The Joint Committee on Urban drainage of IAHR and IWA is inviting the interested parties to submit proposals to host the 17th International Conference on Urban Drainage in 2027. This conference will build on success of the previous conferences in this series, which were held in Southampton (UK, 1978), UrbanaChampaign (USA, 1981), Gothenburg (Sweden, 1984), Lausanne (Switzerland, 1987), Osaka (Japan, 1990), Niagara Falls (Canada, 1993), Hannover (Germany, 1996), Sydney (Australia, 1999), Portland (USA, 2002), Copenhagen (Denmark, 2005), Edinburgh (UK, 2008), Porto Alegre (Brazil, 2011), Kuching (Sarawak, Malaysia, 2014), Prague (Czech Republic, 2017), Melbourne (online, Australia, 2021). The 16th conference is scheduled to be held in Delft (Netherlands) in 2024.
The ICUD conference aims to present the latest advances and innovative approaches in fundamental and applied research on urban drainage, taking into account meteorological, hydrological, hydraulic, water quality and socio-economic aspects worldwide. Among its specific interests are urban water quality, sewer sediments, source control, stormwater management, combined sewer overflows, drainage in cold and alpine climates, real time control of urban drainage systems and the data and models related to urban water. The ICUD strives to maintain its long-standing broad international recognition as a prominent platform for the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of urban drainage. It considers its activities in the wider context of urban water systems, with the ambition of developing and promoting a sustainable and integrated urban water management.
The proposal format is fairly flexible, but it is a good practice to include the following information:
1. Conference title (sub-themes), location, dates and duration
Dates can be indicative. The code of practice is to organize an ICUD conference from the very end of August until the mid of September. It should be guaranteed that the selected conference venue is available and pre-booked for proposed dates.
2. Proponent team
The proponent team should preferably consist of a wider urban drainage community within the country/region including relevant universities, research institutes and/or other stakeholders. Specify the conference chair and co-chairs including their affiliations and short description of their professional profile. It should be clearly stated which organization is the main conference guarantor ultimately responsible for the event, including financing issues. The JCUD expects also the description of how the team will be connected to the Joint Committee including the reporting during the preparation phase etc.
3. Motivation of the proponent team to organize ICUD conference
An important paragraph showing the will, the motivation and the capability of the proponent team to organize the high quality event.
4. Conference organization and management (Local Organization Committee, Program committee, International scientific committee)
The description of both the technical organization and scientific program management. The final list of committee members is not necessarily expected at this stage. The proponent team should provide insight into the management structure, the particular responsibilities, the procedure of selection and nomination into the committees. The scientific committee's structure should take into account the range of conference topics and also geographical, gender and age distribution of the members.
5. Proposed conference program and format
The specification of the preliminary conference program includes the list/number of keynote lectures, parallel sessions, special sessions, workshops, technical exhibition, technical tours. The proponents are asked to specify the duration of the event, to specify the presentation formats including the format of poster sessions. It is also welcome to provide novel ideas and formats within the conference program.
6. Poul Harremoës Award competition and Mid-Career and Career Achievement Awards
All the awards have to be organized in close cooperation with the JCUD. The proponent has to provide to the awards the publicity and the relevant time slots within the conference program. The proponent has to also cover the cost for participation (conference fee, accommodation, travel) of the PHA winner from previous ICUD2024 and should provide free registration to three PHA finalists in 2027.
7. Selection of contributions (abstract/paper review) and publishing of papers/proceedings
The proponent should describe the submission procedure and evaluation phase including the preliminary dates. It should be also presented in which form the contributions will be published (including the copyrights) and if the organizers will plan/offer the post-conference publishing of selected papers in peer-review journals.
8. Conference venue (meeting rooms)
The ICUD conference usually attracts 500-700+ participants. This should be taken into account when choosing the appropriate conference venue with one plenary hall and other 5-6 meeting rooms for parallel sessions.
9. Accommodation (with approximate 2027 pricing)
The list of accommodation capacities in the city in the near vicinity of the venue in the whole range of price levels. Indication of low budget accommodation for students is welcome.
10. Financial aspects
The preliminary budget should provide insight into expected revenues (registration fees, sponsors, local authorities) and realistic outcomes structured into the main categories such as venue rentals, catering, social programs, labour costs etc.
11. Social program and post-conference tours
Show why to come to your city and country.
12. Any other points you may consider important.
Mandatory requirements
The proposals (in English) must be submitted electronically in PDF format, and the size of the file should not exceed 20 MB; the proposal layout should not exceed 20 pages, using 12 point font. The proposals must reach the JCUD Chair David McCarthy (david.mccarthy@qut.edu.au) and Secretary Manfred Kleidorfer (Manfred.Kleidorfer@uibk.ac.at) by May 30th, 2023.
The Joint Committee will review the proposals and invite selected proponents to present their ideas at the next meeting during Novatech Conference 2023 (planned date 3rd July 2023) in Lyon (France). The final decision will be made after the presentation. If you require any clarification of the proposal specifications, please contact John Okedi (john.okedi@uct.ac.za).