The 2019 Transport Research Symposium brings together activists, academics, and built environment professionals currently working and thinking critically about the ‘state of transport planning’ in Victoria and beyond.  Building on Ethics and Transport Planning, a three-part public conversation series held in August 2018, this symposium will explore the ethical questions that confront politicians, policymakers and planners doing urban transport planning in the contemporary city.

The symposium invites participants to interpret their current academic, professional or community-based activities through an ethical lens. Specifically, it solicits critical perspectives on urban transport planning where contemporary practice intersects with pressing social and environmental concerns. The convenors of the symposium invite contributions which respond to the six themes that emerged from the Ethics and Transport Planning conversation series.

• Inclusion: the relationship between transport governance, urban citizenship and planning outcomes.
• Distribution: foregrounding questions of social and environmental justice in transport planning.
• Well-being: the influence of transport provision and choice on health outcomes in communities.
• Experience: recovering the social function of transport—mobility infrastructure as commons.
• Accountability: making politicians and decision-makers accountable to the evidence.
• Knowledge: the ethics of visioning and modelling urban transport futures.

The 2019 Transport Research Symposium is co-hosted by RMIT University Centre for Urban Research, Planning and Transport in City Regions Program, Transport@RMIT and RMIT Critical Urban Governance program and The University of Melbourne’s Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and Future Cities Research Cluster. The symposium will bring together planning professionals, community leaders, activists, academic researchers, and students to explore the ethical dimensions of urban transport planning. It has two principal aims: (1) to grow a critical mass of thought provoking perspectives on transport planning in Australia and (2) explore new possibilities for collaborations across academia and practice.

Contributions may comprise short academic papers (3,000 words or more + presentation), individual or group presentations (approx. 15 minutes) or workshops (time allocation TBD) that explore the above six themes. Contributions are eligible to be published in an edited proceedings that will broadcast the work of participants to a wider audience.

Prospective participants should submit an abstract detailing the nature of their contribution to transportsymposium2019@gmail.com by Friday 14 December 2018. Please email James Whitten at jwhitten@unimelb.edu.au with any questions/enquiries. Prospective participants in the activist and community‐based streams are encouraged to contact James Whitten, or one of the convenors listed below, to discuss the idea for their contribution because a formal submission may not be required.

This event is hosted by the RMIT University Centre for Urban Research, Planning and Transport in City Regions Program, Transport@RMIT and RMIT Critical Urban Governance program and; The Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, and Future Cities Research Cluster at The University of Melbourne.

Timeline for submissions/notifications

Abstracts (300 words) due: Friday 14 December 2018

Successful submitters notified: Friday 21 December 2018

Papers or workshop briefs due: Friday 18 January 2019

Presentation slideshows due: Friday 1 February 2019

Convenors

Dr Ian Woodcock, Lecturer, Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University

Dr Andréanne Doyon, Lecturer, Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University

Dr Jan Scheurer, Lecturer and Researcher in Urban Sustainability and Transport Planning, RMIT University

Dr John Stone, Senior Lecturer in Transport Planning, University of Melbourne

Dr Crystal Legacy, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Melbourne

Scott Przibella, Senior Transport Planner, Transport for Victoria and MPA Candidate, University of Melbourne

Rebecca Clements, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Melbourne

Nathan Pittman, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Melbourne

James Whitten, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Melbourne