MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

BELARUSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Supported by the Innovation Fund of Minsk City Executive Committee

International academic and research conference

and academic and research workshops

Social Practices and Development of Urban Environment:

Urban Studies and Innovation

(November 25^th – 26^th, 2021, 9, Kalvarijskaya Str., Minsk, Belarus)

The concept of ‘smart city’ is a comprehensive and complex system

integrating smart people making smart decisions and using smart tools

to create smart infrastructures within the framework of city life.

The conference is multidisciplinary, so specialists from various fields dealing with city issues are invited.

Conference website http://conf.bsu.by/social_practices_and_urban_development_en/

Conference priorities (November 25^th, 2021):

City as an educational environment

City as a platform for educational projects. Educational and professional practices in the city. City and innovative education. University as a factor and subject of urban development. The role of university in the formation of city identity and city dwellers’ identity. University and urban traditions. University as an initiator and participant in modernization of urban environment. University campus as a cultural phenomenon. Urban planning and university. University and cultural heritage of cities. Urban studies as an academic discipline.

Digital city and data management in urban development: prospects and risks
Digitalization of urban infrastructure and social practices. Open government. Modernization and digitalization of the main spheres of urban life (transportation, healthcare, energy, administration, production, leisure activities, etc.). Personalization of offers and services in local context; ‘geomedia’ and big data, internet of things in the pack ‘smart house – smart street – smart city’.
Big data in urban environment: characteristics of content, data collection, storage, protection, and analysis. Public opinion polls in the contemporary city: peculiarities of sampling design, poll management, conduct, data processing and interpretation of results. Participant observation and other qualitative methods in city studies. Longitudinal studies as a tool for studying city development.

Urban research and strategic urban management
Key actors – authorities, business and civil society – as stakeholders, who determine decision-making and its implementation.
Social marketing and stakeholder management. Situational monitoring and evaluation, expert opinions, academic research, SWOT-analysis and risk assessment; management and control of social processes; test and trial projects and their implementation. Problematization, designing and forecasting the consequences of strategically important decisions, surveys of local residents and expert interviews; heuristics, collegiality and systemic approach in decision-making.
City as a brand. Positioning and promoting the city as a brand to develop tourism, attract investment, improve living standards, etc.
City and epidemics. History of epidemics and the European cities. Daily urban practices during the Covid-19 pandemic. Urban planning and management during the pandemic.

City as a multicultural environment
Portrait of a contemporary city dweller. Sociocultural space of the city. Urban lifestyle. Public figures, ‘celebrities’, and ‘ordinary people’. Opinion leaders, ‘influencers’, and ‘followers’. Organizations and corporations, various groups and communities, urban cultures and subcultures, publics, and counterpublics.
City as a symbolic construct, its reputation and the image it creates. Places, events, and practices, urban legends and myths as symbolic resources of territorial identity; ‘creative clusters’ and ‘third places’ as attractive areas for citizens and tourists. Psychology of urban space perception. Mental maps of the city. Institutionalized and informal urban symbols.
City culture, subcultures, and countercultures. Cultural space of the city. The culture of celebration in the city. Street culture. Urban design. Social stratification and urban landscape. Gentrification. Preservation of urban heritage. The ‘masses’ and the ‘elites’ in the city. The phenomenon of a cultural site. The problems of migrants' integration in the urban environment.

‘Comfortable and friendly city’: inclusive technologies and universal design
Center and periphery, the capital and regions – eliminating imbalances to achieve sustainable growth. Functionality of the urban environment and new communication vectors. A strategy for sustainable urban development. ‘A friendly urban environment’. ‘Green city’ and ecological practices. Inclusiveness, participation and co-designing of the urban environment to find optimal ways for its development. Mediation: strategies and tactics for conflict resolution and compromise, decentralization and distribution of powers. Cultural and educational projects, socially important initiatives and civic activism, informing and promoting plans for territory development via social advertising and PR. City structure.
Accessible urban environment for people with special needs. Constructing models of inclusive culture of urban communities. Creating accessible environment for citizens with special needs. Inclusive education as a resource for creating a tolerant environment. Universal design in inclusive education. Social and cultural projects as tools for solving problems of persons with social insufficiency. Educational models of professional training in social urban studies.

Roundtable ‘Digital City’ and Digital Competences of Citizens: Trends and Mechanisms of Reciprocal Influence is planned.

Moderators: Larissa G. Titarenko, Doctor of Sociology, Professor (Minsk), Ruben V. Karapetyan, Ph.D. in Sociology, Associate Professor (St. Petersburg)

The round table is devoted to the discussion of the processes of digital transformations of urban environment and their impact on labor market transformations. Participants will consider such issues as sociological reconceptualization of the term ‘smart city’, stages in the evolution of theoretical ideas about ‘smart city’, the role of urban environment in shaping digital competencies of town dwellers in everyday and professional practices, and the impact of population’s ICT literacy on digitalization of urban space. The empirical data collected in 2021 in Minsk and St. Petersburg will be presented; the data focus is on the specific directions of digitalization of urban environment, the impact of the pandemic on the digital transformation of the labor market, and the social risks associated with these processes (technostress, foremost, viewed as difficulties in adjusting to the new digital reality).

Academic and research training workshops (November 26^th, 2021):

E-government in Digital Society (6 hours)
New Approaches, Technologies and Methods of Interdisciplinary and Sociological Research of Topical Problems of the Modern City (6 hours)
Dynamics of Innovation Spreading in Contemporary Urban Environment (6 hours)

Conference working languages: Russian, Belarusian, English.

An electronic collection of conference proceedings will be published by the start of the conference.

Participation in the conference does not involve participation fees.

Participation in the conference is possible in face-to-face and distance modes.

Travel costs, accommodation and meals are at the expense of conference participants or the institutions sending them.

Register no later than September 30^th, 2021 to participate in the conference and training workshops (fill in and send the registration form, selecting the appropriate section and/or training workshop by the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTZ3Om30wIo9L1E8CjCDbhxMnqK27sKNJvSfUQbj9fIvtQeA/viewform?usp=sf_link ) and send the text of the publication in one of the formats .doc, .docx, .rtf to the e-mail address urbanffsn@gmail.com . Indicate the surname and initials of the author in the subject line of the e-mail, along with the title of the section (for example, Ivanov A.A. Actual questions of the theory and practice of social work).

Conference Key Dates

June 10^th	The first newsletter. Starting registration
September 1^st	The second newsletter
September 30^th	End of registration (face-to-face and distance participation modes) and evaluation of papers for acceptance in the collection of conference proceedings
October 15^th	Informing about acceptance of the papers in the collection of conference proceedings
November 10^th	The third newsletter and publication of the conference program
November 25^th	Publication of the collection of conference proceedings and holding the conference
November 26^th	Conducting training workshops

Contact information of the Organizing Committee:

9, Kalvariyskaya Str., 220004, Minsk, the Republic of Belarus, Belarusian State University, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, room 424.

e-mail: FofanovaG@bsu.by, urbanffsn@gmail.com

Chairman of the Organizing Committee: Vadim F. Gigin, Ph.D. in History, Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences.

Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee: Galina A. Fofanova, Ph.D. in Psychology, Associate Professor, Deputy Dean for Re