Methods School

The Methods School is designed to be a space for mutual learning, critical reflection, and sharing academic and non-academic work. It focuses on discussions about the commodification of cities and the financialisation of housing worldwide, particularly in Latin America. The School is aimed at academics, consultants and professionals who are either in the early stages of their training (e.g. master's and doctoral students), or academic appointment (e.g. postdocs, researchers and lecturers), as well as those with professional experience in urban planning and management. Participants must demonstrate an interest in deepening their knowledge of research methods for collecting, analysing and comparing data on land commodification and housing financialisation.

The Methods School seeks to address key questions such as:

• Which ethical frameworks underpin social science research under the changing contexts of power imbalances and social vulnerability? 

• How can quantitative data, including secondary and big data, be used to analyse housing and property values? 

• Which spatial analytical methods can be used to identify housing markets and urban growth?

• How can ethnographic and observational data be used to understand issues with deep social vulnerability?

• How can research outputs be disseminated to both academic and non-academic audiences?

Format

The Methods School will consist of three parts in a synchronous manner. The first part will take place virtually on 2 - 6 March 2026. During this stage, students will have classes on theories and methodological training from the project team and guest lecturers in seminar format. During the second stage, students will be required to complete an exercise in their own pace, the details of which will be provided at the end of the week. The report of the exercise, however, must be submitted to the organisers by Monday 28 September 2026 at midnight (GMT -5), as it will be used as input for the third stage of the course. The third part of the training will take place in Lima on 12 - 13 October 2026. During this stage, students will apply the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired during the first two stages to a personal or group project, using the results of the exercise completed in September 2026. Once the school has concluded, students are expected to participate in the International Academic Conference, which will take place on 14 - 16 October 2026 at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in Lima (Peru). 

Read the call here.