Interactive special session on the built environment's stocks and flows - all conference attendees are invited to participate. Please read the description (abstract) for details

This special session is meant to encourage community-building of the researchers interested in the material stocks and flows of the built environment, including but not limited to results comparisons, data harmonization,... [ view full abstract ]

This special session is meant to encourage community-building of the researchers interested in the material stocks and flows of the built environment, including but not limited to results comparisons, data harmonization, transferability, uncertainties, and relevance to policy.
This special session will deviate from the usual presentation/Q&A format, but rather an interactive world-cafe style workshop to present, discuss, and formulate common pathways for the main challenges we share. This will be preceded by a short round of introductions from the various research groups working on the subject to share their experiences.
The authors of this submission serve as organizers and moderators. All conference attendees are invited to participate.

Background
Research of the material stocks and flows of the built environment has seen an unprecedented surge in recent years. In the last two years alone more articles were published on the topic than the total of the 2000s’ combined. In the recent SEM conference (Nagoya 2016), 1/5 presentations were on this theme, overwhelmingly more than any other. Globally, there are currently more than 20 independent research groups working on this subject. Although all groups’ foundations are similar - revolving around established MFA paradigms - different practical approaches evolved due to the different scopes, data availabilities, research objectives, and operating procedures. There have been very few collaborations between teams other than occasional ad-hoc efforts. This dispersed group of researchers is in agreement that there is a growing need for frameworks to compare methods, data, and results, and to create opportunities for collaboration and exchange of information and experience.The 2017 ISIE conference is a unique opportunity in this regard as many of the researchers of this field will be brought together. 

Objectives of this session

1. Create a forum for discussing and sharing research results, challenges, and future pathways.
2. Showcase to the IE community the recent strides in this expanding field.
3. Foster collaborations.
4. Explore common data formats, access, and sharing possibilities.

This special session is expected to not only be a highly productive event to those actively engaged in the study of the built environment, but will also be attractive for everyone in the wider sustainability field with an interest in this research stream.

Contributors
Research groups from institutions around the world have already pledged to
contribute to this session (listed below) and everyone is welcome to join:
Yale, Nagoya University, Institute of Social Ecology, Metabolism of Cities, Université Libre de Bruxelles, University of Southern Denmark, NTNU, ETH, Freiburg University, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, TU Darmstadt, Drebecen University, University of Cambridge, Chinese Academy of Science, TU Wein, Ritsumeikan University, Paris 1 University, University of Waterloo, Newcastle University.

Please access the special session’s resources here: http://metabolismofcities.org/materialstock/

For more info: Tomer Fishman, Yale
tomer.fishman@yale.edu