"Institutional, territorial and evolutionary perspectives on biotechnology"

"Institutional, territorial and evolutionary perspectives on biotechnology"

Seminar and workshop at CIRCLE and the Department of Social and Economic
Geography, Lund University, Sweden, November 7-8, 2007

Biotechnology is often considered the next big wave of technological
change, fuelling the emergence of high-tech industries. Its core
application comprises the medical and health care sectors but applications
across many different industrial fields can be identified. Examples of
emerging niches of biotech are new (functional) food technologies,
environmental and industrial processes, bio-fuels and a range of other
applications in the intersection of science and industry. Owing to its
generic nature and wide applicability in various industries, biotechnology
has made an attractive appeal to policy-makers as a potential vehicle for
economic growth and high value-added job creation. For reasons like these,
the technology has also gained increased attention in the economic and
social sciences during the last couple of decades. In this seminar
different (social) scientific perspectives on biotechnology and related
industries and applications are presented and discussed.

Attendance is free of charge, but we would like you to register by sending
an e-mail to bjorn.asheim@keg.lu.se no later than Nov 4.


Schedule

Wednesday Nov 7, at the Department of Social and Economic Geography,
Geocentrum I, Room 128, Sölvegatan 10, Lund

15.00-15.15: Bjørn Asheim, Lund University, Sweden: Welcome. Presentation
of CIRCLE and introduction to the seminar
15.15-16.00: Maryann Feldman, University of Georgia, USA: Organizational
legacy and firm performance – a study of Scandinavian biotech
16.00-16.45: Finn Valentin, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark: The role
of venture capital in developing bio-clusters – a cross-country comparison
16.45-17.00: Coffee break
17.00-17.45: Fiorenza Belussi and Silvia Sedita, University of Padua,
Italy: The hybrid structure of the life science cluster of Emilia Romagna -
between technological specialisation and related varieties
17.45-18.30: Christian Zeller, University of Bern, Switzerland: The
billion dollar mice – rivalry and cooperation in a technological area
18.30 - Buffet and refreshments on the 5th floor


Thursday Nov 8, at CIRCLE/LUCIE, MNO-Huset, Sölvegatan 16, Lund

09.00-09.45: Phil Cooke, Cardiff University, UK: Clean technologies and
the future of cities
09.45-10.30: Stian Nygaard, Lund University, Sweden: Co-evolution of
technology, markets and institutions: the case of fuel cells and hydrogen
technology in Europe
10.30-11.15: Astrid Szogs, Lund University, Sweden: The role of
institutions in the emergence of regenerative medicine and tissue
engineering
11.15-11.30: Coffee break
11.30-12.15: Lars Coenen, Lund University, Sweden: Biotechnology as a
platform technology - the variegated adoption of biotechnology in
different industrial contexts
12.15-13.00: Meric Gertler, University of Toronto, Canada
13.00- Lunch (sandwiches)


Additional information:
If you arrive early on Wednesday you are welcome to take part in this PhD
defence: "Sites and Modes of Knowledge Creation: On the Spatial
Organization of Biotechnology Innovation" by Jerker Moodysson. Discussant:
Phil Cooke. The defence takes place on Nov 7, 10.15-12.00, at the
Department of Social and Economic Geography, Lund University.


Welcome!

/Bjørn Asheim

Regeneration Institute Public Seminar: Matthew Watson, 12th December

*Regeneration Institute Public Seminar*

'Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble': The Political Economy of Brown's Britain

Dr Matthew Watson, University of Warwick
Wednesday 12th December, 5.00pm

Committee Rooms 1 and 2, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff University, Cardiff

________________________________________________________________________

The title 'bubble, bubble, toil and trouble' provides a surprisingly telling characterisation of the political economy of New Labour. According to Matthew Watson, this has four primary features: (i) bubble one - continual attempts to inflate the housing market bubble still further; (ii) bubble two - ongoing attempts to manage the effects of the bursting of the tech-stock bubble; (iii) toil - the intensification of the work process as a means of prefiguring the move towards a system of asset-based welfare; and (iv) trouble - storing up potential sources of economic contradiction for the future. These features rely on the reconstitution of the economic agent as financialised subject, but at the same time the pro-cyclical activities of financialised agents introduce a pathology of weakness into the structures of the British economy.

Matthew Watson is Reader in Political Economy in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. His two most recent books are both with Palgrave Macmillan, one entitled 'Foundations of International Political Economy' (2005), and the other entitled 'The Political Economy of International Capital Mobility'
(2007).
Drinks reception 5.00pm - Seminar Starts 5.30pm

****If you wish to attend or have any further queries, please contact Nicola Milsom on milsomn@cardiff.ac.uk or Becca Edwards on edwardsrs1@cardiff.ac.uk. Alternatively, please call the Regeneration Institute on 029 208 76014****

'Peripatetic Practices': a workshop on walking

'Peripatetic Practices': a workshop on walking

This one-day interdisciplinary workshop in central London aims to
address different ways of thinking through and about the practice of
walking. For the workshop we are keen to receive papers which address
walking as a topic or a mode of social research. Themes to be addressed
in the workshop include; walking in urban and rural environments;
walking as ethnographic practice; researching contemporary walkers and
walking behaviour; walking as a form place making and mode of embodied
knowledge; walking as a mode of travel and walking as a leisure
activity.

Discussants:

Professor Tim Cresswell (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Professor Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen)
Dr John Wylie (University of Exeter)

This event will be held on Monday 31st March 2008 at Bedford Square,
Gower Street, London WC1E (detailed programme to follow)

Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words to both Hannah
Macpherson (Hannah.Macpherson@rhul.ac.uk) and Jennie Middleton
(Jennie.Middleton@rhul.ac.uk) by 31st October 2007.

CFP: CITIES AND URBAN REGIONS OF LATIN AMERICA

Call for papers 2008 AAG Meeting Boston
Session: CITIES AND URBAN REGIONS OF LATIN AMERICA

Please contact one of the Co-Organizers:
Joel Outtes, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, email:
Outtes@uol.com.br
Betty Smith, Eastern Illinois University, email:
besmith@eiu.edu

We invite participants for a session on urban topics
in Latin America to take place at the annual meeting
of the AAG in Boston, April 15-19, 2008. (www.aag.org)
Contact us if interested. Papers might explore, but
not be limited to:

Economic restructuring and its spatial impacts
Changing urban morphology
Housing
Population density
Transnational linkages
Urban hierarchies
Historic city centers
Urban historical geography
Ethnic neighborhoods
City planning in Latin America
Criminality
Informal sector
Metropolitan transportation
Urban environmental problems
Social conflicts
Participatory budgets and city planning
Urban social movements
Urban social geography
The International Planning Movement
International planning institutions in Latin America

After registering for the conference at
http://aag.org/annualmeetings/2008/registration.htm
and submitting your abstract for a paper session,
forward a copy of the abstract and your PIN number to:


Betty Smith, Eastern Illinois University, email:
besmith@eiu.edu

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Environmental Planning

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND LIFE SCIENCES
Graduate School of the Environment (GSE)

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Environmental Planning
(Full-time (continuing))
Ref. 3880

The Division of Environmental and Life Sciences has an international
reputation in environmental studies. This appointment is associated with
the Graduate School of the Environment (GSE), a department within the
Division, which offers postgraduate programs in environmental studies,
environmental planning, environmental management, environmental education,
sustainable development and wildlife management. The department also has
a growing and vibrant higher degree research program focused on its multi-
disciplinary strengths.
The appointee will contribute to the teaching of postgraduate units in
environmental planning as well as other areas in environmental studies;
supervise postgraduate students; conduct research; contribute to the
administration, organisation and promotion of the School; and will provide
leadership for the environmental planning program which is accredited by
the Planning Institute of Australia. Applicants with a strong record of
teaching and research in any area of environmental planning are encouraged
to apply, however the GSE is particularly interested in the following
areas of expertise in line with the strengths of its Master of
Environmental Planning program:

• Urban and regional planning for sustainable development
• Planning for climate change (adaptation and mitigation)
• Environmental planning and environmental economics

Applicants are invited to set out their plans in research over the next
three to five years, and should also comment on innovative teaching and
learning strategies which they may wish to pursue.

Essential Selection Criteria: A relevant doctoral degree or equivalent
research experience; an active research program in a relevant area,
showing evidence of research as demonstrated by publications, competitive
grants and other forms of professional recognition; demonstrated capacity
for inspirational teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels;
demonstrated capacity to effectively teach local and international
students; eligible to become a member of the Planning Institute of
Australia.

Desirable Selection Criteria: Experience in environmental planning
practice; potential for innovative collaboration with existing strengths
in the Department and Division; experience in program management, in
advising students, and in on-line delivery and other flexible learning
approaches; demonstrated research links with industry.

Additional Essential Selection Criteria for Senior Lecturer: Demonstrated
research links with external organisations, including government and
industry; experience in teaching and convening tertiary level programs in
environmental planning (or urban and regional planning), local planning
practice, community participation in planning, and/or sustainable urban
development.

Additional Desirable Selection Criteria for Senior Lecturer: Practical
experience outside tertiary education in environmental planning (or urban
and regional planning), and/or local planning practices; professional
contributions and achievements in planning.

Enquiries: Professor Peter Nelson on (02) 9850 6958 or e-mail
peter.nelson@mq.edu.au

The position is available on a full-time (continuing) basis from January
2008 and may be subject to probationary conditions, although alternative
flexible terms (part-time or job-share arrangements) may be considered.
The application should state clearly if there is a preference for part-
time or other employment terms. Selection criteria must be addressed in
the application.

Package (Lecturer (Level B)): From $81,682 pa, including base salary
$69,022 to $81,847 pa, annual leave loading and 17% employer’s
superannuation.

Package (Senior Lecturer (Level C)): From $99,896 pa, including base
salary $84,413 to $97,239 pa, annual leave loading and 17% employer’s
superannuation.

Applicants should indicate the level for which they are applying, or
whether they wish to be considered for both levels.

The appointment is currently governed by the terms of the Macquarie
University Enterprise Agreement 2006-2009. The successful applicant will
be offered the choice of an Australian Workplace Agreement.

Please visit http://www.jobs.mq.edu.au to apply online. Closing Date 9
November 2007.


Equal Employment Opportunity is a University Policy

___________________________________________________________________

Regional Studies Association Winter Conference

Registration is now open for the following Regional Studies Association Conferences:

Regional Studies Association Winter Conference
"Transport, Mobility and Regional Development"
Friday 23rd November 2007, London, UK

Further Details: http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/future.asp
Register Here: https://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/ei/getdemo.ei?id=4&s=_3B00W8K8Z

Student Conference 2007
"City Regions: Balancing Growth with Sustainability"
Thursday 6th December 2007, University of Manchester, UK

Further Details: http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/future.asp
Register Here: https://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/ei/getdemo.ei?id=5&s=_31W0YA59K

Health profile of England 2007

Health profile of England 2007 is available from the DH at the URL below.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_079716

This is what the DH has to say about the health profile.

" The Health Profile of England is intended to be of use to public service
professionals and officials within the local community - such as local
councillors and primary care trust directors of public health -who are in a
position to exert influence over the planning, commissioning, procurement
and delivery of public health programmes. But the document will also be of
interest to a much wider audience - anyone with an interest in the profile
of health and health determinants in this country".

JRF Findings: Providing Gypsy and Traveller sites

** Just published on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website:

* Providing Gypsy and Traveller sites: contentious spaces

This study provides up-to-date advice and examples of how Gypsy
and Traveller sites in England are being developed as an integral
part of overall housing provision.

http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/2142.asp

Comparing models of housing with care for later life

** Just published on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website:

* Comparing models of housing with care for later life
This comparative study examines different models of housing with
care for older people in England.
http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/2158.asp

JRF Findings: The impact of heavy cannabis use on young people

** Just published on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website:

* The impact of heavy cannabis use on young people's lives

Looking at 100 heavy cannabis users aged 16-25, this study
explores what how they define 'heavy' cannabis use and how their
usage affects their lives.

http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/2116.asp

CFP: CITIES AND URBAN REGIONS OF LATIN AMERICA

Call for papers 2008 AAG Meeting Boston
Session: CITIES AND URBAN REGIONS OF LATIN AMERICA

Please contact one of the Co-Organizers:
Joel Outtes, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, email: Outtes@uol.com.br
Betty Smith, Eastern Illinois University, email: besmith@eiu.edu

We invite participants for a session on urban topics in Latin America to
take place at the annual meeting of the AAG in Boston, April 15-19, 2008.
(www.aag.org) Contact us if interested. Papers might explore, but not be
limited to:

Economic restructuring and its spatial impacts
Changing urban morphology
Housing
Population density
Transnational linkages
Urban hierarchies
Historic city centers
Urban historical geography
Ethnic neighborhoods
City planning in Latin America
Criminality
Informal sector
Metropolitan transportation
Urban environmental problems
Social conflicts
Participatory budgets and city planning
Urban social movements
Urban social geography
The International Planning Movement
International planning institutions in Latin America

After registering for the conference at
http://aag.org/annualmeetings/2008/registration.htm and submitting your
abstract for a paper session, forward a copy of the abstract and your PIN
number to:

Betty Smith, Eastern Illinois University, email: besmith@eiu.edu

Seminar "New-Build Gentrification: forms, places and processes"

Dear colleagues,

You will find as an attached file the programme of an international seminar on the question of
new-build gentrification.

You will find more information at this link:

http://www2.unine.ch/maps/page20307.html

KInd regards

Patrick RΘrat
Institute of geography
University of Neuchatel, Switzerland

Royal Society of Medicine Conference 16th November 2007

Royal Society of Medicine Conference 16th November 2007






Meeting of the Epidemiology & Public Health Section



Waste – a public health issue



Friday 16 November 2007



Max Rayne Lecture Theatre, The Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE



RSM contact:

Phil McShane

Academic Department, Royal Society of Medicine,

1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE

Tel: (+44) (0) 20 7290 3942 Fax: (+44) (0) 20 7290 2989

Email: epidemiology@rsm.ac.uk









Chair: Giovanni Leonardi

Council Member



9.30 am Registration, tea and coffee



10.00 am Public health management of waste

Jenny Griffiths, Consultant in Public Health



10.40 am The ecological footprint of waste

Ecological footprint studies in London/Liverpool

Speaker, tbc



11.20 am Tea and coffee



11.40 am Models of human exposure to chemicals and other hazards in the vicinity of landfills

Richard Mohan, Health Protection Agency



12.20 pm Epidemiological evidence of adverse health effects for populations near landfills

Lars Jarup, Imperial College



1.00 pm Lunch



2.00 pm Odours from waste sites and the implications for Public Health

Helen Smethurst, health Protection Agency



2.40 pm A decision analysis framework for minimising health hazards of urban pollution: the example of waste

Zaid Chalabi, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine



3.20 pm Completion of evaluation forms



3.30 pm The NHS, the patient, procurement and sustainability

Paul Durrands, Senior Commercial Adviser, NHS south Central



4.10 pm Close of meeting



CPD: 5 credits



Non-Fellow: £45

Fellow: £20

Associate: £20

Trainee - Fellow: £10

Student: £10

Student Members: £5

Trainee: £15



Book on-line at: www.rsm.ac.uk/epidemiology

The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space

The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space

In recent decades there has been an intense focus upon how we can, and should, understand the ‘space of democracy and the democracy of space’. Of course this question is not new, but what could be called the ‘spatial turn’ in academia, shows that globalisation brings spatial interconnections and flows to the fore, whilst throwing open the idea of fixed boundaries and borders. We have moved away from the assumption that space can be regarded as a pre-given background or even container of political life. Today, emphasis is placed upon the spatial circulation of people, passions, new social movements, technosciences, media and information; and how these contribute to situated political action in given, empirical contexts. But this spatial turn also throws up thorny tensions as to what will count and work as democratic practice today. Given that spatial flows and interconnections are now forgrounded in debate, how should we understand some of the central tensions which characterise democracy today; between ‘territorial and post-territorial politics’, ‘citizenship as everyday practice and the reassertion of statism’, ‘representation and participation’ and ‘being affected by an issue and the right to participate in it’.

The emerging "Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space" network explores such questions. It involves around 400 academics globally, working across the disciplines of political philosophy, politics, planning, geography, anthropology, science and technology studies, sociology and development studies. We are presently concentrating upon establishing institutional sites, in different geographical locations, for the network to operate through. Once established, these will eventually take conversations through the different disciplines via academic workshops, academic journals, public debates, the general media and website interfaces, for example.

This will take place under the direction of Jonathan Pugh. We would also like to acknowledge the significant assistance of the special advisors, Noortje Marres, Chantal Mouffe, Doreen Massey and Oliver Moss. Some of those who have actively signed up to take part in events so far include Tony Benn, David Chandler, Bernard Crick, Andy Dobson, Anthony Giddens, David Featherstone, John Forester, Frank Furedi, Maarten Hajer, David Howarth, Patsy Healey, Will Hutton, Tim Ingold, Uma Kothari, Scott Lash, Nina Laurie, Oliver Marchart, Phil McNaughton, Chantal Mouffe, Susan Owens, Jonathan Pugh, Steve Rayner, Jenny Robinson, Uma Kothari, Richard Sennett, AbdouMaliq Simone, Joe Smith, Yannis Stavrakakis, Deborah Thien, Nigel Thrift, Francoise Verges, Hilary Wainwright, Sarah Whatmore, Steve Hinchliffe, Clive Barnett, Liza Griffin, Jim Martin, David Oswell, Oren Yiftachel, Daniela Korbas Magal, Nina Laurie, Jean Hillier, Terrell Carver, Deborah Thien, and Sandra Halperin. We also operate through a long-term public debating forum, The Great Debate; putting on debates involving college students and members of the general public in the North East of England in particular.

Previous and forthcoming events….

Newcastle University – 19^th May, 2006

“The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space: Debating (de)territorial governance”. With Professor David Chandler (Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster), Dr Caspar Hewitt (Newcastle University) and Dr Jonathan Pugh (Newcastle University). Sponsored by The Great Debate.

Harvard University – 2^nd April, 2007

Dr Jonathan Pugh (Newcastle University)

“The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space: conversations with architects and planners”. Sponsored by Harvard University and The British Council (US Branch).

Cornell University – 6^th April, 2007

Dr Jonathan Pugh (Newcastle University)

“The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space: The Claim of International Development”. Sponsored by Cornell University and the British Council (US Branch).

Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) seminar – 15^th May, 2007

Dr Jonathan Pugh (Newcastle University)

“The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space”. Sponsored by CSD.

Newcastle University - 25^th June, 2007 (in association with The Great Debate)

“The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space: The New Politics of Climate Change”

Debating with Professor Steve Rayner (Director: James Martin Institute, University of Oxford; Professor Phil Macnaghten (Director: Institute for Hazard and Risk Research, Durham University); and Dr Joe Smith (School of Social Sciences, Open University). Sponsored by Newcastle City Council, the Economic and Social Research Council’s Science in Society Programme and the Royal Town Planning Institute (Northern Branch).

Annual Conference of the Institute of British Geographers/ Royal Geography Society – 30^th August, 2007.

“The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space: Critical Territorial Politics”

Debating with Sir Bernard Crick, Hilary Wainwright (Editor, Red Pepper), Professor David Chandler (Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster), Tony Benn and Professor Sarah Whatmore (University of Oxford). Sponsored by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust, the RGS-IBG Participatory Geographies Working Group and ESRC.

Newcastle University, 12^th October, 2007

“Space-time and the political”. With Professor Doreen Massey (Open University), Professor Chantal Mouffe (Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster), Professor Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen), Dr Noortje Marres (Goldsmiths, University of London) and Professor David Howarth (University of Essex). Sponsored by the ESRC.

Newcastle University, 11^th January, 2008

“The Space of Democracy of Planning”

Debating with Professor John Forester (Cornell), Professor Patsy Healey (Newcastle University), Professor Susan Owens (University of Cambridge) and Professor Maarten Hajer (Universiteit van Amsterdam). Sponsored by the ESRC.

Newcastle University, 21^st January, 2008

‘Authority, Democracy and Human potential’

Workshop with Professor Richard Sennett (LSE/MIT) and Professor Frank Furedi (University of Kent). Sponsored by The Great Debate.

March 2008: Special session at the Centre for the Study of Invention and Social Process (CSISP) Goldsmiths University on “The Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space: Technology and Democracy”. Organised by Dr Noortje Marres and sponsored by CSISP.

If you are interested in these, or any of the other events associated with this developing network, please contact Jonathan.Pugh@ncl.ac.uk.

END

Thinking about the state: symposium November 21st

Symposium

Thinking about the state: continuities and change

2pm Wednesday 21st November 2007 (room eb-g.18)

The School of Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies

Docklands Campus

University of East London

A symposium to mark the publication of The Modern State: Theories and Ideologies by Erika Cudworth, Tim Hall & John McGovern. The Symposium will be followed by a reception at 5pm (room eb-g.18)

Peter Burnham (Warwick) ‘The indispensability of state theory’

Valerie Bryson (Huddersfield) ‘Welfare states, gender and time’

David Runciman (Cambridge) 'The liberty of the moderns vs the liberty of the post-moderns'

Valerie Bryson is Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for Democracy and Governance at the University of Huddersfield. She is author of Feminist Debates: Issues of Policy and Practice (1999), Feminist Political Theory (2003), Gender and the Politics of Time (2007) and is co-author (with G. Blakeley) of Contemporary Political Concepts (2002) and Class and Other Four Letter Words: Classic Concepts of the Left (2005).

Peter Burnham is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He is the author of The Political Economy of Post War Reconstruction (1990), The Remaking of the Post-War World Economy: Robot and British Policy Making in the 1950s (2003) and is co-author of Global Restructuring: State Capital and Labour (2006) along with A. Bieler, W. Bonefeld and A. Morton.

David Runciman is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the Department of Politics, in the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Pluralism and the Personality of the State (1997); ‘Sovereign Debt and Private Creditors: New Legal Sanction or the Enduring Power of States?’ (with Helen Thompson), New Political Economy, 11, 4 (2006) and The Politics of Good Intentions: History, Fear and Hypocrisy in the New World Order (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006).

All welcome - no need to pre-book

Campus and transport information: http://www.uel.ac.uk/about_uel/why_uel/docklands.htm

Cyprus DLR station is immediately adjacent to the campus. Room EB.G.18 (East Building, Ground Floor, Room 18) is on the ground floor of the main building situated to your left as you enter the main square from Cyprus station.

For any further information contact Jeremy Gilbert j.gilbert@uel.ac.uk

Global Migrations Lecture at The Open University

Colleagues,

May I draw your attention to the following event, to which you are invited, at The Open University:




CCIG/CRESC



The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA



Wednesday 31 October 2007



'Global Migrations and Stratification: Considerations of Gender and Class'





Keynote Lecture

Eleonore Kofman

(Professor of Gender, Migration and Citizenship, Middlesex University)



17.30 - Berrill Lecture Theatre



Wine Reception to follow



This event is part of the CCIG and CRESC Workshop 'Migrations, Mobilities, Citizenship: Dialogues across Boundaries', 31 October 2007 organised by Nicola Yeates and Umut Erel.



NB - This lecture will not be webcast or recorded





If you would like to attend the lecture please contact Sarah Batt, Research Centre Secretary by e-mail

mailto:socsci-ccig-events@open.ac.uk or telephone 01908 654704.

CFP: Urban-environmental reconfigurations: making cities and citizens through neoliberal and environmental politics

Apologies for cross listing

Urban-environmental reconfigurations: making cities and citizens through neoliberal and environmental politics

Call for papers: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston

April 15-18, 2008.

Organizers: James McCarthy, Penn State; Kevin Ramsey, University of Washington

Major urban reconfigurations are always crucibles of contemporary politics. In the current era, neoliberalism and environmentalism are among the most prominent political problematics evident in and contested through reworkings of urban spaces and polities. Moreover, they are often linked: for instance, previously dominant narratives such as environmental justice often cast urban residents as potential victims of environmental ills and the state as responsible for protecting them from (inequitable) harm, while more recent discourses are likely to cast residents, or entire communities, as agents with the moral capacity and responsibility to transform their own social and environmental conditions through voluntary actions. Similarly, the production of environmental amenities has become a significant feature of inter-urban competition in an era of devolved governance and competition. Such shifts raise questions about the proper role for the state in cultivating and privileging particular subjectivities, the differential capacity of residents for participating in such transformations, and the politics implicit in these cultural and environmental projects.

In this session, we invite participants to present work on urban reconfigurations that speak to these or related issues.

Potential paper topics might include, but are not limited to:

• Urban infrastructure and environment

• Community (re)development

• Urban environmental engineering

• Connections between urban and environmental politics and social movements

• The naturalization of urban politics

• Urban political ecologies

Expressions of interest and/or abstracts (250 words or less) should be sent to James McCarthy (jpm23@psu.edu) and Kevin Ramsey (kramsey@u.washington.edu)

by October 25, 2007.

New textbook: Research Methods in Urban and Regional Planning.

Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce our new book published by Springer -
Research Methods in Urban and Regional Planning. The book addresses
four major areas of planning methods: demographic analysis, economic
analysis, land use analysis, and transportation analysis. Devoting a
section to each of these four topics, the authors describe how to
effectively gather, analyze, and present the information to a wide
range of audiences. The authors provide sufficient conceptual and
theoretical background of principles and working mechanisms behind
various methods. Additionally, to facilitate understanding and
application of this material, the authors have included hands-on
exercises.

The book is divided into eight chapters: Chapter 1 introduces planning
research methods; Chapter 2 describes the "three-step approach" of
transforming data into constructive information which can be used to
guide decision making; Chapter 3 reviews the fundamentals of
demographic analysis and then presents the most important population
projection models; Chapter 4 focuses on the widely used analytical
approaches built upon the concept of economic base analysis; Chapter
5 introduces the fundamentals of input-and output analysis; Chapter 6
looks at different aspects of land classification and land use
analysis; Chapter 7 provides an overview of the terms of
transportation analysis and the travel demand forecast model; and
Chapter 8 describes hands-on exercises that reemphasizes the
connections between the four sections of planning analytical methods.
Please use the following link to the book.
http://www.springer.com/west/home/geography/human+geography?SGWID=4-40420-22-173706120-0

We have been asking the publisher to lower the price and welcome your
suggestions. Please feel free to contact us at xinhao.wang@uc.edu or
rainer.vomhofe@UC.Edu.

Xinhao Wang and Rainer vom Hofe
School of Planning
University of Cincinnati