Call for Papers - WRF 2011

The World Resources Forum calls for papers for its next global congress, to be held in Davos, 19-21 September 2011.

Background Information

The World Resources Forum (WRF) analyses, discusses and debates challenges and solutions for the resource problems which the world is facing: the environmental, social and economic risks of unsustainable extraction, manufacturing, consumption, disposal and dissipation of natural resources The forum is working on strategies in order to increase resource productivity, promote resource sufficiency and integrate social and environmental innovation into design and production processes. Strategies to contribute to climate change policies by means of resource efficiency measures are an important topic of interest.

The Forum is a science-based network of leading representatives of governments, research institutes, companies, and non-governmental organizations who all speak in their personal capacity as experts. It aims to create a science-based, realistic vision of sustainable resource use beyond fossil fuels. The Forum provides general recommendations for further research and policy development, but neither formulates nor endorses policy recommendations for individual regions, countries, sectors or companies.

Economic development is closely linked to the way the world's resources are managed. The demand for natural resources, such as fossil fuels, metals and minerals, and biomass from agriculture, forestry, fishery, and other sources is rapidly increasing, which may result in serious environmental damages over the whole life cycle, from extraction, production, consumption, transport and disposal of the corresponding products and services. Empa and the Factor 10 Institute took the initiative to set up the WRF in 2007. The first WRF was held in September 2009, and resulted in a Declaration. 

Organised as a joint teleconference with the EcoTopia Science Institute in Nagoya (Japan) and the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Berlin (Germany), over 500 participants shared their opinions and suggestions, spanning multiple generations, continents, and cultural backgrounds. It was co-organized with the bi-annual R' World Congress series. The forthcoming event, in September 2011, will fully integrate both conferences.

Topics of Interest

The Steering and Expert Committee of the WRF have decided to focus the discussions around the following five clusters, based on the WRF 2009 Declaration:

1. Security of Supply 
   Peak minerals, Scarcity of metals and minerals, Environmental and social burden of resource extraction, Resource extraction and socio-political conflicts, Recycling of important material flows, Secondary resources
2. Growth, Innovation, Decoupling, Efficiency and Sufficiency
   Supply chain management, Regional and global material flows, Efficiency of processes and manufacturing, Dematerialization, Low Carbon Society, Green economy, Circular economy, Resources and greenhouse gas emissions, Best practice examples and case studies 
3. Assessment Methods, Resource Use Indicators and Targets 
   Life cycle analysis, Ecological footprint, Grey energy, Carbon footprint, other Greenhouse-gas-related indicators, Water footprint, Soil-related indicators, Material flow indicators and (per-capita) targets, Standards
4. The Social Dimension of Resources 
   Welfare of countries, New economic approaches beyond growth, Values and lifestyles, Consumer behavior, Social LCA, Sustainability assessment, Sustainable consumption, North/South context, Industrializing countries
5. Communication and Education 
   Information systems, Product information, Youth involvement, Awareness for resource limits and sustainable resource management, Workplace training, Outreach 

Papers on these 5 topics are welcome! (see below for submission procedure).

Types of Contributions

• Papers for oral presentations (15 min. plus 5 min. for discussion)
• Posters for poster sessions (90x120 cm)
• Proposals for side events (companies and NGOs) – contact us for more information

The Scientific Committee will decide upon acceptance of a contribution and will determine whether it is to be an oral or poster presentation. Since there will be only a limited number of oral presentations, posters are given a greater importance during the WRF 2011 than during the WRF 2009. The committee may also assign submitted contributions to specific workshops.

Contributions should clearly address one of the topics of interest listed above and should not have been previously presented at international conferences or published in international journals. Final acceptance of any contribution requires registration of the author to attend the congress. 

Submission Procedure

Papers of either a theoretical or an applied nature can be submitted online. 

• Before you can hand in an abstract you'll need to create an account.
• After you have created an account and are logged in a new menu button will appear on the left navigation panel titled: "Submit abstract".

If you should encounter any problems during the abstract handling please contact Martin Lehmann (Chair Local Organising Committee WRF 2011) at mart...@empa.ch (Click on the dots to reveal full email-address.).

Language

The conference language is English.

Important Dates (subject to change)

• Abstract submission deadline: January 31, 2011

• Notification of acceptance: March 14, 2011

• Announcement of preliminary program: March 2011

• Full manuscript submission deadline: May 9, 2011

• Registration deadline for authors: May 9, 2011

• Announcement of final program: August 2011

• WRF 2011 Congress: September 19–21, 2011

Registration Fees

Early Registration before June 30, 2011:

• Regular participants: CHF 800
• Students: CHF 500

Registration between June 30 and August 31, 2011:

• Regular participants: CHF 900
• Students: CHF 600
• One-day registration (at any time): CHF 400
• Two-day registration (at any time): CHF 600

Presenting authors (oral and posters) are granted a reduction of CHF 150 in the registration fee.

Contact

Dr Xaver EDELMANN; President World Resources Forum (xave...@empa.ch)

Prof Christian LUDWIG; Chair Scientific Committee (chri...@psi.ch )

Dr Martin BIRTEL; Project Manager World Resources Forum  (mart...@empa.ch)

Mr Martin LEHMANN; Chair Local Organising Committee  (mart...@empa.ch)

Ms Therese MEIER; Secretary WRF 2011 (ther...@empa.ch)

Ms Maria SCHÖNENBERGER; Secretary WRF 2011 (mari...@empa.ch)

(Click on the dots to reveal full email-address.)