EcHoPolis Conference

NEW !!! Please download the ECHOPOLIS 2013 Programme here !!

Today, when western society is acutely concerned with the questions of individual existence, strongly accentuated by the economic and financial crisis, the emotions are once again at the forefront of our concerns. Social progress also implies that emotions, which have so long been ignored when major decisions were made, be taken fully into account in the construction of our urban world. Our urban world, architecture, the city, and the neighbourhood, naturally, seem to build on emotion, either it is positive or negative but still prohibiting indifference.The event «Echopolis - Days of Sound» Athena 2013 will deal with ways to enrich sustainable architecture and sustainable city with a new dimension, that of the emotions and senses ...... who can certainly contribute to the rebirth of hope in society and in the city that is plagued by economic decline and collapsing due to the crisis. Besides, the contemporary and future city is being flooded by networks of interconnections both internally and with other urban and spatial scales (its region, the national and supranational level ..), it is increasingly using new digital technologies to regulate its functions. Thus, a firm integration of sensations and emotions in designing sustainable city can only be based on digital technologies and catch up with their progress. Concepts such as interactivity with the user and the inhabitant of the city, are becoming increasingly important in the design of the urban environment and the everyday life.

The event "EchoPolis - Days of Sound" will focus on one of the most important senses: hearing, thus drawing attention to the sound quality of the urban environment and how, resources and tools can be used so that  sounds, noises and music become design elements and factors of enrichment of sustainability in cities and neighborhoods. Relatively recently, the concepts of soundscape and sound design leave the research laboratories and invade the market, the world of professionals  and the discourse between designers and all those involved in the application of sound design in the city, architects, engineers, private companies of sound equipment and facilities. Soundscape research considers environmental sounds as a 'resource' rather than a 'waste'.

The EchoPolis Days of Sound  major festival event, of both scientific and cultural caracter, is hosted by the french-hellenic and International SDMed Association which works for sustainable urban development in the Mediterranean and the Balkans and will be held in September-October (29&30.9, 1,2&3.10) 2013, in Athens. It will target on the objective and use it as motto :

"Re-invent emotions in the City, let's feel them, let's hear the city sounds" !

• Important scientific part of the festival will be the EchoPolis International Conference that will be held in Athens, on September 30 and on October 1,2&3 2013.

"Sounds, noise and music for re-thinking sustainable building, city and econeighborhood"

is the topic of the Echopolis international conference, to be held in the framework of the “Echopolis Days of Sound” event, to take place in the historical centre of Athens, from September 29 to October 2, 2013. The conference will offer a platform for interdisciplinary dialog and presentations of innovative research and development in the field of integrating sound in sustainable building and city planning and design, covering a wide range of subjects from sonic geography, sonic ecology and soundscapes to the noise carthography, noise abatement and recent developments of sound design in general.

“Echopolis International Conference” is pleased to invite specialists from academic and research institutions, industry and public institutions worldwide to present their innovative work. To be on the mailing list, please subscribe to the SDMed newsletter ( www.sd-med.org) or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Main organizer of the conference, the SDMed observation Network is known internationally for high-level events and research in the domain of sustainable buildings, cities and eco-neighborhoods in the Mediterranean basin.Academic partners of the conference are specialists from French, Greek and other world-wide Universities and Research Centers, backed by a strong international consulting scientific committee.

The Echopolis International Conference Topics are the following :

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING - SUSTAINABLE CITY- ECO-NEIGHBORHOOD

1. "Sound and music in emotional architecture and emotional city"
2. "Sound design and eco-innovation in cities"
3. "Sound and Noise in sustainable buildings"
4. "Balancing energy performance, thermal insulation, acoustic comfort and air quality in buildings"
5. "Sound and Noise in sustainable cities and econeighborhoods"
6. "Sustainable abatement of noise by optimized combinations of natural and artificial means"

TRANSPORTS- HERITAGE-TOURISM-ATTRACTIVENESS-HEALTH

1. "Urban and rural quiet areas-Sound and noise Cartography-Strategic noise plans"
2. "Noise exposure and effects on health, Noise action plans,annoyance maps"
3. "Sound environment, Noise, Music,city attractiveness and sustainable tourism"
4. "Soundscape, Heritage and Tourism”
5. "Sound Heritage and soundscapes"
6. "Sound and Noise in transport infrastructure"
7. "Sonic Geography-Sonic Landscapes-Sonic Ecology"
8. "Traffic noise-railing noise-aircraft noise and measures of abatement" 
9. "Low noise wind turbines and implications in human health"
10. "Noise at school: health issues, impact on learning"

The Conference is targeting to :

• the recognition and enhancement of the sound dimension of our lives
• exploring the role of sound in the way of perceiving, feeling, and thinking
• considering the environment in our everyday life as an aesthetic system where sound is an important factor.
• complementing the way we see architecture and urbanism, with a new design factor and parameter : the"sound"
• promoting the idea of enriching the academia and research with the specification of sound design (design sonore in french)
• promote presentation of modern materials and management systems (of sound and noise protection, sounds creation and patterns of use of sounds)

We are addressing to :

• Sound, acoustics and sound design scientists and practicioners.
• Architects, urban planners,geographers, sociologists, psychologists, philosophers,artists.
• Academics and researchers in the above fields.
• Companies that deal with related materials and building systems
• Companies that deal with the supply of technological equipment of management, creation and use of sounds
• Cities and networks of cities having developed innovative solutions for noise abatement or use of sound and music for increasing attractiveness

You can download  the EchoPolis Press Release here !

You can also donwnload the Programme here !

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