Following a meeting of the CIB Board on January 24th to consider the current challenges posed by the global pandemic, the CIB confirms that we will continue to plan for the World Building Congress 2022 from June 27-30 to have a hybrid format with both in-person and online attendance.
The CIB Board decision was unanimous, with other options considered including postponement or switching to online only. The Board will review the position again at its meeting on March 14th-16th with an expectation that the hybrid format will be confirmed, this final decision will be communicated to CIB members and all other stakeholders by March 17th.
Expressing gratitude to RMIT University in Melbourne, the hosts for WBC2022, CIB President Keith Hampson said:
“We are most grateful to Ron Wakefield and his team at RMIT for their commitment and support in hosting WBC2022 on behalf of Australia’s Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc). We fervently hope that our members and other industry practitioners, government policy makers and clients and researchers around the world will be able to gather in person in Melbourne in June, as there is no doubting the added value that this will bring for attendees”.
The decision followed careful consideration of the financial risks to which CIB are exposed in the event that the Congress cannot go ahead in a face-to-face mode due to travel difficulties.
The Board also benefitted from the results of a survey of potential attendees, to which almost 200 people responded and provided rich insights into current opinions and intentions. The Board received a full analysis of this survey, in which 74% agreed that CIB should continue to plan for a face-to-face/hybrid event and 59% wanted a final decision on format by the end of March.
Ron Wakefield, chair of the WBC2022 Organising Committee at RMIT, said:
“Around 420 full papers have been submitted for WBC2022, peer reviews are on-going, and sponsors have confirmed their support. We are delighted that CIB has confirmed its intention to go ahead with a hybrid format, Melbourne will be ready to offer a warm welcome and we look forward to seeing people face-to-face in June.”
Any enquiries on this notice should be addressed to [email protected] in the first instance.
Keith Hampson, CIB President
Ron Wakefield, RMIT University
Don Ward, CIB Chief Executive
28th January 2022
