CALL
In today’s fast-paced and rapidly growing world, have we forgotten quality over quantity? Is this the way progress should happen? Are we learning from history or overlooking its lessons? Are old cities truly great, and are new cities good? Have we neglected culture and traditions in the pursuit of future development? These questions and many more – need to be discussed and explored collectively.
At SOCB, we invite interdisciplinary and international universities, organizations, companies, design studios, and research institutes to participate in the Climate, Culture, and Cities International Conference in Austria.
This conference aims to bring together professors, research scholars, and professionals from the design and construction industries to share knowledge and ideas. The goal is to empower one another through a collective approach that benefits our environment, communities, climate, culture, and cities. Additionally, the conference seeks to bridge academia, research institutions, and practicing organizations to create sustainable cities and preserve culture and climate for the future. We believe every effort should be meaningful, shared, and explored across various disciplines.
This conference serves as a platform to bring together voices from the past, present, and future. It invites discussions on how history, art, heritage, culture, craft, architecture, construction, and technology shape education, research, design, and construction practices while addressing the themes of climate, culture, and cities.
Let’s come together to discuss the past, present, and future for a collective vision!
Keynote Speaker:
DI Markus Ray AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology) Vienna
Keynote Speaker at the SOCB International Conference on Climate, Cities and Cultures in Vienna 11-13 August 2025.
We are pleased and honoured to welcome distinguished keynote speaker DI Markus Ray to the upcoming School of Collectively Building (SOCB) International Conference, titled “Climate, Cities, and Cultures,” to be held in Vienna from 11 to 13 August 2025.
DI Markus Ray, Head of the Competence Unit Digital Resilient Cities, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
Markus Ray joined the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology in 2004 and currently leads the Competence Unit “Digital Resilient Cities”, an interdisciplinary team of over 50 engineers and scientists. This unit supports cities and their stakeholders in cross-sectoral transformation processes, integrating expertise in climate, energy, mobility, and urban planning.
At the associated City Intelligence Lab, researchers apply innovative methods and state-of-the-art digital planning tools, using big data and artificial intelligence for co-creative urban development.
Ray studied electronics, specialising in computer and systems engineering. His area of expertise lies in mobility data acquisition and analysis, using a range of sensor and data technologies. He has researched innovative solutions for collecting and analysing individual passenger mobility within multimodal transport systems.
He has employed various sensor systems for active mobility data acquisition, including GPS, video, Wi-Fi, infrared, mobile phones, and smartphones. In addition, he has utilised high-performance computing and big data technologies to harness infrastructure-based data sources, such as mobile phone data and floating car data, for mobility research.
In 2012, Ray was promoted to Senior Research Engineer, and later took on leadership of the Mobility Data Acquisition and Analysis research group. In 2017, he became head of the Competence Unit for Multimodal Transport System Modelling and Optimisation, which was expanded in 2021 to incorporate the Digital Resilient Cities initiative.
Kathrina Rieger Concular Vienna
Keynote Speaker at the SOCB International Conference on Climate, Cities, and Cultures in Vienna, 11–13 August 2025
We are pleased and honored to welcome the distinguished keynote speaker Kathrina Rieger to the upcoming School of Collectively Building (SOCB) International Conference, titled “Climate, Cities, and Cultures,” taking place in Vienna from 11 to 13 August 2025.
Kathrina Rieger from Concular
Kathrina Rieger is a civil engineer and a recognised expert in circularity within the building sector. With over ten years of experience, she has led flagship projects in sustainable construction, turning visionary ideas into large-scale, practical solutions. Her work focuses on developing the infrastructure needed for a circular economy, creating markets for secondary materials, leveraging public procurement as a driver of change, and fostering cross-sector partnerships. From policy to implementation, Kathrina bridges the gap between theory and practice, bringing bold concepts of circular construction to life.
Conference Venue:
Loft by the Lake: Stella-Klein-Löw-Weg 8, 1020 Vienna, Austria.
Programme:
11 August 2025 – Day One (In person presentations)
- Session One: Keynote lectures, delegate presentations, discussion, and Q&A.
- Break
- Session Two: Delegate presentations, discussion, and Q&A.
12 August 2025 – Day Two (Online zoom presentations)
- Session One: Keynote lecture, delegate presentations, discussion, and Q&A.
- Break
- Session Two: Delegate online presentations, discussion, and Q&A.
13 August 2025 – Day Three (In person)
- Session One: Walk and Talk – A guided tour led by an expert, exploring Vienna climate, city, culture, architecture, art, history, and more.
- Session Two: International and interdisciplinary networking + socialising at Cafe Central. More details will be provided for registered delegates.
Publication:
All papers are subjected to a rigorous double-blind peer review process for inclusion in the SOCB Conference Proceedings Series. Selected authors, following review, may be invited to expand their work into comprehensive articles for the SOCB academic journal or contribute to specially curated conference books, further amplifying the impact of their research.SOCB collaborates with esteemed international publishers to deliver high-quality academic content.
Conference outputs include the SOCB Proceedings Series (ISSN: 3061-032X & ISSN: 3061-0338), special editions of the SOCB academic journal (ISSN: 3061-0338 & ISSN:3061-032X), and books co-developed with SOCB and external publishing partners. While submission of written papers is optional, those submitted should be approximately 3,000 words in length, with detailed formatting instructions provided after the conference.
Conference Formats:
In-person (16-20 mins): Experience the conference live in the heart of Vienna, Austria, with opportunities for real-time engagement and networking.
Zoom (16-20 mins): Join virtually from anywhere in the world, with presentations seamlessly coordinated by SOCB for an interactive online experience.
Vienna (16-20 mins): For delegates attending in Vienna but presenting virtually via Zoom—blend the best of both worlds with in-person participation and virtual presentation.
Pre-recorded (16-20 mins): Share your work through pre-recorded presentations or films, which will be available indefinitely on the SOCB Academic YouTube channel for ongoing access and impact.
Written papers (3000 words): Regardless of format, all delegates are invited to submit full written papers for publication in the conference’s official proceedings.
Registration & Submissions:
Regular Registration Until: 30 April 2025
Delegate Fee: €450 I Audience Fee: €225
Late Registration Until: 01 May to 15 July 2025
Delegate Fee: €599 I Audience Fee: €325
Click the button above to submit your abstract.
Questions: conference.socb@gmail.com
Disclaimers: SOCB strives to maintain the highest academic standards for publication. Therefore, all submitted full papers will undergo plagiarism and AI detection scrutiny. Papers (research articles, theses, case studies or essays) that fail these checks will be disqualified from SOCB publication proceedings, journals, and books.
SOCB 