S4 International Conference on Emergence in Geographical Space: Concepts, Methods and Models

Please find enclosed the program or download it from :

http://s4.csregistry.org/S4%20Conference%20on%20Emergence

Note that there are no conference fees, but you mùst register to attend the conference. Deadline to register: 10 November 2009.

To register please visit:
http://s4.csregistry.org/S4%20Conference%20on%20Emergence

Topic of the conference:

The concept of emergence is of crucial importance to understand the spatial organisation of societies. Describing the appearance of novelty, it identifies a creation, which qualitative nature is hardly predictable. However, new theories and models are able to reproduce some of the conditions of emergence and diffusion of changes in geographical space. Generally speaking, emergence is characterised by the apparition, at a given scale, of
structures and patterns mainly produced by the interactions between entities at a lower scale. It then occurs at the junction between various scales and levels, from  individual and his/her cognitive representations to society, including its various levels. One key challenge consists then in connecting the vast amount of knowledge built on these two extremes, in order to link the micro and the macro. In that perspective, two complementary dimensions are of special importance. Bottom-up retroaction first, that link micro processes to the emergent global structures they contribute to create. But also top-down retroactions, that link these emerging structures to orientate and even constrain processes at the micro level. Furthermore, the apparent resilience of forms and structures in space forces us to address the processes that maintain these structures, under a large range of perturbations, whatever the diversity and renewal of actors and of social, economic and cultural evolutions at work.

Organising Committee:

Coordinators: Denise Pumain and Arnaud Banos, European Network S4,  France

Co-organizing institutions:
Yasushi Asami (CSIS, Japan)
David Batten (COSNET, Australia)
René Doursat (Complex Systems Institute of Paris-Ile-de-France, France)
Thierry Joliveau (GDR MAGIS, France)
Carlo Lavalle (European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy)

Keynote Speakers:
H.A. Makse (USA), Laws governing urban growth
Lael Parrott (Canada), Spatial dynamics of ecosystems
Marc Barthelemy (France), Large networks and spatial organisation

Main Themes:
Self-organisation, self-reinforcement and resilience of spatial systems will constitute the main guidelines of this conference, with a special emphasis on the emergence of innovations.

Scientific Committee:
Arnaud Banos, CNRS Image-Ville-Environnement ERL 7230 (France)
Michael Batty, CASA University College London (UK)
Paul Bourgine, CREA, Ecole Polytechnique (France)
David Chavalarias, CREA (France)
Lidia Diappi, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
René Doursat, ISC-PIF (France)
Pierre Frankhauser, THEMA Université de Franche-Comté (France)
Jean-Louis Giavitto, IBISC, Université d'Evry (France)
Volker Grimm, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ  (Germany)
Tim Kohler, Washington State University (United States)
Keumsook Lee, Sungshin University, Seoul (South Korea)
Jean-Pierre Muller, CIRAD, Montpellier (France)
Denise Pumain, University Paris 1 - Géographie-cités - IUF  (France)
Lena Sanders, CNRS - Géographie-cités UMR 8504 (France)
Sander van der Leeuw, State University of Arizona (United States)

Please find regurlarly updated information on the following link:
http://s4.csregistry.org/S4%20Conference%20on%20Emergence