Hello. I'm Choi Jun-ho from Pukyong National University, the chair of our society's Disaster Prevention and Response Committee.

We are pleased to announce that the Human Behaviour in Fire (HBiF) 2026 International Symposium will be held as follows.
(Official society website URL: https://humanbehaviourinfires.se)

The Human Behaviour in Fire Symposium is the most prestigious conference in the field of evacuation and human behaviour, and was first held in 1998 in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. 

The main schedule for the 7th symposium held this year is as follows.

1. Dates: October 6 (Tuesday) - 8 (Thursday), 2026

2. Venue: Campus Helsingborg, Lund University, Sweden (https://maps.app.goo.gl/fuN1ujFRQovFzZTq5)

3. Early registration period: April 15 (Wed) - May 30 (Sat), 2026

4. Deadline for submission of detailed abstract: Sunday, February 15, 2026

   ※ Full paper submissions for abstracts accepted after review will be accepted until Saturday, May 30th.

   ※ Manuscripts accepted after the symposium will be published in a special issue of Fire and Materials (SCIE-listed journal).

5. Main topics:

• Data collection and analysis

  The study of human behavior in fires via a wide range of methodological approaches (eg, experiments, field settings, surveys, statistical methods, machine learning, etc.), and technologies

• Qualitative studies

  Information gathering to explore new concepts, developing hypotheses, and understanding evacuee motivations - using interviews, observations, online methods, case studies, etc.

• Conceptual studies

  The development of concepts and theories to explain human behavior in fires

• Evacuation modeling

  Simulation studies focused on representing evacuation behavior, including the exploration of human behavior studies through models, verification and validation, crowd simulations, etc.

• Incident analysis

  The study and reconstruction of real-world emergencies (eg, incident recording systems, forensic studies, etc.)

• Crowd dynamics and crowd management

  The analysis of crowd evacuation in emergencies and solutions aimed at managing crowds

• Outdoor fire evacuation

  The study of human behavior in wildfires, informal settlement fires, and urban fires

• Human behavior during transportation fires

  The study of human behavior in fire incidents in transportation systems, eg, underground, ground, air, rail, and maritime systems

• Training

  Methods that aim to improve occupants' and responders' performance during fire incidents

• digital technology

  The application of digital technology to human behavior in fires, including the use of AI, mixed reality, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and/or building information modeling (BIM)

• Egressibility

  Accessibility to means of evacuation for all, eg, older populations, people with functional limitations/disabilities, neurodivergent communities, and children

We are currently accepting abstracts. We ask for your interest and participation.

I'm a Scientific Committee Member for the HBiF 2026 Symposium. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Finally, I wish everyone reading this a healthy and happy new year. Happy New Year. Thank you.

Dream of Choi Jun-ho from Pukyung National University.

ps) For reference, the history of the HBiF field and the evolution of its knowledge base over time are well summarized in the following article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.104085