Conference in Liverpool - July 2008

details (see link below) of a conference giving a critical look at the
impacts of regeneration etc in the 'Capital of Culture' 2-4 July 08
(The deadline for paper submissions has been extended to the beginning of May)
http://www.liv.ac.uk/ssp/conference/Liverpool_Con_Flyer_2.pdf

New titles from the Policy Press

'Promoting children's wellbeing' is the second title in our exciting new
series, Working Together for Children. Edited by Janet Collins and Pam
Foley, this attractive and accessible textbook analyses and examines the
policies, services and practice skills needed for collaborative, effective
and equitable work with children. For more information please see:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=10090&products_id=1487

Don't forget that the first title in the series, 'Connecting with children'
is also available. The final title in the series 'Changing children's
services' is due out in July.

'Rethinking professional governance', edited by Ellen Kuhlmann and
Mike Saks, opens up new perspectives in health policy debate, examining the
emerging international trends in the governance of health professions and
the significance of national contexts for the changing health workforce.
Please see:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=10054&products_id=1346

For more information on all of our titles, along with news and special
offers, please visit: https://www.policypress.org.uk

Policy Press titles can also be ordered from:

Marston Book Services
PO Box 269
Abingdon
Oxon
OX14 4YN
Te: +44 (0)1235 465500
Email: direct.orders@marston.co.uk

P&P charges: Delivery within the UK £2.75 for the first copy and 50p
thereafter.

“Can > Planning Deliver? Planning for health and social infrastructure” - Free Seminar

> NHS London Healthy Urban Development Unit (HUDU) is holding a free
> all day event for health and planning professionals entitled “Can
> Planning Deliver? Planning for health and social infrastructure”
> on Wednesday 14 May 2008 in Central London.
>
>
>
> There are less than 100 places available, so you are advised to
> book your place as soon as possible.

See:


http://www.healthyurbandevelopment.nhs.uk/

Urban MultipliCITIES: Conference, London, 6-7 November 2008, RGS-IBG UGRG

Urban MultipliCITIES

A two-day conference and open discussion
organised by the RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group
Preliminary Call for Contributions

Dates: 6-7 November 2008
Location: Queen Mary University of London

Building on two earlier conferences, Paradigmatic Cities and Approaching the
City, this year's UGRG conference aims to examine the multiplicities of 'the
urban'. Rather than the unitary object implied by the terms 'the urban' or
'the city', multiple urbanisms are currently being called forth by research
that, for instance: challenges conventional representations and hierarchies
of cities; 'parochialises' cities of 'the North'; develops research into
'ordinary cities'; uncovers/explores diverse ways of inhabiting urban space;
re-examines urban histories; or employs inventive methods of investigating
urban experiences.

Urban MultipliCITIES aims to bring some of these proliferating fields into
creative contact, and we are seeking contributions from a wide range of
urban research that reflect the rich variety of work being undertaken in the
field. Topics and methodologies might include (but are in no way restricted
to):
§ gender and sexuality
§ methods: e.g. visual, aural, tactile, oral, performative,
participatory.
§ non-'Western' urban experiences
§ poetics and politics of urban imaginaries
§ post-coloniality
§ regeneration projects and everyday life
§ socio-technical materialities
§ suburban studies
§ practice, activism and politics

Over two days, the conference will take the form of keynote presentations,
shorter papers, and include a poster session by postgraduate students. We
hope to leave plenty of time for discussion, stimulated by papers that
engage with Urban Multiplicities - in research, methods or practice. Papers
are welcomed from researchers (including PhDs) at any stage of their
careers, but the Poster Session is specifically designed for postgraduates.

If you would like to contribute a PAPER or a POSTER, contact
Margo Huxley: M.Huxley@sheffield.ac.uk
or
Richard Smith: R.G.Smith@swansea.ac.uk

Deadline for 250 word Abstracts is Friday 19 September 2008

For more information about the Urban Geography Research Group, visit:
www.urban-geography.org.uk

________________________________

Researching Social Relations in Urban Environments

*************************************************************************************************
Methods workshop: Researching Social Relations in Urban Environments
Date: 8 May 2008, 3-5pm
Location: University of Manchester

This is the last in our programme of methods workshops, which explore how different methodologies
affect research design, process and outputs. This time, our three speakers will each give a brief
introduction to the approach they have taken to researching social relations in urban environments.
This will be followed by discussion from all participants. Speakers are:

Mags Adams (University of Salford) 'Sensory Urbanism: sensewalking as a methodological device'
Roger Burrows (University of York) 'Life in Coded Spaces?'
Andrew Clark (Real Life Methods, University of Leeds) 'Understanding community through mobile
interviews and participatory mapping'

There is no charge for the workshop. Participants must register in advance. See our website for
full details:
http://www.reallifemethods.ac.uk/events/workshops/urban/

*************************************************************************************************
For more information about Real Life Methods, see our website: www.reallifemethods.ac.uk

We use this list to circulate news of our events and activities. To unsubscribe, just reply to this
email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field, or contact us (details below).

Real Life Methods, Sociology, Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road,
Manchester M13 9PL
Tel: 0161 275 0261
Email: victoria.higham@manchester.ac.uk

New Issue of Policy and Politics

The current issue of Policy & Politics (Volume 36, Number 2) is now
available. The contents are listed below.

Don't forget that we are currently offering a free online trial during
which time you can access all online content, as available to subscribers.
To sign up, go to:
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap

In the current issue (Volume 36, Number 2):

Instituting the 'third sector' as a governable terrain: partnership,
procurement and performance in the UK
Emma Carmel, Jenny Harlock

Professional self-regulation in a changing architecture of governance:
comparing health policy in the UK and Germany
Ellen Kuhlmann, Judith Allsop

The role of the private sector in publicly funded schooling in England:
finance, delivery and decision making
Anne West, Peter Currie

Intersectoral partnerships, the knowledge economy and intangible assets
Leslie Boydell, Paul Hoggett, Jorun Rugkåsa, Anne-Marie Cummins

Support for active citizenship and public service performance: an empirical
analysis of English local authorities
Rhys Andrews, Richard Cowell, James Downe

The role of civil society in immigration policy making in Italy: changing
patterns of conflictual cooperation
Emanuela Bozzini, Stefano Fella

Necessary conditions for the effective transposition of EU legislation
Michael Kaeding

Offenders in the post-industrial labour market: from the underclass to the
undercaste?
Del Roy Fletcher

New Deal for Carers or unfair deal: what is in it for informal carers of
stroke survivors?
Nan Greenwood, Ann Mackenzie, Ruth Harris

For more information and to subscribe, please go to
http://www.policypress.org.uk/journals/policy_politics/

----------------------
Jessica Hughes, Marketing Executive
The Policy Press, Fourth Floor, Beacon House
Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1QU
t: +44 (0)117 331 4054
f: +44 (0)117 331 4093
w: www.policypress.org.uk

Email disclaimer https://www.policypress.org.uk/page.php?name=disclaimer

Conference - Capital, Culture, Power: Criminalisation and Resistance, Liverpool, 2-4 July 2008

British-Irish Section of the European Group

for the Study of Deviance and Social Control


Capital, Culture, Power: Criminalisation and Resistance

2-4 July, 2008, Liverpool


Hosted by the University of Liverpool & Liverpool John Moores University
Call for Papers

2008 marks Liverpool's celebration of its status as European Capital of Culture. In preparation, Liverpool has been undergoing a physical and cultural regeneration that has in many ways transformed the city as private capital and expertise has poured in. The transformation of the local state into a growth machine has been accompanied by shifts in crime control and community safety, spatial regulation, forms of policing and discourses of urban belonging.

Like in other cities, there are significant undersides to urban regeneration and the culture it seeks to impose - undersides which rarely figure in official and academic discourse. Much of Liverpool and its surrounding areas remain scarred by poverty, under-employment, and racism. At the same time, whilst the marginalised are subjected to criminalisation, the social and criminal justice supports for the victims of the crimes and harms of the powerful either remain virtually non-existent or under threat. We wish to critically explore the extent and direction of change in our cities and how these are re-framing practices of power, justice and the right to the city.
Please submit abstracts of 100-200 words by Thursday May 1st 2008 to any of the following, These people can also be contacted for further details:

Roy Coleman roy.coleman@ liverpool.ac.uk

Lynn Hancock l.hancock@liverpool.ac.uk

Joe Sim j.sim@ljmu.ac.uk

Steve Tombs s.p.tombs@ljmu.ac.uk

Joe Yates j.yates1@ljmu.ac.uk

Dave Whyte david.whyte@liverpool.ac.uk
Booking & information: http://www.liv.ac.uk/ssp/news_and_events.htm

New research published by the JRF - Regeneration in European cities: making connections

DIME International Workshop: Reconsidering the Regional Knowledge Economy

DIME International Workshop

Reconsidering the Regional Knowledge Economy:
Theoretical, Empirical and Policy Insights from Diverse Research Approaches

Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise (KITE), Newcastle University, City Wall, City Gate, St James Boulevard, Newcastle, UK 4th - 5th September 2008

It is generally acknowledged that regional economic success in Europe is dependent on an orientation towards a knowledge-based economy, typified either by high value added, creative and science-based industry, or a focus on advanced business services. For those regions lacking such advantages the emphasis of policy has been placed on developing new clusters of knowledge-based industries through a variety of measures including networking activities, university-based initiatives and support for new start-ups. A key problem though has been the absence of a clear understanding of what would constitute progress towards a knowledge-based economy, never mind what should be the most appropriate policies.

One particular problem is the lack of consensus between quantitative and qualitative researchers on how to assess the state of the knowledge base and on the nature of the policy objectives. Quantitative researchers have measures for particular investments in knowledge creating activity, principally in the form of R&D, as well as labour market indicators and some crude measures of outputs. Qualitative researchers however point out that such data is usually constrained by classificatory problems and fails to capture new kinds of activities and is also difficult to assess by cluster. Qualitative research examines the processes behind innovation and learning, but finds it difficult to quantify knowledge. In addition to this quantitative/qualitative dichotomy there is a tendency for research to focus on either macro or micro economic issues.

Through the inclusion of varieties of approaches to exploring the regional knowledge economy this seminar will offer opportunities to draw comparisons between the findings of various research strategies. In so doing, the seminar will stimulate a dialogue within which new developments may be initiated to bridge the various research communities and thereby offer new insights into the role of knowledge in regional economic development and subsequent policy implications.

Confirmed speakers include: Allen Scott, UCLA, USA, Bjorn Asheim, Lund University, Sweden, Jeremy Howells, University of Manchester, UK, Marleen Huysman, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Patrick Cohendet, University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg, France, and HEC Montréal, Canada.



Call For Papers:

Papers adopting qualitative, quantitative and macro or micro economic approaches to understanding aspects of the regional knowledge economy are welcome. As are those providing conceptual developments and critical appraisals of various dimensions of the regional knowledge economy. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Ø Comparing and contrasting views on the nature of the regional knowledge economy.
Ø Identifying and examining the mechanisms and processes through which knowledge contributes to regional economic development.
Ø The knowledge dynamics of local, national and international organisations and institutions and their contribution to the regional knowledge base.
Ø Assessing efforts to link local and global knowledge communities.
Ø Quantitative and qualitative methods to map and track the knowledge economy.
Ø Identifying and enacting effective policies to sustain and expand the regional knowledge economy.
Ø Evaluating existing policy efforts to promote the regional knowledge economy, including: cluster and networking activities, innovation systems development; university-based initiatives; the generation and retention of knowledge workers; support for new start-ups and so on.


Submissions:
Please send extended abstracts (max. 1,000 words) and contact details to Joanne.Roberts@ncl.ac.uk and specify whether you are eligible for funding by DIME.

Deadlines:
Abstract submission: March 31st 2008
Paper acceptance: April 30th 2008
Submission of full paper: August 18th 2008

Travel, accommodation and conference cost:
Travel and accommodation costs of the participants will be covered according to standard DIME arrangements for one author per paper from DIME-partners and for invited speakers.

Other participants, in addition to arrange their own travel and accommodation, will be subject to conference fees as follows:

Standard rate: £ 140
Student rate: £ 40
The conference fee provides access to all conference presentations at the venue and all refreshments served at the venue as well as the conference dinner on 4th September 2008

There will also be between 5-10 fully funded (including travel and accommodation) places available for PhD students.

Organisers:
Dr Joanne Roberts
Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Armstrong Building, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 7RU. UK. Tel: +44 (0) 191 222 6232
Email: Joanne.Roberts@ncl.ac.uk
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/kite/staff/profile/joanne.roberts

Prof David Charles
Director of KITE
City Wall, City Gate, St James Boulevard, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 4JH, UK. Tel +44 (0) 191 222 8019 Email d.r.charles@ncl.ac.uk http://www.ncl.ac.uk/kite/staff/profile/d.r.charles

The Olympics site is eating into east London's green spaces

See the Guardian on-line...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/25/olympics2012.regeneration

BBC News Story: Blaenavon heritage centre opening

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7311516.stm

News story from BBC: Ban on hospital junk food vending

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7311326.stm

Mumbles Regeneration

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7302831.stm

Worries over 'Valleywood' studios

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7301880.stm

consultation on SEA of nuclear policy

http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page45265.html

Consultation: Strategic environmental assessment scoping report for
proposed national policy statement for new nuclear power


Starting Date: 13-03-08

Closing Date: 21-04-08

This statutory consultation is on the scope of the Strategic
Environmental Assessment (SEA) for a proposed National Policy Statement
(NPS) on planning for new nuclear power stations. It proposes how the
SEA will be undertaken, the level and type of information to be covered
in the Environmental Report, and how the SEA will be integrated into the
development of the proposed Nuclear NPS.

The consultation is intended to seek views from statutory consultees
which are the Environment Agency, English Heritage, Natural England, the
Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland), Scottish Ministers,
Historic Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency, the Welsh Assembly Government, Cadw, Countryside
Council for Wales and the Environment Agency Wales.

We are also consulting the Department of Health, the Health Protection
Agency, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Defra and the Industrial
and Radiochemical Inspectorate (Northern Ireland) because of their roles
in relation to the regulation of nuclear facilities. This is not a
public consultation but we will consider any comments from other persons
or organisations submitted before the consultation closes on 21 April 2008.

Analysing Socio-Economic Data at the Neighbourhood Level

New One Day Course at CCSR for researchers and practitioners

Analysing Socio-Economic Data at the Neighbourhood Level

Dates: 9/5/2008

Duration: 1 day

This new one-day course will provide participants with the practical skills
necessary to analyse data at small spatial scales below local authority
level. The first part of the day will identify the national and local data
sources which can be used to understand the dynamics of neighbourhoods. It
will also consider solutions for analysing change within ‘non-standard’
boundaries such as regeneration or service delivery areas. The second part
of the day will consist of themed sessions delivered by practitioners and
academics with first-hand experience of developing practical solutions for
tackling three common research puzzles at the neighbourhood level:
monitoring population change with an ethnic dimension (Ludi Simpson, CCSR);
understanding the dynamics of housing markets (Joy Thompson, New East
Manchester); and measuring spatial inequalities in health (Anne Cunningham,
Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory). The emphasis is on
providing participants with the analytical tools to pursue their own
research projects at the neighbourhood level. There will also be an
opportunity to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to
understand how it can enhance the analytical capabilities of organisations
working in neighbourhoods.

For more information and to book go to CCSR website at
www.ccsr.ac.uk/courses/external/2007-2008

Liminalities TOC (Special Issue: the city)

We are pleased to announce the release of +Liminalities+ 4.1, a special expanded-length issue on the theme of "The City," guest-edited by Daniel Makagon of DePaul University. This issue includes critical essays, ethnographies, videos, and performance texts.

http://liminalities.net/4-1/

Table of Contents:

I Love Livin' in the City
by Daniel Makagon

Places and Stages: Narrating and Performing the City in Milan, Italy
by Cristina Moretti

"Finders Keepers": Performing the Street, the Gallery and the Spaces In-between
by Luke Dickens

Making Sense of the City: Place, Space, and Rhetoric in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square
by erin daina mcclellan

Unsafe Houses: The Narrative Inversion of Suburban Morality in Popular Film
by Joan Faber McAlister

Space Wars & Walking through a Liquid Forest of Symbols
by Anders Lund Hansen

Staging and Enforcing Consumerism in the City: The Performance of Othering on the 16th Street Mall
by Richard G. Jones, Jr. & Christina R. Foust

"Full of Proud Memories of the Past, on which Irishmen Love to Dwell": Irish Nationalist Performance and the Orange Riots of 1871
by Stephen Rohs

A Taste of Buffalo: Staging the Lives of U.S. Cities
by David J. Eshelman

Flowing Through the City: An Urban Ethnography
by Renee Human

+Liminalities+ is a peer-reviewed journal for performance studies, theory and praxis. Our goal is to embrace the possibilities for presenting performance studies work by exploring and exploiting the "staging" potential of digital media. We publish essays, aesthetic works, digital media projects, documentaries, book reviews, interviews, and works about pedagogy & performance. For more information, visit http://liminalities.net

Take care,
Daniel
________________________
Daniel Makagon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
College of Communication
DePaul University
2320 North Kenmore Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 325-7376
http://condor.depaul.edu/~dmakagon/

Rural and Urban Solo Living in Scotland: Interim Seminar

**Apologies for cross-posting**


Please do circulate amongst those who may be interested.


Rural and Urban Solo Living in Scotland

Interim Seminar: Findings of the first stage of research

Friday 30th May 2008, 10.00am - 3pm

Godfrey Thomson Hall, Moray House, Edinburgh

You are invited to an interim seminar to present the findings from the
first
stage of the Rural and Urban Solo Living in Scotland study.

This is a two year study investigating the socio-economic circumstances,
experiences and expectations of working age adults living alone in
relation
to issues such as employment, housing, location, partnership and
parenting.
This seminar presents the findings of the first stage of the research,
based
on telephone interviews with 140 men and women across Scotland.

The increasing incidence of solo living in recent years has implications
for
many social policies and for the provision of services in rural and
urban
areas. The aim of the seminar is to engage academics, policy makers and
practitioners with the implications of the interim findings for their
sphere
of work, and to identify topics that they would wish to be pursued in
greater depth in subsequent follow-up interviews.

Who should attend?
Researchers; local authority representatives - particularly those
responsible for housing, planning, strategy and community care, civil
servants, policy analysts, voluntary organisations and practitioners
with
an interest in changing families and households.

The themes of the conference include:
Demographic change
Housing and neighbourhoods
Social Inclusion
Community care
Work/life balance
Family and friendship relationships across households

Discussants include:

Cecilia MacIntyre, General Registrar of Scotland Moira Maconachie,
University of Plymouth

This event is free however places are limited.

To book a place, please visit the CRFR web site:
http://www.crfr.ac.uk/events/solo_living.htm.


This study is supported by The Economic and Social Research Council.

Slumburbs?

An interesting article in SF Gate about edge city decline:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/15/BU7NVIT2O.DTL

Free toothbrushes for Welsh School Chilrdren

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7295895.stm

Attractions & Events as Catalysts for Regeneration and Social Change - CFP

Christel DeHaan Tourism & Travel Research Institute, University of Nottingham
and
The Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change, Leeds Metropolitan University

Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

‘Attractions and events as catalysts for regeneration and social change’



The University of Nottingham 24th and 25th September 2008

The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers who share interests in the role of tourist attractions and events in place making and shaping destinations. This research area is clearly relevant to professionals in the field including consultants, developers and local authorities.

The visitor economy is becoming increasingly competitive as destinations chase tourist spend. This is increasingly so in the context of ‘regional capitals’ which play a pivotal role in the regional economy, and ‘third cities’ whose visitor economy is often over-shadowed by the larger regional neighbours. Although tourism is seen as an integral part of regional development in these cities, they often compete for visitor expenditure in an environment of shrinking marketing investment and a volatile economic marketplace. Destinations have sought to differentiate their appeal on the basis of culture and heritage and/or events and festivals and seek to deliver 'a total visitor experience'.

We welcome papers for this conference which explore:

The role of regional capitals in driving the regional visitor economy
Delivering the total visitor experience
The potential for sustainable urban tourism through culture and heritage tourism
Creative uses of visitor attractions as focal points for regeneration programmes
Attractions and events and discourses of place shaping/making and the visitor economy
Major events and community cultural festivals as animators of place and tourist attractions
Planning dimensions of attractions and events development in urban and rural contexts
Community participation in attractions and events
Building sustainable partnerships and stakeholder relationships between tourism, culture and heritage in destinations
Managing attractions and events in sensitive sites
New and emerging technologies in attractions and events marketing and management
The role of festivals and cultural events in policies and programmes to promote community cohesion, crime reduction and anti-racism
Festivals, cultural events and the multi- (inter-) cultural city
Issues in conceiving museums and artistic venues as visitor attractions
Issues surrounding the 2012 London Olympics

The conference will form the academic stream of the European Union of Tourist Officers (EUTO) meeting and will provide the unique opportunity for researchers to network and share cutting edge ideas, innovation and critical thinking with the EUTO participants. The conference will include study visits as well as academic paper sessions. The study visits will focus on the role of culture in shaping destination image as Nottingham transforms into a cultural capital with ambitious projects such as Wollaton Hall, Centre for Contemporary Art Nottingham & The New Art Exchange as well as a visit to Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest to see how ‘Living Legends’ can be used to stimulate the visitor economy.

Paper Submission

Abstracts should be up to 1,000 words, 12 point, 1½-line spaced and be formatted for printing on A4 paper. The deadline for submission of abstracts is Friday June 13th 2008 and successful authors will be notified by the end of June, 2008. A final paper of between 4 – 8,000 words is required by the end of August 2008 if authors wish to be included in the Conference Proceedings. All abstracts and papers should be submitted electronically to TTRI@nottingham.ac.uk

EUTO Annual Conference

Whilst TTRI and CTCC will organise this academic part of the conference, delegates are welcome to join the EUTO conference sessions and we will be jointly organising social functions to allow both groups to network.

The EUTO conference runs from 21-28 September 2008 and will be held in both Nottingham and London. It will comprise study visits, presentations and workshops. Themes to be explored include the role of attractions & events in destination development & the Olympics 2012. There will be an opportunity to visit the O2 Arena by boat and learn about riverside regeneration en route to Europe’s largest family entertainment centre and Olympic 2012 venue. Explore Bankside, the Pool of London and the South Bank by foot to see how iconic attractions such as London Eye, Shakespeare’s Globe, Tate Modern and Vinopolis have helped create this vibrant destination.

A detailed programme will be published on EUTO.org. For further information or to register interest, please email: president@EUTO.org

JRF Findings: 'Neighbourhood identity: effects of time, location and social class'

http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/2188.asp

Faith groups 'contribute £100m'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7289508.stm

Just published by JRF - Community empowerment in practice: lessons from Communities First

Just published on the JRF website:

Community empowerment in practice: lessons from Communities First
An examination of a community-based programme in Wales that aims to increase opportunities for community empowerment and potential influence over service providers.

'Life outside the blue fence': Next PNUK event

Dear PNUK members, as promised, we bring you our next PNUK event, in association with Games Monitor : ‘Life outside the blue fence’. This time, we’re visiting London and taking in an in-depth look at the effects of major projects like the Olympics on the lives of local people. In particular, the Friday meetings and workshops will focus very specifically on the planning processes that have underpinned the London Olympics thus far and we will be asked to give some feedback and guidance to local people attending on planning issues.

This is the first time we have tried such a collaborative and innovative event based on action for an especially important cause. The Steering Group hopes you will support the event by making time to participate.

The flier and registration form is attached for all the information you need. Please circulate this as widely as you can to your own networks, and advertise in your own organisations.

Best wishes

Dr Libby Porter
Lecturer in Spatial Planning
Department of Urban Studies
University of Glasgow
25 Bute Gardens
Glasgow G12 8RS
Phone: 0141 330 3664
Email: l.porter@lbss.gla.ac.uk

Interested in progressive planning? Check out Planners Network UK www.pnuk.org.uk

Person or place-based policies to tackle disadvantage? Not knowing what works

Just published on the JRF website:

Person or place-based policies to tackle disadvantage? Not knowing what works
This study reviews the effectiveness of policies introduced in Great Britain since 1997 to tackle employment, education and income disadvantage, focusing on policies that explicitly take account of people and places.

New titles from Policy Press

Please see details of all new Policy Press titles below.


2008 Policy Press catalogue now available
*****************************************
The 2008 Policy Press catalogue is now available. If you haven't received
yours by post, please email jessica.hughes@bristol.ac.uk to request a copy.


New titles for March
********************
'DIY Community Action', by Liz Richardson, presents a lively challenge to
the existing thinking on community development, and proposes ways forward
for community building. It offers thought-provoking answers to these
questions, based on detailed real-life evidence from over 100 community
groups, each trying to combat neighbourhood problems. For more information
please see:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=1478

'Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia', edited by Kari
Melby, Anna-Birte Ravn and Christina Carlsson Wetterberg, examines the
meanings of gender that underpin policies in the Scandinavian welfare
states, historically and today, and raises the question whether the
hallmark of the Scandinavian welfare model is a special combination of
gender equality and gender differentiation. For more information please go
to:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=10086&products_id=1457

'Exploring concepts of child well-being' by Nick Axford, provides an
understanding of what child welfare is, explores how it can be measured and
sets out the implications for children's services in incorporating child
well-being into their work. Please see:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=10090&products_id=881


For more information on all of our titles, along with news and special
offers, please visit: https://www.policypress.org.uk

Policy Press titles can also be ordered from:

Marston Book Services
PO Box 269
Abingdon
Oxon
OX14 4YN
Te: +44 (0)1235 465500
Email: direct.orders@marston.co.uk

P&P charges: Delivery within the UK £2.75 for the first copy and 50p
thereafter.

Vacancies in NCVO Research Team - Third Sector Foresight

Dear all

We are currently looking for two people to join the NCVO Research team as Third Sector Foresight Officers. The advert went into the Society Guardian yesterday:

"Explore the trends shaping the future of civil society, managing projects which focus on a range of specific subsectors. You'll communicate your findings through reports, short guides, events, and the Internet. You'll also develop tools, including training sessions and capacity building workshops, to increase understanding of social change.

With superb research skills, and a keen interest in social change, you're an excellent writer and communicator, and able to express complex information in an accessible way. You should also have excellent people skills, and have the confidence to manage others and speak in public."

The salary is £32,616-£34,276, closing date is Wednesday 26 March 2008 and interviews will be held on Thursday 10 April 2008.

You can download further information and an application pack from http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/about/vacancies/?id=8274, email mailto:recruitment@ncvo-vol.org.uk or call 020 7520 2537 (24 hour voicemail) quoting the ref: TSF24. To find out more about NCVO Third Sector Foresight, visit http://www.3s4.org.uk .



Karl Wilding , Head of Research
NCVO, Regent's Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London, N1 9RL.
Tel (020) 7520 2478. Mobile: 0795 137 3511. Fax (020) 7713 6300
karl.wilding@ncvo-vol.org.uk

NCVO's research aims to support the development of effective policy and practice in the voluntary and community sector (VCS). Further information on our work can be found at: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/research

NCVO - the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. Members of NCVO enjoy access to a range of benefits including information, networks, influence and a range of discounted products and services. To find out more please contact NCVO's membership team on 020 7520 2414, email membership@ncvo-vol.org.uk or visit our web site at www.ncvo-vol.org.uk Charity Registration

NEW BOOK: So Spirited a Town: Visions and Versions of Liverpool

Liverpool University Press is proud to announce the eagerly awaited publication of







So Spirited a Town

Visions and Versions of Liverpool

Nicholas Murray



“Murray's extremely entertaining book doesn't forget the humour of the place. He skilfully weaves memories of his own Irish family and Catholic childhood into a witty and sensitive history.” William Palmer, The Independent



In this highly personal encounter with his native city Nicholas Murray blends literary descriptions of Liverpool across the centuries with his own memories of a 1960s Liverpool childhood to create an original and nuanced portrait of the character of a remarkable city. The end result is a fascinating book about how Liverpool has been seen by others but it is also a personal and sometimes moving record of growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s and 1960s, exploring in an often light-hearted way what it means to be ‘Scouse’, never forgetting that De Quincey’s “many-languaged town” is a cosmopolitan, multi-racial seaport with an often tough history of poverty, industrial strife, migration, but, above all, humour.



Nicholas Murray is a freelance author based in Wales and London. Born in Liverpool in 1952 he is the author of several literary biographies (Bruce Chatwin [Seren Books], World Enough and Time: The Life of Andrew Marvell [St Martin’s Press], Aldous Huxley: An English Intellectual [Abacus], and Kafka [Little Brown]), two collections of poems, and two novels. He is a regular contributor of poems, essays and reviews to newspapers and literary magazines such as The Independent, The Guardian, The New Statesman, London Magazine, TLS, Thumbscrew, Metre, Poetry, Areté and many others. He is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.





For further information or to order this book please click link below

http://www.liverpool-unipress.co.uk/html/publication.asp?idProduct=3797



LUP books are distributed in North America by University of Chicago Press. For further information or to order this book please click link below

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/278139.ctl





SIMON BELL

SALES & MARKETING MANAGER, LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS

4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZU, UK

Tel. +44-[0]151-794-2234, Fax +44-[0]151-794.2235

E: sbell@liv.ac.uk W: www.liverpool-unipress.co.uk

British Society of Criminology Conference 2008

***2ND CALL FOR PAPERS***

British Society of Criminology Conference 2008

9-11 July 2008
Hosted by the Applied Criminology Centre
University of Huddersfield

Criminological Futures; Controversies, Developments and Debates
***CALL CLOSES SUNDAY 13TH APRIL***

The title of the 2008 Conference reflects the breadth of contemporary
criminology and the diversity of theoretical and applied approaches to
analysing, explaining and reducing crime.

Whilst it is intended that the theme of the conference should reflect
the broad range of current debates and controversies within the field of
criminology, there will be a specific emphasis upon:

1. Building bridges between theory, research and practice
2. Technologies for crime detection and prevention
3. The role of Practitioners

There will be three major plenary sessions. In the first, Professor
Julian Roberts, University of Oxford and Dr Shadd Maruna, Queens
University Belfast, will be talking about issues surrounding Sentencing,
Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

In the second, Professor Barry Goldson, University of Liverpool and
Martin Narey, Chief Executive, Barnados will discuss the question of the
use of evidence in relation to youth justice policy and the link between
poverty and youth crime.

In the third, Professor Martin Gill, Director of PRCI and Professor
Sandra Walklate, University of Liverpool, will address the culture of
fear and surveillance: does it work?

Other highlights of the conference include a conference dinner speech by
Professor Jock Young, University of Kent, entitled "The Criminological
Imagination". There will also be a number of book launches, a series of
author/editor meets critics sessions and a conference dinner on the
evening of Thursday 10th July, held at the Cedar Court Hotel, Ainsley
Top, Huddersfield.
http://bscconference2008.hud.ac.uk/

All other enquiries can be made by email to:
criminologyconference2008@hud.ac.uk. Or by post to:
Conference Administrator
Applied Criminology Centre
Central Services Building Floor 14
University of Huddersfield
Queensgate, Huddersfield
HD1 3DH

Poverty 'blights 1m rural homes'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7273516.stm

"At Homes with the Security State" a public lecture by Cindi Zatz, 13th March, London

you are warmly invited to come to a public lecture entitled 'At Home
with the Security State'
given by Cindi Katz, Professor of Geography, City University of New York

Thursday 13 March 5.30pm

Lecture Room 126
Department of Geography
Queen May, University of London
Mile End Road
London E1 4NS

A wine reception will follow the lecture

please confirm your attendence with Jason Go, Research and Teaching
Officer, Department of Geography, QMUL
Tel. +44 (0)20 7882 8129
Email. j.go@qmul.ac.uk

ABSTRACT for the talk:
A mobius strip of fear threads between home and ‘homeland,’ weaving
anxiety to military technology, it twists around security. In security’s
name, people have acquiesced to a public environment that is monitored,
bunkered, and conspicuously patrolled while they remake their
homes as fortresses. The stepped up militarisation of everyday life—to
say nothing of the sprawling and seemingly endless ‘war on terror’ – is
routinised in the apparatus of fear. Children, as vulnerable subjects
and as emblems of a fraught future, both embody the insecurity and
provide an alibi for its technologies. In this presentation, I will
argue that the regime of parental hypervigilance has much in common with
that of the homeland security state. The parallels in tactics,
strategies, and effects between the two scales of ‘domestic’ security
are as chilling as they are revealing. Looking at their effects on the
body and the spaces of the home, the city, and the public environment
more broadly, I will argue first that the material social practices of
security at these two scales feed off of and help justify one another to
reconfigure daily life and legitimate practices unthinkable even a
decade ago, and second that as these strategies are increasingly
domesticated they soften us as subjects of surveillance

It's adults, not young people, who are a public menace... Article on children in public space

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/26/children

Wales' tallest building approved

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7268025.stm

'DIY Community Action': New book by Liz Richardson

The Policy Press are about to publish a new book, 'DIY Community Action',
by Liz Richardson, and part of our CASE Studies on Poverty, Place and
Policy series. I am sure that this title will be of interest to members of
this list.

The book presents a lively challenge to the existing thinking on community
development, and proposes ways forward for community building. It offers
thought-provoking answers to these questions, based on detailed real-life
evidence from over 100 community groups, each trying to combat
neighbourhood problems. For more information please see:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=1478

With thanks and best regards,

Jessica

Policy Press books can be ordered from our website
(https://www.policypress.org.uk/) or from our distributor:

Marston Book Services
PO Box 269
Abingdon
Oxon
OX14 4YN
Te: +44 (0)1235 465500
Email: direct.orders@marston.co.uk

P&P charges: Delivery within the UK £2.75 for the first copy and 50p
thereafter.

Music, Sound, and the Reconfiguration of Public and Private Space

Music, Sound, and the Reconfiguration of Public and Private Space



Conference to be held at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), Cambridge University, April 18-19th 2008

Organisers

Georgina Born

Tom Rice



This conference pursues themes raised by the recent burgeoning of the interdisciplinary field of auditory culture studies, which has evolved at the interface of historical and contemporary musicology, philosophy of music and critical theory, ethnomusicology and anthropology of sound and senses, sociology and social psychology of music, cultural studies, and the new practices of sound art and site-specific music and sound.



The conference sits at the intersection of two related developments. First, it addresses the ways in which sound and music, particularly as they are technologically mediated, have come to play a pivotal role in re-drawing the boundaries between the ‘public’ and the ‘private’ by individuals, groups and institutions. There is growing awareness that acoustic strategies may be used by groups and individuals in demarcating space, and in projecting themselves within it, establishing new and often contested boundaries between the public and the private. This tendency is striking in relation to physical and virtual spaces, on the one hand, and to social spaces, on the other; music and sound are increasingly used to mark territory, place, and social identities. Music is employed both to humanise space and attract sociality, and to discourage human contact and block off sociality. Although some of these developments were apparent with analogue audio technologies, they have been greatly exacerbated by digitisation and by music’s privileged relations with the internet, in which it leads other expressive artforms in the degree and scale of its remediation. The conference will therefore examine the manner in which musical and acoustical dynamics have become integral to the construction and imagination of social and physical space, and the ways in which they may be both constructed and negotiated.



Relatedly, the conference explores how the proliferation of sound technologies has resulted in a situation in which acoustic environments are increasingly malleable. To an unprecedented degree, music and sound are being employed to create a ‘nesting’ of the private and public, while audio technologies are used to effect a series of radical transformations of musical experience: children using sound technologies to create individual ‘private’ environments within the collective, ‘private’ domestic space of the home; soldiers using individual sound technologies inside tanks in battle to construct a sense of intimate, affective space and identity which fends off and occludes the ‘public’, ambient sounds of violent warfare; the mobile phone used to create a new genre of private-in-public communication; and real-time, embodied intersubjective musical practices being replaced by virtual, disembodied music-making and virtually-distributed musical cognition.



Understanding these developments requires that we make use of the conceptual tools of musicology, the social sciences and critical theory, while also necessitating that they be re-worked for the more complex, pervasive and ramifying mediations of contemporary life. The conference therefore brings together leading theorists of music, sound, mediation and modernity, as well as those engaged in rich empirical research – historical, contemporary and cross-cultural – to debate these developments and outline new perspectives to advance the given coordinates bequeathed by Adorno, Benjamin, Murray Schafer, as well as contemporary scholars such as Michael Bull, Tia DeNora, Steve Feld and Jonathan Sterne.



A feature of the conference will be to integrate perspectives from those working creatively with the new soundscapes: composers and sound artists, some of them also engaged in empirical research, who are concerned to reflect the new sonic environments in their creative work. We hope to have a couple of performances or sound installations running alongside the event, and we will ask a composer to produce a piece to illustrate the new soundscapes in relation to changing private and public boundaries. The conference will include speakers from several of the fields mentioned above; it will be international in scope, involving speakers from the US and from a number of universities within the UK. It will innovate in bringing theoretical, historical and empirical perspectives together with composers of sound art and site-specific music. One aim of the conference is to produce papers towards an edited book. We are in dialogue with Duke University Press to publish the collection, and intend to develop a volume on the acoustic politics of space.



Speakers -

Philip Bohlman, Chicago

Michael Bull, Sussex

Eric Clarke, Oxford

Nicholas Cook, RHUL

Suzanne Cusick, NYU

Tia DeNora, Exeter

Nicola Dibben, Sheffield

John Drever, Goldsmiths



Further information and registration are available at the CRASSH
website:
www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/2007-8/musicsoundspace.html

5th EAST ASIAN REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN ALTERNATIVE GEOGRAPHY (EARCAG)

First Call for Papers

5th EAST ASIAN REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN ALTERNATIVE GEOGRAPHY (EARCAG)

Seoul, Korea, 13-16 December 2008





Following four successful conferences between 1999 and 2006, the fifth East Asian Regional Conference in Alternative Geography (EARCAG) will be held in Seoul, Korea, 13-16 December 2008. The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for scholar from all parts of the world to discuss and debate critically urban and regional issues in East Asia.



Themes



There are two main themes in this conference. The first main theme is “Searching for a ‘Globalpolis’, as a progressive urban utopia, in the era of globalization.” Cities in East Asia have become increasingly globalized for the last decade. Along with the spread of neoliberal variant of globalization, the global(izing) cities in East Asia have faced increasing numbers of problems associated with growing spatial and social inequalities, dissolution of existing urban communities, increasing inter-ethnic or inter-cultural tensions, etc. As a way of finding resolutions to these problems, we suggest to imagine a progressive and alternative urban utopia, which we call a “Globalpolis”. Under this theme, we can tackle the following issues.

- Flows, networks and transnational urbanism

- Critical evaluations of the discourses of global city, creative city, innovative cities etc.

- Humanistic visions for “Globalpolis”

- Urban historicity and cultural heritage

- Power, identity and the city

- Critique of neo-liberal urbanization

- Alternative urban governance

- Social activism and civic space

- Gentrification, urban (re)development and mega urban project

- Urban environment and sustainable cities

To be added…



The second main theme is “Re-imagining the national territories in East Asia.” Existing territoriality of the national politico-economic communities in East Asia have been increasingly challenged by growing movement of capital, people, knowledge and goods across national boundaries. At the same time, however, nationalistic sentiments and national identities have been strengthened due to recent geopolitical changes in this region. What has happened in the East Asian nations and states in terms of their territorialities in relation to the increasing transnationalization of social, political, cultural and economic activities? Under this theme, we can address the following issues.

- Historical and geographical construction of national territoriality

- State, power and national territories

- Transnationalism and reorganization of national territories

- Spatial and scalar restructuring of the state

- Decentralization and the changing nature of center-local relations

- Nationalism/transnationalism and landscape

To be added…


In addition to these main themes, this conference aims to question and contextualize every issue in the development of critical and alternative geography in East Asia. Examples of other relevant issues are:
- Political economies of development
- Global economic changes and uneven regional development
- Globalization, agriculture and rural development
- Critical geopolitics in East Asia
- Globalization and regionalization in East Asia
- Innovation, cluster and agglomeration economy
- Nature and environment
- Gender and spaces of difference
- Geographies of social movement
- History of geographical practice and thoughts
- entrepreneurial city and place-marketing

……

The above list is just for illustration, not limitation. We strongly encourage the participants to mobilize your geographical imagination beyond them.


Papers and organized sessions are welcome from everyone, geographers and non-geographers alike, from any disciplinary areas.





Date



13 ~ 15 December, 2008: Parallel Sessions

16 December, 2008: Field trip



Venues



This conference is hosted by Seoul National University (13-14 December, 2008) and the University of Seoul (15 December, 2008).



Keynote Speakers

To be selected soon.



Steering Committee



Byung-Doo Choi (Deagu University, South Korea)

Chu-joe Hsia (National Taiwan University, Taiwan)

Jinn-yuh Hsu (National Taiwan University, Taiwan)

Fujio Mizuoka (Hitotshbashi University, Japan)

Toshio Mizuuchi (Osaka City University, Japan)

Wing-Shing Tang (Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong)

Jim Glassman (University of British Columbia, Canada)

Bae-Gyoon Park (Seoul National University, South Korea)





Local Organizing Committee



Bae-Gyoon Park (Department of Geography Education, Seoul National University)

Byung-Doo Choi (Department of Geography Education, Daegu University)

Kyoung Park (Department of Digital Economics, Mokwon University)

Seong-Paik Lee (Department of Philosophy, University of Seoul)

Hyun-Jae Lee (Institute for Humanities, University of Seoul)

To be added…





Registration



Those wishing to attend this conference must register by 30 August 2008. The registration form will be attached in the 2nd call, which will be issued by the end of March 2008.





Abstracts



Those wishing to present a paper are invited to submit by E-mail the TITLE and ABSRACTS (ca. 500 words) by 30 August 2008. The recipient of the email will be announced in the 2nd call.





Organized Sessions



Those planning to organize a SESSION or SESSIONS must contact Dr. Bae-Gyoon Park (geopbg@snu.ac.kr) by 31 July 2008, with title and description of the session(s) and the names of prospective presenters.





Official Language



The official language of the EARCAG is English. All the papers are to be presented and discussed in English, except for the closing session on the last day of the conference, in which the translation services for English, Korean, Chinese and Japanese will be provided.





Registration Fee



Participants from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore

US$100 (faculty) US$50 (student)

Participants from Rest of Asia, East Europe, Latin America and Africa

US$60 (faculty) US$30 (student)

Participants from North America, West Europe and Japan (G7 Group)

US$120 (faculty) US$60 (student)



The fee includes two receptions, lunches during the conference, coffee breaks and a conference packet with conference proceedings. Field trips must be paid separately.



All the fees listed here are provisional and subject to change. The payment details will be announced in the 2nd call.





Accommodation

To be announced in the 2nd call.





Field trip

To be announced in the 2nd call.





Important Deadlines



Organizing paper session 31 July 2008

Registration 30 August 2008

Submission of abstracts 30 August 2008

Green light to £50m Euro projects

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7263102.stm

£225m Bridgend 'village' planned

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7264261.stm

The latest issue of 'Benefits: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice' is now avaliable...

The latest issue of 'Benefits: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice'
(Volume 16, number 1) is now available. Please see the table of contents
below.

We are currently offering a free online trial to 'Benefits: The Journal of
Poverty and Social Justice', during which time you can access all online
content, as available to current subscribers. Personal subscribers will be
able to access the free content for 30 days and institutions will be able
to activate the trial for 3 months. To sign up, go to
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/ben

In this issue:

Prisoners' families: civic virtue and policies of impoverishment
Rose Smith, Roger Grimshaw, Renee Romeo, Martin Knapp

The experiences of 'new' East European immigrants in the UK labour market
Eugenia Markova, Richard Black

Ill health in the family: the intersection of employment and caring across
households from four ethnic groups
Lucinda Platt, Sarah Salway, Punita Chowbey, Kaveri Harriss

Managing money in later life: help from relatives and friends
Hilary Arksey, Anne Corden, Caroline Glendinning, Michael Hirst

The Street Wardens Programme as a neighbourhood renewal intervention: the
challenge of translating national policy into creative local responses in a
performance management context
Chih Hoong Sin

A living wage for London?
Chris Grover

Citizen-centred welfare: a single income-replacement benefit and
personalised conditions and support
Kate Stanley

Who's really on the fiddle?
Neil Bateman

Unhappy fund?
Terry Patterson

Upstairs, downstairs: behind the scenes in London's luxury hotels
Hartley Dean

Department for Work and Pensions
Contracting out welfare to work in the US: delivery lessons

Joseph Rowntree Foundation
A review of research on the links between education and poverty

Government Round-up
Ruth Lister, Stephen Morris

The idea of poverty
John Veit-Wilson

On the margins of inclusion: Changing labour markets and social exclusion
in Graham Bowpitt


'Benefits: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice' publishes
high-quality work that is essential reading for academics, practitioners,
policy makers and students. Focusing on poverty and social exclusion, the
journal explores links with social security (including pensions and tax
credits), employment, area regeneration, housing, health, education and
criminal justice, as well as issues of ethnicity, gender, disability and
other social inequalities. For more information and to subscribe, visit:
https://www.policypress.org.uk/journals/benefits/

PLANNING PORTAL NEWS SPECIAL REPORT: ECO-TOWNS

PLANNING PORTAL NEWS SPECIAL REPORT: ECO-TOWNS
25/2/2008

The Planning Portal has published a special report on eco-towns - a high-profile area affecting planning policy.

The report looks at:

* the housing and climate change context
* the planning elements of eco-towns
* the bidding process so far
* key features of an eco-town

Read the eco-towns special report:
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/news?1115315508453

Recently published and up-dated guides:

Planning and Greener Homes - featuring planning and building regulations guidance on domestic energy generation and energy efficiency.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315124405.html

Planning and Mobile Phone Masts - featuring how mobile phone networks operate, the planning framework, consultation and appeals procedures.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315371796.html

The Spaces of Democracy and Democracy of Space: Reflections upon the Vision for the Network, 12th March, 2008, Essex University

The Spaces of Democracy and Democracy of Space:

Reflections upon the Vision for the Network, 12th March, 2008, Essex University

The Seminar will take place in Room 5S.4.11 at the University of Essex between 2-4pm. Further details can be obtained from Noreen Harburt (Noreen@essex.ac.uk).

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 foregrounded 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, David Howarth, Liza Griffin, Doreen Massey, Mo O’Toole, Miles Irving, and Oliver Moss. Some of those who have actively signed up to take part in events and/or publications so far include Tony Benn, David Chandler, Tom Bentley, Swapna Banerjee-Guha, Sheila Jasanoff, Michael Watts, Bernard Crick, Andy Dobson, Catherine Fieschi, David Boyle, David Harvey, Clare Short, Paul Kingsnorth, David Featherstone, John Forester, Nick Cohen, Saskia Sassen, Frank Furedi, Ed Soja, Maarten Hajer, David Howarth, Patsy Healey, Will Hutton, Tim Ingold, Uma Kothari, Scott Lash, Nina Laurie, Oliver Marchart, Phil McNaghton, Chantal Mouffe, Susan Owens, Jonathan Pugh, Steve Rayner, Jenny Robinson, 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, Andrew Barry, Jane Bennett, Matthew Fuller, David Oswell, Albena Yaneva, Terrell Carver, 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.

The Spaces of Democracy and Democracy of Space:

reflections upon our vision for the network, 12th March, 2008, Essex University

It is extremely important to the network that we develop an "early career" strand. This will be directed by Liza Griffin of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster. It will seek to include early career academics in all aspects of the networks development in coming years.

And so, on the 12th March, 2008, at Essex University, a panel of those involved in the network will be discussing its vision and planned activities with early career academics. If you are an early career academic, we would very much like you to come along to this event.

There will also be discussions of some key works which will be shaping the network in years to come, and an evening event around a panel discussion of Aletta Norval’s new book: Aversive Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). This Seminar will also take place in Room 5S.4.11 at the University of Essex between 5-7pm. For further information in this regard, see http://www.essex.ac.uk/centres/TheoStud/

If you are interested in the network, please contact Jonathan.Pugh@ncl.ac.uk.

The Wales Spatial Plan 2008 Update Consultation

People, Places, Futures:

The Wales Spatial Plan 2008 Update Consultation


A joint event between the

Welsh Assembly Government and RTPI Cymru

The Wales Spatial Plan 2008 Update

set in context for planners

A consultation on the Wales Spatial Plan Update 2008: People Places Futures is running for 12 weeks from 31st January to 24th April 2008. The document sets a vision for how each part of Wales should develop economically, socially and environmentally over the next 20 years and will guide the way the Assembly Government spends its money over the coming years.

A huge amount of cross-sector and partnership working has seen real progress made against the goals identified in the first Spatial Plan in 2004. It has helped achieve a joined up approach to complex issues such as transport, housing and settlement patterns for the first time, leading to more effective use of public finance.

The Welsh Assembly Government and RTPI Cymru are jointly holding two special consultation workshops to explore the issues which are specific to planning. These are in addition to the more general regional workshops. The workshops will be held in Cardiff and Bangor. The workshops will start at 10 and finish at 1pm with lunch.

* Cardiff, Wednesday 9th April 2008, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
* Bangor, Thursday 10th April 2008, Technium CAST Parc Menai, Bangor

Registration

The event is free to attend but you must register by 31 March 2008. Please complete and return the registration form to:

E-mail: wales@rtpi.org.uk

By post: RTPI Cymru PO Box 2465, Cardiff CF23 0DS

http://new.wales.gov.uk/consultations/currentconsultation/improveps/wspconsult/?lang=en



image

Pobl, Lleoedd, Dyfodol: Ymgynghori ar Ddiweddaru Cynllun Gofodol Cymru 2008

Cyd-ddigwyddiad rhwng

Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru a RTPI Cymru

Gosod Diweddariad Cynllun Gofodol Cymru 2008 Mewn Cyd-destun i Gynllunwyr

Mae ymgynghoriad ar Gynllun Gofodol Cymru: Pobl, Lleoedd, Dyfodol yn rhedeg o 31ain Ionawr tan 24ain Ebrill 2008 am gyfnod o 12 wythnos. Mae'r ddogfen hon yn amlinellu gweledigaeth ar gyfer datblygiad economaidd, cymdeithasol ac amgylcheddol pob rhan o Gymru yn ystod yr 20 mlynedd nesaf, a bydd hefyd yn llywio'r ffordd y bydd Llywodraeth y Cynulliad yn gwario'i harian yn ystod y blynyddoedd nesaf.

Drwy gydweithio ar draws sectorau a thrwy weithio mewn partneriaeth, llwyddwyd i gymryd camau mawr ymlaen o ran y nodau a amlinellwyd yn y Cynllun Gofodol cyntaf yn 2004. Mae'r cynllun hwnnw wedi helpu i sicrhau ein bod, am y tro cyntaf, yn gweithredu mewn ffordd gydgysylltiedig ar faterion cymhleth megis trafnidiaeth, tai a phatrymau anheddu, ac mae wedi arwain hefyd at ddefnyddio arian cyhoeddus mewn ffordd fwy effeithiol.

Mae Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru a'r RTPI Cymru yn cynnal dau weithdy arbennig i archwilio materion sydd yn benodol i gynllunwyr. Mae'r rhain yn ychwanegol i'r gweithdai mwy cyffredinol yn y rhanbarthau. Bydd y ddau weithdy yng Nghaerdydd a Bangor yn dechrau am 10 ac yn gorffen am 1 gyda chinio.

· Caerdydd, Dydd Mercher 9fed Ebrill 2008, Stadiwm y Mileniwm

· Bangor, Dydd Iau 10fed Ebrill 2008, Tecniwm CAST Parc Menai, Bangor

Cofrestru

Mae'r digwyddiad am ddim ond mae rhaid cofrestru erbyn 31 Mawrth 2008. Cwblhewch y ffurflen cofrestru a'i dychwelyd at:

E-bost: Wales@rtpi.org.uk

Drwy'r post: RTPI Cymru, Blwch SP2465, Caerdydd, CF23 0DS

“Employability and Labour Market Policy in International Perspective”

APOLOGIES FOR REPEAT/CROSS-POSTING – FINAL REMINDER for those wishing to register to attend for this Regional Studies Association-supported event… Please register by e-mailing: c.lindsay@napier.ac.uk

Colleagues are welcome to attend the second seminar of the Regional Studies Association Research Network on “Employability and Labour Market Policy in International Perspective”. The one-day seminar will be held at Universidad Complutense, Madrid on Friday 7th March. The programme is below. Attendance is free.


REGIONAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION WORKING GROUP
EMPLOYABILITY AND LABOUR MARKET POLICY IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE


SEMINAR AT FACULTY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES,
UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE, MADRID, SPAIN


Friday 7th March 2008



1000-1045

Melina Young

Independent Researcher, Toronto, Canada

Labour market integration of high-skilled immigrants: maximising knowledge

spill-over in Toronto, Canada



1045-1130

David Etherington

Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research, Middlesex University, UK

Martin Jones

Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Aberystwyth, UK

World class skills? Governance geographies and the delivery of lifelong learning



1145-1230

Michael Anyadike-Danes

Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Belfast, UK

What is the problem, exactly? Investigating the distribution of Incapacity Benefit claimants’ conditions across British regions



1230-1315

Colin Lindsay

Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh, UK

Developing services to tackle health-related barriers to employability: reflections on the UK experience



Lunch 1315-1415



1415-1500

Almudena Moreno and Enrique Crespo
Departamento de Sociología y Trabajo Social, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
Employment and social exclusion of women and young people in Spain



1500-1545

Ron McQuaid, Vanesa Fuertes and Sue Bond

Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh, UK

Working for Families: Tackling barriers to employability among parents in Scotland



1600-1645

Maria Paz Martin Martin

Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain

The social construction of employability at the local level





Colin Lindsay

Senior Research Fellow

Employment Research Institute

Napier University Business School

Craiglockhart Campus 03/50

Edinburgh EH14 1DJ

T: +44 (0) 131 455 4315

F: +44 (0) 131 455 4311

E: c.lindsay@napier.ac.uk

W: www.napier.ac.uk/depts/eri/HOME.HTM

Rail's role 230 Years beyond Penydarren CILT Thursday 21 Feb

The Richard Trevithick Lecture
"230 Years beyond Penydarren-Rail's role for the next generation"
Speaker: Chris Austin OBE, Director of Public Policy, Association of
Train Operating Companies


Venue: Cardiff County Hall Atlantic Wharf
Time 18:00 for 18:30

This lecture will pick up the theme of the Government's White Paper,
Delivering a Sustainable Railway, to look ahead for 30 years to the sort
of railway that might be required then. This would embrace the need for
new lines and extension of electrification, as well as what is included
in the White paper, such as additional rolling stock. The Welsh
dimension of this will be considered in the context of the requirements
for Great Britain as a whole.

Seminar Series at Oxford Brookes on 'Imagining London's Futures'

Dear all,

With apologies for any cross-posting.
Some seminar and lecture dates for the diary of anyone in the Oxford area:

Doreen Massey (Open University)
The responsibilities of world citydom
Thursday, 28th February, 4.00PM
Lloyd Lecture Theatre

Michael Edwards (UCL)
News from Somewhere: London after the rentiers' defeat
Wednesday, 12 March, 4.15PM
Room A108

Yvonne Rydin (UCL)
Sustainable Construction and the London Plan: An analysis of the 2007 EiP
Wednesday, 2 April, 4.15PM
Room A108

All three events are being organised by the planning department at
Oxford Brookes,
and are on the Gipsy Lane Campus. All are welcome and there is no need
to book.
Andy

Low house price boost for the valleys

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7231278.stm

C-SAP Associates

Dear All



C-SAP is delighted to announce that it will, for 2008/9, be awarding Associate status to ten academics from across the disciplines of Sociology, Anthropology, Politics and Criminology. Associates will hold the title for 1 year and we would like to include individuals who have both developed a large degree of expertise in an area of pedagogic development or who have some innovative pedagogic ideas they want to take further.



This as an opportunity to receive national recognition from colleagues for the expertise you have developed and disseminate your good practice, whilst expanding your existing network of contacts. Associates will be reimbursed for expenses incurred through participating in C-SAP activities and will receive a 20% discount off our Conference fee as well as access to a £1000 grant. This would be available in two instalments of £500 upon appointment. We would recommend that a proportion of this fund is used for your own development and the remainder for the activities outlined below.





C-SAP Associates will be required to take part in the following activities across the duration of the year:



* Write an article which would be used in the Newsletter, on the Website or in another publication such as the monograph series
* Write a book review for the C-SAP website
* Lead a workshop or participate in a C-SAP organised event - we would expect this to be held within your own department
* Produce or contribute to a paper based or electronic resource that could be used by others within the C-SAP Network
* Act as an ambassador for C-SAP within their existing networks and department.



If you would like to nominate someone for an associate's award please send their name and contact details and reasons for the nomination to the relevant Academic Coordinator or if you would like to apply directly please complete the attached proforma and send it to enquiries@c-sap.bham.ac.uk. Information on last years Associates can be found on our website at http://www.c-sap.bham.ac.uk/about_us/associates.htm





The deadline for applications is 22 February 2008



We look forward to hearing from you.





Helen Howard

Associate Director

C-SAP

Nuffield Learning Centre

The University of Birmingham

Edgbaston

Birmingham

B15 2TT



(Tel) 0121-414-2999

(Fax) 0121-414-7920

Feminist Review Trust Research Grants

Feminist Review Trust Research Grants

Deadline: 28 February 2008

The Feminist Review Trust offers grants of up to £10,000 to carry out
research into the social, economic and legal position of women in society
and to disseminate the results of such research and study. For more
information please go to http://www.feminist-review-trust.com/
;

British Society of Criminology Conference 2008: CFP

***CALL FOR PAPERS CLOSES 10TH FEBRUARY ***

British Society of Criminology Conference 2008

9-11 July 2008
Hosted by the Applied Criminology Centre
University of Huddersfield

Criminological Futures; Controversies, Developments and Debates

The title of the 2008 Conference reflects the breadth of contemporary
criminology and the diversity of theoretical and applied approaches to
analysing, explaining and reducing crime.

Whilst it is intended that the theme of the conference should reflect
the broad range of current debates and controversies within the field of
criminology, there will be a specific emphasis upon:

1. Building bridges between theory, research and practice
2. Technologies for crime detection and prevention
3. The role of Practitioners

There will be three major plenary sessions. In the first, Professor
Julian Roberts, University of Oxford and Dr Shadd Maruna, Queens
University Belfast, will be talking about issues surrounding Sentencing,
Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

In the second, Professor Barry Goldson, University of Liverpool and
Martin Narey, Chief Executive, Barnados will discuss the question of the
use of evidence in relation to youth justice policy and the link between
poverty and youth crime.

In the third, Professor Martin Gill, Director of PRCI and Professor
Sandra Walklate, University of Liverpool, will address the culture of
fear and surveillance: does it work?

Other highlights of the conference include a conference dinner speech by
Professor Jock Young, University of Kent, entitled "The Criminological
Imagination". There will also be a number of book launches, a series of
author/editor meets critics sessions and a conference dinner on the
evening of Thursday 10th July, held at the Cedar Court Hotel, Ainsley
Top, Huddersfield.
http://bscconference2008.hud.ac.uk/

Tourism Geographies seminar 6th March - registration now open

'Tourism Geographies: Space, Place and Lifestyle Mobilities'.

Come and join the debate! Panellists include:

Jarkko Saarinen, University of Oulu & Chair of the International Geographical Union (IGU) Commission on Tourism, Leisure and Global Change

Jacky Tivers, Nottingham Trent University & Chair of the Geography of Leisure and Tourism Research Group of the Institute of British Geographers (IBG)

Erlet Cater , University of Reading & tourism advisor to the Environment and Society Forum of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) with the Institute of British Geographers (IBG)

Kevin Hannam, University of Sunderland & co-editor of the journal 'Mobilities'

Plenary speakers:

Stephen Page, University of Stirling
Transforming ‘the geography of tourism’ to ‘tourism geographies’: What role for applied tourism research?

Richard Butler, Strathclyde University
Tourism Geographies – Geographies of Tourism – Where the Bloody Hell are You/We?

Registration is now open. The registration form and latest seminar information can be found on the CeLTS Bristol website:

www.celts.uwe.ac.uk
www.built-environment.uwe.ac.uk/celts/seminar_tourismgeographies.asp

Organised by the Centre for Leisure, Tourism and Society CeLTS, UWE Bristol

Institute of Australian Geographers Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

Institute of Australian Geographers Conference
University of Tasmania, Hobart
29 June - 3 July, 2008
http://www.geol.utas.edu.au/iag/home.html


URBAN RESIDENTIAL TRANSFORMATIONS
(Sponsored by the Urban Geography Study Group)

The transforming socio-spatial structure of metropolitan areas is a dominant
theme in urban geographical research internationally. Processes of
globalisation, economic restructuring, along with governance, demographic and
socio-cultural transformations continue to generate reconfigurations of urban
structure, built form, social and spatial organisation. These reconfigurations
demand our ongoing attention. The drivers and outcomes generated by diverse
socio-political and geographical contexts present a fertile ground for urban
empirical and theoretical research.

Urban residential environments are a key domain in which drivers of
metropolitan change intersect, reflected in the increased pace, extent and
complexity of established and emergent urban residential forms: private
residential estates, master-planned estates, brownfield residential
redevelopments, high-rise apartment blocks, new-build gentrified developments,
caravan parks and more. The impacts of this proliferation of residential forms
play out at the individual, household, neighbourhood and city scale. They both
reflect and drive changes in the nature of the development industry,
mechanisms of urban governance, patterns of urban sociability, neighbourhood
functioning, and understandings of home.

This session invites papers to generate discussion on the empirics and
theorisation of urban residential transformations. It aims to bring together
papers examining how emerging residential forms are impacting on cities and
citizens in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and more broadly. Further, it
aims to generate reflection on how to productively theorise and critique these
changes. Papers for this session may address, but are not limited to, the
following themes:

* The empirical scope, extent and nature of transformation to urban
residential form
* Mechanisms and implications for urban governance
* Residential form and urban sociability
* Structures of residential provision
* Cultural values, meanings of home and urban residential transformation
* Methodological approaches for understanding the lived realities of new
residential forms
* Implications for theorising the urban

Abstracts of approximately 250 words should be sent to the session convenors
by Monday March 10th.

Session convenors:
Therese Kenna, University of NSW: t.kenna@student.unsw.edu.au
Pauline McGuirk, University of Newcastle: pauline.mcguirk@newcastle.edu.au
Robyn Dowling, Macquarie University: rdowling@els.mq.edu.au

UGSG: http://www.iag.org.au/iagstudy.html#urban

Planning for a carbon neutral world

I would like to draw your attention to an international congress "Planning
for the Carbon Neutral World" to take place between 15-18 May 2008, at
Schloss Lepoldskron in Salzburg.

You can find more information about the Congress and Scupad in the
attached file or at http://www.scupad.org/congress01.html

Please feel free to distribute this message among your colleagues and
other professional contacts that might be interested in attending this
congress.

We look forward to welcoming you in Salzburg in May.

Best regards
Tamy Stav


Nijmegen School of Management
T 31 24 3611711
F 31 24 3611841
Email T.Stav@fm.ru.nl

CEEDR Research Seminars in Enterprise and Regeneration

CEEDR Research Seminars in Enterprise and Regeneration, Spring 2008

Seminars are held at Hendon Town Hall, adjacent to Middlesex University’s
Hendon campus. Details of how to get here are at:

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/campus/campuses/hendon/travel.asp

All very welcome! - but please notify Ian Vickers to confirm a place:
i.vickers@mdx.ac.uk

Wednesday, 27 February 4.00pm-6.00pm, Room CR2, Hendon Town Hall
Dr Anne Green, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick:
“Labour Market Impacts of Migrant Workers in the Midlands and Implications
for Policy”


Wednesday 12 March 4.00pm-6.00pm, Room CR2, Hendon Town Hall
Dr Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes, Senior Research Officer, Higher Education
Directorate, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills & Centre
for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship De Montfort University
Leicester:
“Student, Graduate and Academic International Entrepreneurship: Patterns,
Facilitators and Barriers”


Wednesday 23 April 4.00pm-6.00pm, Room CR2 Hendon Town Hall
Professor Fergus Lyon, CEEDR:
“Pushing Enterprise & Entrepreneurship in the Delivery of Public Services:
The Case of Education and Health Services”


Wednesday 28 May 4.00pm-6.00pm, Room CR2 Hendon Town Hall
Professor David North, Professor Stephen Syrett, Dr David Etherington,
CEEDR:
“Political Devolution, Regional Governance & Tackling Deprivation”





Ian Vickers (Dr)
Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research,
Middlesex University Business School,
The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT.
Tel: + 44 (0)20 8411 6604
Fax: + 44 (0)20 8411 6607

Art, Culture and Economic Development: New Directions for the Growth of Cities and Regions

CALL FOR PAPERS

(Deadline: May 31, 2008)



Art, Culture and Economic Development:

New Directions for the Growth of Cities and Regions



Dear Colleagues,



The Journal of Planning Education and Research (JPER) seeks submissions for a symposium on Art, Culture and Economic Development based on the issues raised in a series of Economic Development sessions at the 2006 and 2007 Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning meetings. The theme is: “Art, Culture and Economic Development: New Directions for the Growth of Cities and Regions.”



Urban and planning scholars have long been focused on the social and economic dynamics that are necessary for the growth of cities and regions, and thus economic development has become a central line of urban research. Researchers have explored the variables that play – or appear to play – significant roles in the development of place. Such discussions (and debates) have revolved around recruiting industries, developing tourism, generating exports, attracting a “creative class”, and so forth. Increasingly, art and culture have become an important part of these discussions.



Within the realm of economic development, art and culture have been considered through several lenses including: the role of cultural amenities in attracting human capital, cultural tourism and large-scale development (and the ensuing “Disneyfication” development) and artists as instruments in revitalization of neighborhoods. Increasingly, art and culture have also been looked at seriously as important contributors to economic growth with regard to jobs, revenue and innovation. Within these various aspects of art and culture’s role in development, scholars have gone to great lengths to look at more specific cases and issues surrounding some of these themes.



Researchers and practitioners are grappling with a number of exciting challenges and prospects in defining art and culture’s role in economic development and planning. With this in mind, the special editor of this symposium invites colleagues to submit papers considering art and culture’s new role in economic development. While this topic can be broadly considered, the following themes/questions may be useful guidance.



1. What new methods ought to be introduced in studying art and culture? Should different social sciences fields, such as planning, geography, sociology and economics, borrow from each other in an effort to better understand art and culture and in order to develop arts-directed policy and planning?



2. What is the relationship between art, culture and economic development? Should we be looking at ways to incorporate the arts into economic development for other outcomes or is the outcome to support art and culture? In other words, is cultivating art and culture a variable for a larger goal (e.g. attracting firms, generating tourism) or is it the goal itself?



3. If art and culture have become important variables in current economic development why are particular places/cities/regions more concentrated sites of cultural production than others? (For example, scholars have noted Los Angeles’ dominance in film or New York’s concentration of fashion designers.) What might be the social and economic explanations for this uneven distribution?



4. Scholars have pointed to the use of culture in large-scale redevelopment of places such as Times Square. They have also noted that such development has had the unwanted Disneyfication effect that has been criticized for being homogeneous and unauthentic. Others have argued that art and culture play key roles in cultivating local “authenticity”. How has art and culture been incorporated in economic development previously and for what aims? Are these goals inline with more general planning and development sentiments? How are they different?



5. If we are to argue that art and culture are important to economic development, both as catalysts of development for other firms and populations and as agents of growth in their own right, then how exactly do we structure economic development planning and policy? We must understand how these industries work in the first place. Foremost, what are the networks (social and economic), institutions and resources that art and culture require in their development and growth? How do art and culture development link to broader urban and regional development?



6. And finally, what do we mean by art and culture? Is it galleries and museums of international repute or is it the street life of bohemia? Is it culture that can be “commodified” such as fashion, film and music or does smaller scale, symbolic production, such as small music venues and graffiti art, play an important role as well? What are the parameters of art and culture and how do we justify them?



As art and culture become increasingly discussed in the economic development debates, we must further push ourselves to define the themes, terms and methodologies that are part and parcel of our understanding and conceptualization of their role in growth and development. This JPER symposium hopes to begin to unpack these issues and instigate further research and debate on this timely topic.



The special editor of this symposium is Elizabeth Currid, Assistant Professor, School of Policy, Planning and Development, University of Southern California, currid@usc.edu (email) or 213-740-4012 (phone). If you have an interest in preparing a manuscript for this symposium or have any questions, please contact me.



Symposium manuscripts will be reviewed under the normal JPER review process. Submissions should be made via the electronic system available at http://services.bepress.com/jper/ . The deadline for submission of manuscripts to JPER for consideration as a part of this symposium is May 31, 2008.

BBC report on 'Time to deliver regeneration'

See: ** 'Time to deliver' on regeneration **
Projects to improve deprived areas of Wales are told to deliver practical improvements to the areas they serve.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/wales/7216003.stm >

Proposed PyGyRG sessions at this year's RGS/IBG conference

Please contact the individual session convenors if you are interested in a particular session - AND NOTE THE LOOMING DEADLINES!



・ GEOGRAPHY, RESPONSIBILITY AND THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH

・ POSTGRADUATE GEOGRAPHY MATTERS? PARTICIPATORY GEOGRAPHIES

・ ORGANIC PUBLIC GEOGRAPHIES

・ GEOGRAPHIES OF IN/DIFFERENCE: WHOSE GEOGRAPHIES MATTER?

・ GEOGRAPHY MATTERS....BUT DOES GEOGRAPHY?





GEOGRAPHY, RESPONSIBILITY AND THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Session Convenors: Sophie Wynne-Jones and Kelvin Mason (Aberystwyth University)



In light of the increasingly pressing debate about the effects and implications of global climate change, this session raises the question of how geographers are participating in both debate and, perhaps more significantly, actions - to address this impending crisis. We hope to consider the role of geographers in their academic life, as global and community activists, and as people, whose everyday choices and lifestyles implicate the shape of our global future. To reflect these sometimes disparate aspects of our lives, and their associated responsibilities, we suggest the session focuses upon the following themes:



1. How geographers contribute, as professionals, within the institutional setting of the university; through, for example, research and teaching that is directly or indirectly associated with climate change. What type of research is being done and how does this research contribute to further both action and debate? To what extent does current teaching reflect, and allow the student community to develop debate around, these issues?

2. What else are geographers doing, as a direct response to climate change, within the university setting? Are they involved in environmental auditing of, for example, university related transport, the energy consumption in university buildings? To what extent are geographers a voice for more responsible action within the university more widely and, even creating links and support networks for associated community actions?

3. What do we do outside our day jobs? Are we activists? Do we bring our activism to work? What do we do on a day to day basis - as everyday citizens- to effect wider change or simply to relieve our conscience?



As a summary to these themes, on what we are doing, we would also like to consider what we could - and perhaps should - be doing.



PLEASE SEND ABSTRACTS TO svw05@aber.ac.uk BY FEB' 7TH



It is suggested that papers could be kept short to allow for plenty of discussion and if people wish to air shorter accounts of actions, ideas or problems that they are grappling with, these will also be welcomed.





POSTGRADUATE GEOGRAPHY MATTERS? PARTICIPATORY GEOGRAPHIES

Sponsored by: The Postgraduate Forum (PGF) and The Participatory Geographies Working Group (PyGyWG)

Session Convenor: Thomas Astell-Burt


Abstract submission deadline: 7th February 2008


Building on the success of 2007, the PGF and PyGyWG are hosting another forum for any postgraduates and/or early-career researchers involved in projects that utilise participatory methodologies. The session provides an arena in which postgraduate students can present research-in-progress, as well as to obtain feedback from peers and established academics. The sessions showcase the wide range of research being undertaken by postgraduates at both UK and international universities. Papers will be of 10-15 minutes in duration and each speaker will have up to 5 minutes of question time.


Papers are encouraged from all areas of geographical research using participatory methods and from postgraduate students at any stage of their careers (including Masters' students).


If you are interested in participating in this session, please email abstracts (not exceeding 200 words), your full name and University to Thomas Astell-Burt ( postgraduateforum@googlemail.com) by 7th February 2008.





ORGANIC PUBLIC GEOGRAPHIES

Proposed session at RGS/IBG 2008, sponsored by the Participatory Geographies Working Group and the Public Geographies Working Group, Birmingham University

Session Convenors: Duncan Fuller and Ian Cook



‘Organic public sociology’ is undertaken ‘in close connection with a visible, thick, active, local and often counter-public’, with sociologists working with groups of various kinds, engaging in ‘dialogue’, or what Michael Burawoy terms ‘a process of mutual education’. Much of this type of work is treated as ‘private’, ‘invisible’ and/or separate from ‘our professional lives’ (2005, 265) largely, it is suggested, as either a consequence of days being filled with the undertaking of such activities, leaving little time to actually document them, or because the collaborative outputs from such work are often published outside academic circles. A key task of any public sociology, Burawoy continues, is therefore to ‘make visible the invisible, to make the private public, [and] to validate these organic connections as part of our sociological life…’ (2005: 264-5).



In the age of ‘boring' school geography, at a time when a new field of ‘public geographies’ seems to be taking shape, this session aims to make visible and validate processes of, and/or 'outputs' from, organic public geographies - perhaps web-sites, brainwaves, activism, emails, chapters, radio, presentations, blogs, events, demonstrations, letters, participations, diaries, posters, videos, podcasts, engagements, television programmes, communities, wikis, reports, newsletters, experiences...



Please send submissions, ‘abstracts’, ideas, examples etc by 7th February 2008 to:



duncan.fuller@northumbria.ac.uk

I.J.Cook@exeter.ac.uk



…and we’ll build the session around you.





Call for participants; INVITACION A PARTICIPAR COMO PANELISTA: パネルディスカッション参加者募集のお知らせ


GEOGRAPHIES OF IN/DIFFERENCE: WHOSE GEOGRAPHIES MATTER?

Convenors: Kye Askins, Northumbria Uni. kye.askins@unn.ac.uk

Jo Norcup, Glasgow Uni. Jo.Norcup@ges.gla.ac.uk


This session stems from a lunchtime discussion at the International Conference of Critical Geography in Mumbai, Dec. 2007, during which comments were made regarding the presences/absences of geographers from across the world at the event. While we recognise that there are multiple reasons for not attending any conference (financial, practical, personal, ethical, epistemological …, differing across contexts and placings), there also seemed to be an underlying tension regarding the dominance of Anglo-American production of knowledges: a sense that ICCG was somehow peripheral among many geographers to the ‘Real World/Work’ of AAG and RGS.

So we would like to further/re-open debate regarding the in/exclusions of academic knowledges, inviting volunteers for a panel session to address issues such as - and not limited to:


How can/do academics outside and within the US/UK academic context engage with one another?
Where and in what kind of spaces does this happen?

Can the continued dominance of English in journal/text productions - and conference presentations - be shifted, and where/how is this already happening?

What does it mean for the discipline as a whole, and academics across different places/countries, to have a differentiated and hierarchical system?

Are we being presumptuous in writing that US/UK geographies/ers are central and ‘Other’ geographies/ers excluded?



And we would expect discussion to incorporate corresponding and relevant issues regarding the broader question regarding ‘whose knowledge counts’ (after Chambers), challenging the academic-as-expert construction ...


We intend to have translators at the session, hopefully for Spanish, Japanese and French speakers - VOLUNTEERS WELCOME!


If you’d be interested in being a panel member - or have general comments about this proposed session - please let us know!





GEOGRAPHY MATTERS....BUT DOES GEOGRAPHY?

Session organisers: Heaven Crawley (Swansea University), Peter Hopkins (Newcastle University), Larch Maxey (Swansea University)



The relationship between the social and the spatial - between social processes on the one hand and the fact and form of their spatial organisation on the other - clearly matters (Massey 1984). Perhaps less clear is the extent to which Geography as a discipline, and the geographical practices undertaken by academic geographers, matters to the world that it seeks to describe and explain.



The relevance or otherwise of Geography has been the subject of ongoing, and sometimes heated, debate within the discipline (Imrie 2004; Beaumont, Loopmans and Uitermark 2005; Mountz and Walton-Roberts 2006). These discussions suggest that the issue of what makes geographical research, teaching and publication relevant cannot be separated from the questions of why research, for example, should be relevant, how research becomes relevant, the goals of research, and for whom it is intended to be relevant (Staeheli and Mitchell 2005). They also suggest that whilst relevance can be direct and intended, a commitment to relevant research requires a long-term view and an appreciation for the indirect pathways of relevance. This means much more than simply promoting Geography as a discipline; it also requires geographers to grapple more frequently with multi-scale questions, including the big questions of our time, foster more in-depth understanding of different geographies, enhance !
interactions between discrete parts of the discipline and with other disciplines, and make explicit the implications of geographical work for the discussions that are shaping public, political and intellectual agendas (Alexander 2006).



This session will explore the relevance of Geography to the making of public policy and to broader public and political discourses. It will also explore the extent to which an emphasis on the distinctiveness of Geography as a discipline (a trend which has arguably been exacerbated by the RAE process) is helpful in the production of policy-relevant research.

And it will consider the extent to which participatory approaches to Geography - with their origins in grassroots activism and social movements - are able to affect social change and empowerment by giving a voice to those who are most marginalised from policy and decision making processes.



Call for papers:



Contributors to this session are invited to submit papers which explore the relevance of Geography and of geographical research to policy making and to broader processes of social and political change. Papers that directly address the following questions will be particularly welcomed:



* Do the methodological and philosophical approaches that we adopt influence the extent to which our research, teaching and dissemination matters to the people and processes with which we engage? Do participatory approaches to research, for example, provide a mechanism for affecting social change regardless of the ‘policy relevance’ of research?



* Which geographical practices matter? Why and to whom? Does a concern for relevance include research, teaching and dissemination? Should it? Are there other practices which constitute ‘Geography’ beyond this triad?



* Is it helpful to emphasise the relevance of Geography as a discipline when engaging with policy makers, practitioners and others interested in what we have to say? Are interdisciplinary approaches more useful in describing and explaining complex social issues and processes? Does the potential relevance of Geography lie in its role as an ‘inter-disciplinary pivot’ (Fulong 2002)?



* Given the complex relationship between research evidence and policy formation, how do we ensure that the research we do is most able to affect change? In what ways is it important that the research we do is politically as well as policy relevant?



Session format:

We are keen to encourage audience participation in the themes of this session and to use it as a springboard from which to increase the relevance of Geography. Therefore the session will consist of three x 20 minute papers with ample time for questions and discussion. If a sufficient number of proposed papers are submitted then it may be necessary for two 1 hr 40 minute sessions to be set aside for this topic.

The papers will be themed and contributors will be asked to engage directly with the content of other papers in the session where appropriate. The session(s) will be chaired by the session organisers.



Abstracts (max. 200 words) should be sent to h.crawley@swansea.ac.uk , l.maxey@swansea.ac.uk and Peter.Hopkins@newcastle.ac.uk by 11th February 2008. All those submitting abstracts will be informed of the outcome of the process by 18th February.



If you would like to discuss the aims, objectives and format of the session before submitting your abstract please contact Heaven Crawley on

01792 602409 or email h.crawley@swansea.ac.uk


----------------------------------

Dr Duncan Fuller

Enterprise Fellow

Division of Geography

Ellison Building D Block

Northumbria University

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 8ST

Direct Tel - 0191 2273753

Fax - 0191 2273519

Divisional Office - 0191 2273428



Mywalks - www.northumbria.ac.uk/mywalks



PEANuT (Participatory Evaluation and Appraisal in Newcastle upon Tyne) - http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/peanut



Mapping Tranquillity - http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/tranquillity



Exploring solutions to 'graffiti' in Newcastle upon Tyne - http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sas/sas_research/pa/consultres/graffiti/



'Local to me': Advancing Financial Inclusion in Newcastle upon Tyne - http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sas/sas_research/pa/consultres/local/?view=Standard



Participatory Geographies Working Group of the RGS/IBG (PyGyWG)- http://www.pygywg.org



Geo-publishing.org - http://www.may.ie/nirsa/geo-pub/geo-pub.html



Radical Theory/Critical Praxis: Making a Difference Beyond the Academy?

http://www.praxis-epress.org/availablebooks/radicaltheorycriticalpraxis.html



The Academics Guide to Publishing - http://www.sagepub.co.uk/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book226599&currTree=Subjects&level1=P00 OR http://www.amazon.com/Academics-Guide-Publishing-Rob-Kitchin/dp/1412900832