From 16-17 December 2021, ENLIGHTENme will host the international conference “Shaping light for health and wellbeing in cities”. The virtual event will bring together representatives from academia, industry and local administration from across Europe for two days of exciting talks and discussions around latest findings on urban lighting in relation to citizen’s health and wellbeing.
Researchers are now invited to participate in the open calls to submit extended abstract until 4 October 2021:
Growing urbanisation around the world has led to an exponential increase of human exposure to electric light at night. This includes public outdoor illumination and the artificial sky glow created by highly urbanised areas as well as exposure to light at the individual level through domestic lighting and light-emitting screens. The consequences of inappropriate and disruptive light exposure profoundly affect people’s health and wellbeing, altering the natural internal biological day/night rhythm. These effects cannot be overlooked, especially when they affect vulnerable populations like older adults who suffer disproportionately. Light also shapes urban spaces and social life, thus influencing people’s behaviour, moods, and sense of security, as well as social relationships, easing or hampering socialisation and participation in civic life.
Although public awareness of light-related health and wellbeing issues is increasing, there is less understanding of how health impacts derived from urban lighting are mediated by social inequalities present in cities that may determine the kind and amount of light that citizens are exposed to.
Prof. Simona Tondelli (Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università Di Bologna), coordinator of the ENLIGHTENme consortium, explains:
The international Conference “Shaping light for health and wellbeing in cities” will provide an excellent international forum for sharing knowledge and results on theory, methodology and applications about the multifaceted consequences light has on health and wellbeing in cities.
The aim of the conference is to provide a platform to researchers and practitioners from academia, local administration as well as industry to meet and share cutting-edge developments in the field.
To this end, the virtual, two-day event intends to explore these issues and calls for contributions from participants in the form of case studies, reviews or technical papers for the six thematic sessions:
- Session 1: Geo-intelligence and urban analytics for urban wellbeing
- Session 2: Social lighting and lighting technology for urban wellbeing
- Session 3: Co-design and community engagement
- Session 4: The interplay of genes and environment for health, wellbeing, and circadian rhythm
- Session 5: Innovative urban lighting policies
- Session 6: Legal and ethical aspects of urban lighting and related health studies
Besides presenting their research at the conference and being published in the conference proceedings, a selection of researchers will have the opportunity to secure one of the limited spots for having a full article published in a Special Issue in the “Health and Sustainability” section of the Open Access journal Sustainability.
Deadline: 4 October 2021.
Further details on the topics, as well as how to register and submit contributions, can be found on the conference website: https://www.enlightenme-project-conference.com.
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