The International Railway History Association (IRHA), together with the University of Siena, will hold a scientific conference in Siena (Italy), 7-10
November.

The title of the conference is Railways and Environmental Sustainability. A long-term view on a global scale from the origins of railways to the present. This is the first IRHA conference to be held in Italy since its foundation in 2002; the choice of Siena is primarily a scientific and intellectual one, but it is also an excellent location from a tourist and logistical point of view (accessible from Florence, Pisa and Rome airports).

In accordance with the customs and convictions of the Association, as laid down in its Statutes, the Conference will be open to anyone who wishes to attend and to anyone who wishes to present a proposal, without any exclusion or prejudice against anyone. No distinction will be made between academics, researchers working in museums, archives and other cultural institutions, professionals and scholars of railway history in general from all over the world. There are no restrictions on the historical periods studied nor to the areas of the world investigated.
On the contrary, we emphasise maximum opening up to inclusiveness and interdisciplinarity, thus promoting exchanges and collaborations with all kinds of scholars even with different methodological opinions and tools, but interested in this field and eager to establish a scientific dialogue.

The Local Organising Committee is chaired by Stefano Maggi (University of Siena) and its members are Eleonora Belloni (University of Siena), Martina Semboloni (University of Siena) and Andrea Giuntini (IRHA President). The general direction of the conference will be overseen by a Scientific Committee whose task will be to evaluate the proposals and make the final selection. The Scientific Committee will be chaired by Andrea Giuntini (Italy); the members of the Scientific Committee are Fernanda De Lima (Brazil), Tony Heywood (United Kingdom), Csaba Sándor Horváth (Hungary), Stefano Maggi (Italy), Michèle Merger (France), Arnaud Passalacqua (France), Ralf Roth (Germany), Paul Veron (France), Javier Vidal (Spain).
Paper proposals (an abstract of 2,000-3,000 characters and a one page curriculum vitae) should be sent by 31 May 2024 to the following address: andrea.giuntini@unimore.it. The decisions of the Scientific Committee will be announced by 30 June 2024. Presenters of accepted papers must send a long abstract of 10,000 characters by 30 September 2024.

More details and information are in the call for papers.