Building Simulation & Optimisation 22: Reflections on a successful online conference

EB: How did you hear about BSO 22 and what do you think of the conference format? If you have been to previous IBPSA (or other) conferences, how do you think BSO 22 compared to those?

DM: I found BSO 2022 when searching for something that dealt with simulating the built environment in a technical fashion yet was looking at its impact and relevance; I had found that engineers could take on board the biology of honeybees much more easily than biologists could understand the physics of honeybee nests/ hives. In the words of one engineer after hearing of my research: “Oh, it’s just another built environment”.

TG: I came across the BSO 2022 conference as the University of Bath forms part of my information network. Having worked with Professor Sukumar extensively on an international collaboration project in 2019 (Preparing the South African Built Environment for Climate Change Resilience, supported by the UKRI Newton Fund and the Royal Academy of Engineering), I was excited to take part in the conference. I have attended a few other international conferences (both in person and virtually), but this was my first IBPSA conference. I thought it was extremely well organised, structured and presented, with a strong cross-disciplinary approach. We all know it can be challenging to host an online event that truly simulates in-person collaboration and knowledge sharing. Despite the obvious lack of conversations over lunch, I thought the conference hosts did an excellent job in organising debating sessions that really encouraged participation from the audience. What truly stood out for me from BSO 2022 was the range of highly knowledgeable researchers, keynote speakers and experts from across the globe. The BSO and IBPSA conferences certainly provide an excellent platform for students, emerging researchers, industry experts and experienced academics to share knowledge and enhance collaboration between the Global North and Global South.

JL: I was invited to the conference as keynote speaker and followed as many parallel sessions as I could. The conference was very well structured, and I appreciated how clearly the abstracts and presentations were divided into thematic groups. It really helped me navigating the programme and finding the sessions that were closer to my interests. Of course, the remote format makes it more difficult to network and establish relationships, and it makes it much easier to get distracted by other tasks, but it comes with environmental advantages too.

EB: Have you got any suggestions on how to improve IBPSA conferences in the future?

TG: In my personal view, despite understanding the reasons for hosting an all-virtual conference, I do believe that the knowledge sharing, interactions and collaborations from in-person conferences are much more impactful. I also think that traveling, meeting new people, experiencing diverse cultures, and exploring new environments brings about unique perspectives that can change our perception of the world.

DM: I must admit I also prefer conferences in person.

JL: What I would like to see more are follow-ups of the key topics discussed during the conference. One example could be a journal special issue dedicated to the conference theme of the ‘Global South’. But there could be many other ways - the important thing is to keep the conversation going between different parts of the world and different disciplines, to achieve key development goals all together.

EB: Thank you all again for your participation in this interview, and my congratulations to you and the other authors for winning Best Paper Awards!