Paper submissions and workshop presentation proposals are now being accepted for the 5th Healthy Cities Conference: Working Together to Achieve Livable Cities Conference. The fifth edition of the Healthy Cities conference series will serve as a platform for government and industry sector professionals to share challenges and solutions relating to population health, sustainability, natural resource management, transport, climate change, urban design and more.

Paper and workshop submissions are to include but not be limited to the following topics, according to the Healthy Cities website:

• Healthy urban design, urban renewal, green buildings, urban landscapes, public spaces, sustainability, transport, health equity and commercial development, models of integral planning, retrofitting suburbia
• Public health, capacity, resilience, advocacy for Healthy Cities
• Political cycles, government and business leadership, governance and participation
• Education, motivation and incentives for behavior change, community engagement
• Population growth, food security, buying local, urban agriculture, natural resource management, Networks for climate change adaptation/mitigation
• Creating Regional Cities – harnessing social capital, urban planning and social equity
• Case studies – the program committee is looking to include 4 case studies in the concurrent sessions.

Individuals or organizations interested in contributing papers or presenting a workshop are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, outlining the aims, content and conclusions of their paper or presentation. Submissions are due by March 2, 2012. More information on paper and presentation submissions can be found on the Healthy Cities website.

This year’s Healthy Cities Conference will be held in the waterfront city of Geelong, Australia, the second largest city in the southeastern state of Victoria. Among confirmed and invited conference presenters are Dr. Agis D. Tsouros of the World Health Organization; City of Melbourne Director of Design and Culture Rob Adams, and Peter Kenyon, director of The Bank of Ideas WA.

“Everyone from social planners and urban designers to waste management professionals and environmental groups will benefit from attending this conference,” Geelong Mayor Cr John Mitchell said. “The conference will feature a variety of presentations and workshops that will trigger plenty of new ideas and solutions for the future development of our region.”