Sustainability being also a perfect field for interdisciplinary and multi-cultural evaluation of complex system, the SDEWES Conference has become a significant venue for researchers in those areas to meet, and originate, discuss, share, and disseminate new ideas:

• Sustainability comparisons and measurements (metrics and indices; multi-criteria analysis; external costs; exergy analysis; footprint methods; emergy; life cycle analysis)
• Green economy and better governance (circular economy; low carbon development/economy; resource efficiency; water reuse; jobs and regional development; macroeconomic analysis; financial and regulatory mechanisms; models and tools; rebound effect; energy economics; environmental economics; development economics; sustainability economics; blue economy)
• Smart energy systems (demand response; integration of power, heating/cooling, transport, water and waste sectors; smart grids; markets; dynamic electricity pricing, microgrids; prosumers; digitalisation; blockchain)
• Energy policy (security of supply; climate change mitigation; energy transition; renewable energy support schemes; energy efficiency policy; employment creation; carbon pricing; markets; fossil fuel subsidies)
• Smart transport systems and policy (fuel/carbon economy; transport electrification; congestion and road pricing; multimodal management; alternative fuels; social aspects; autonomous mobility; railways; shipping; aviation)
• Water-energy nexus (water management; water system analysis; water pricing; water desalination; hydro energy; water-renewables integration, water resources; river basin management; arid areas)
• Environmental policy and management (waste management; wastewater management; climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; air pollution policy; water pollution policy; haze pollution and avoidance; particulates pollution and avoidance; land management; biomass management; reclamation and rewilding; social aspects; strategic environmental impact assessment; environment and corporate social responsibility; quality management systems; environment management systems; eco management and audit schemes; integrated management systems)
• Agricultural policy (energy and water use in agriculture and food processing; food vs. biofuels; sustainability of biofuels production)
• Social acceptance (reform; NIMBY; nuclear; wind; biofuels; hydrogen; cost based pricing; inclusion; fossil fuel subsidy; green economy and employment; gender issues; energy poverty; energy affordability)
• Sustainable resilience of systems (resilience of energy systems; resilience of water systems; resilience of environmental systems; resilience of agricultural systems; resilience of social systems; resilience of engineering systems )
• Sustainable tourism (green hotels; certification)
• Urbanism (smart cities; urban planning; zoning; transport; zero energy buildings/districts; sustainable energy action plans; district heating/cooling, sustainable waste management)
• Regional planning and cooperation (sustainable islands; regions and cities; 100% renewable regions)
• Research, innovation and development (industry-academia partnership; quadruple helix; knowledge based society; knowledge management; learning curve; technology foresight; science diplomacy; clusters and incubators)
• Education in sustainable development (governance; environmental awareness; higher education; engineering education)
• Energy system analysis (energy planning; power system planning; smart energy systems; smart energy networks; natural gas system planning; 100% renewable energy systems; island energy systems; development of energy planning tools; internalizing environmental externalities; electrification of transport; long term demand planning; integration of power and district heating systems; integration of power and water systems; integration of power and transport systems; power to gas)
• Transport management (transport system analysis, dynamic road pricing; electrification of transport)
• Renewable energy resources (biomass; hydro; wind; solar; geothermal; wave and ocean; technical and economic potentials; barriers; cost and benefits; integration)
• Primary energy resources (oil peaking; gas as transition fuel; coal peaking and phase-out; nuclear fuels)
• Renewable electricity generation systems (biomass; hydro; wind; photovoltaic; concentrated solar thermal power; geothermal; blue energy; offshore wind; wave; tide; ocean thermal)
• Thermal power plants (clean coal; combined cycles; advanced cycles; flexible operation and cycling; carbon capture and utilisation; nuclear)
• District heating and/or cooling in smart energy systems (integration of renewable heat; cogeneration; industrial waste/excess heat; waste to energy and CHP; power to heat; electric boilers; heat pumps; integration of CHP with district heating and electricity markets; heat maps; distribution; absorption; adsorption)
• Nano and micro technologies and science for sustainable development of energy, water, and environment systems
• Advanced sustainable energy conversion systems (fuel cells; thermoelectric; thermionic; organic; ORC; waste/excess heat recycling; thermoacoustic; piezoelectric; high altitude wind)
• Low temperature renewable heat systems (waste/excess heat; solar thermal; geothermal; heat pumps)
• Biofuels and biorefineries (biodiesel; bioethanol; biogas; second and third generation biofuels; waste to biofuels; algae; anaerobic digestion; BTL; biorefineries; alternative fuel vehicles; infrastructure; sustainability assessment; pyrolysis; torrefaction; coproduction)
• Alternative fuels (hydrogen; electro-fuels; power to gas; synthetic fuels; BTL; DME; CNG; resources; production; vehicles; infrastructure)
• Electric and hybrid vehicles (hybrid; plug in hybrid; charging; batteries; infrastructure)
• Water treatment for drinking water
• Water desalination (distillation; reverse and forward osmosis; electrodialysis; energy recovery; discharge management; flexible desalination with variable renewables)
• Waste and wastewater treatment and reuse (avoiding waste; composting; recycling; waste to energy; anaerobic digestion; gasification; mechanical biological treatment; mechanical heat treatment; plasma arc waste disposal; pyrolysis; RDF/SRF; combustion modelling)
• Modelling for pollution avoidance and energy efficiency (CFD models; air pollution spreading; water pollution spreading; heat and mass transfer modelling; combustion modelling)
• Cogeneration, trigeneration, polygeneration (heat/cold and power; water and power; biofuels and power; transport and energy; food and energy; applications and operation strategies; photovoltaic-thermal;)
• Storage (heat/cold storage; hydrogen storage; hydropower as storage; pump storage; compressed air storage; batteries; water storage; biofuels storage; storage optimisation modelling; financial support mechanisms; power market arbitrage)
• Electricity transmission and distribution (grid extension and robustness; long distance transmission; power quality)
• Gas security of supply (diversification; shale gas; pipelines extension; LNG; Southern Corridor)
• Energy and water efficiency in industry and mining (cement and lime; construction materials; glass; pulp and paper; food industry; metallurgy; chemical industry; process optimisation; kilns; boilers; heat exchange networks; pinch analysis; exergy and exergoeconomic analysis; energy audits; water use and waste minimisation; eco-innovation; total site integration; life cycle assessment; eco-design and eco-labelling; product cycle assessment; cleaner production, environmental impact assessment)
• Energy efficient appliances (smart appliances; labelling and standards; user behaviour; eco-design)
• Buildings (nearly zero energy buildings; passive buildings; smart buildings; smart metering; ICT; load and demand side management; green buildings; building codes and standards; buildings certification; HVAC; insulation; renewables integration; heat pumps; storage; sustainable architecture)
• Energy markets (market/price coupling; liberalisation/deregulation; modelling; demand response; role of district heating; desalination and water pumping; storage; retail markets; grid parity; net metering; fuel switch)
• Emission markets (emission trading system; cap and trade; transport participation)
• Political aspects of sustainable development (energy democracy; long term planning; sustainable development goals; the role of political leaders and of voters; international conflict vs. sustainable development; security and sustainability; resource and political security; community and citizen participation in the energy transition)