Mobile Tartu 2026 Conference

The Mobility Lab of the University of Tartu welcomes you to the 10th Mobile Tartu Conference! 

The Mobile Tartu Conference focuses on human mobility studies for resilient, just, and sustainable societies using digital traces from mobile big data. At the Jubilee Conference, we reflect on the evolution of mobility studies over the past two decades and how this has influenced the need to consider mobility data justice in research and governance.

Mobile Tartu 2026 includes two closely integrated in-person events:

• Mobile Tartu Conference on 8–10 June 2026

• Mobile Tartu PhD School on 7–10 June 2026
  (Participation in the PhD School also includes participation in the Mobile Tartu Conference)

Abstract submission deadline: 16 January 2026
Early-bird registration and paper presentation confirmation deadline: 31 March 2026
Late registration deadline: 25 May 2026

What is the conference about? 

The events feature keynote speeches, paper and poster sessions, panel discussions, and a rich social programme with vibrant discussions on the conceptual, methodological, and empirical dimensions of understanding human mobility and its interactions with society and the environment, using mobile big data and other digital traces.

The conference series, in conjunction with the adjacent PhD School, brings together a strong community of human mobility researchers, including both early-career researchers and leading scholars, as well as professionals from the public and private sectors, to discuss the latest research and applications in human mobility and mobile big data.

What is the PhD school about? 

The Mobile Tartu PhD School comprises lectures and hands-on workshops on mobile big data analytics for understanding human mobility, complementing the main conference programme.
The first day of workshops and lectures (7 June) will take place in an out-of-town location (transport will be provided for all registered participants from Tallinn and Tartu). The remaining days (8–10 June) will be held in Tartu and are fully integrated into the main conference programme.

The special themes of the Jubilee Mobile Tartu 2026: 

• Activity space studies informing just and sustainable societies
• Multilocal living and cross-border interactions in digital transition
• Mobility data justice in research and governance

Beyond the special themes, we invite a broad range of contributions on human mobility–based digital data sources—such as mobile phone data, smartphone applications, GPS, social media, smart cards, bike-share systems, and e-scooters—and their integration with qualitative insights, to address (but not be limited to) the following topics:

• Travel behaviour and accessibility
• Socio-spatial and environmental inequalities and human wellbeing
• Social networks in space and their transformation with digitalisation
• Disruption management and spatial (im)mobility
• Domestic and international tourism
• Connectivity and interactions from local to global scales
• Land use and transport planning with the incorporation of new mobility solutions
• Urban transformations and the quality of the living environment
• Population studies and official statistics
• Data privacy, surveillance, ethics, and open research
• Methodological advances in human mobility research
• GeoAI approaches for analysing human mobility and enhancing location-based services

For any inquiries, please contact: mobiletartu@ut.ee