EUSS 2014
5th European Urban Summer School
"Heritage Conservation & Urban Sustainable Development"

Tours, France
CALL FOR PAPERS CLOSED
• AESOP | Association of European Schools of Planning
• IFHP | International Federation of Housing and Planning
• ISOCARP | International Society of City and Regional Planners
• ECTP-CEU | European Council of Spatial Planners
• EPU-DA | Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Tours-Département Aménagement

The European Urban Summer School (EUSS) for young professionals and academics, launched in 2010 by AESOP is hosted annually by one of the European Higher Education Establishments. This year Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Tours-Département Aménagement (EPU-DA) is organizing the 5th summer school from 1st to 8th September 2014 in Tours, France.

GENERAL INFORMATION
The terms urbanization, deforestation, globalization, lack of public transportation, lack of heritage conservation, over energy consumption, ecological degradation, environmental extinction and so on are today’s realities which can be felt in every part of the world. Thus, they create a common experience in planning issues which may lead to a better understanding for planners from all over the world to exchange ideas and tackle the global problematic.

The European Urban Summer School (EUSS) for young professionals and academics, this year hosted by the Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Tours-Département Aménagement (EPU-DA) in Tours (France), aims to create a platform to discuss these issues. This school with series of seminars and workshops is aiming to bring together young planners and academics to benefit from a worldwide creativity.

The target is to create a platform for every participant to contribute to practical intervention in real time projects and exchange ideas in an international context with other students and professionals. It would be an effort to create a friendly environment in which every individual can discuss and transfer his/her knowledge to one another. In addition, connecting planners to local authorities and emphasizing the positive effects of higher education systems, including students and professors, contributing to the success of urban projects managed by local authorities is another practical objective of this event.

THEME
Contemporary planning in historic and consolidated parts of towns cannot avoid taking into account the current concerning about the so defined “sustainable development”. But such an operation is not exempt of contradictions: intervention on heritage sites is obliged by lots of strict rules about their possible evolution and any (physical) change is submitted to architectural conservation approach.
Moreover, heritage and sustainable development often obey different political logic and are under the competence of different ministries. Also due to the possibility of better energy efficiency in buildings, operational sustainable development planning often points out on brand new constructions. Nevertheless we’re not giving up our existing parts of the town, especially the historic consolidated ones protected as heritage.

How to solve the apparent contradiction? Selected study cases show that the chosen way to compose between the two tendencies (heritage conservation and sustainable planning) for instance pass through the planning of the only spaces left somehow “free” of conservation plans constraining rules: public spaces. Contemporary sustainable planning in historic centers acts on public spaces at the street level interpenetrating the heritage conservation plans more devoted to the physical architectural aspects, introducing some redesigns of forms and uses almost only of this specific material support made by the spaces “in between”.

APPLICATION AND FEES
• The application should be made via email to euss2014@gmail.com with "Participant Application EUSS5" in the email subject. It is open till Friday, May 30, 2014;
• The applicants would be selected and notified by Monday, June 9, 2014;
• The participation fee of 250 Euros covering seminars and teaching materials (excluding travel & accommodation fees), payable upon registration by Monday, July 7, 2014 will confirm participants place. Whilst we do not provide participants with accommodation, we can offer assistance in finding them proper accommodation.