is available at the conference website www.wcere2014.org or by writing to scientific@wcere2014.org.

Important Deadlines:

1 September, 2013: Papers submissions start
1 October, 2013: Early registrations start
1 December, 2013: Deadline for thematic and policy sessions submissions
15 December, 2013: Notifications of acceptance of thematic sessions
15 January, 2014: Deadline for papers submission
31 March, 2014: Notifications of acceptance of papers
30 April, 2014: Early registration deadline - Deadline by which presenting authors must be registered for inclusion in the programme
31 May, 2014: Preliminary programme release