INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 

REIMAGINING LOCAL GOVERNANCE: JUST, SUSTAINABLE AND DIVERSE 

IGU Commission Geography of Governance

Annual Conference - 2024 

Maynooth, Ireland, 23 - 24 August 2024

Call for Papers >>

[NOTE: The Commission 2024 Annual Conference takes places in the 2 days before the 35th IGU Congress, in Maynooth (30 mn from Dublin]

35th International Geographical Congress (IGC) 

Dublin, Ireland, from 24th-30th August 2024

Congress website: http://igc2024dublin.org/

Call for papers (from 3.10.2023 to 12.01.2024) >> 

SESSIONS INCLUDED IN THE SLOT OF THE IGU COMMISSION GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE  

(see Booklet of Abstracts, pp. 95 - 100)

Session: 20th anniversary of the EU's biggest enlargement - territorial implications (Session Proposer: Tomasz Komornicki)

Session: A new model of governance for accessibility and cultural tourism: issues, sectors and facilities (Session Proposer: Anna Trono)

Session: Agriculture and climate futures: Addressing interlinked planetary crises through place agency and law reform (Session Proposer: Robyn Bartel)

Session: Local and urban governance: trends, challenges and innovations in a world of difference (Session Proposer: Carlos Nunes Silva)

Session: Local opportunity structures for planning-related protest in international perspective (Session Proposers: Grischa Bertram and Gerhard Kienast)

Session: Smart city, neighbourhood change and spatial inequality (Session Proposers: Mary Kazemi and Rob Kitchin)

Session: Unpacking the socio-political dimensions of (local) low-carbon transitions (Session Proposers: Ami Crowther; Piers Reilly; and Camilla Seeland)

Call for Papers

Session 'Local and Urban Governance ...'

35th International Geographical Congress

Dublin, Ireland, August 24-30 2024

IGU Commission: Geography of Governance (C.15)

Session title:  "LOCAL AND URBAN GOVERNANCE: TRENDS, CHALLENGES AND INNOVATIONS IN A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE"

Session organizer & Chair: Carlos Nunes Silva, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Session track:  Commission Geography of Governance

Session abstract: Local government is of prime importance for the sustainability and resilience of cities and other human settlements. Hence, the study of local governance has been central in the study of cities and other human settlements in the last decades. And in doing so, geographers have been confronted with a world of difference, in the problems with which cities and other settlements are confronted, but also in way they have been governed. This pattern of difference, in the problems and in the responses of local government, has been painted in the 21st century by new challenges, including those associated with the response of local government to emergencies, such as the pandemic, to climate change, to sea-land interface and marine areas, among others. The session aims to explore the changes, challenges, and innovations, both institutional and social, confronting, in different ways, the governance of cities and other human settlements worldwide.  We invite abstracts that concern various aspects of local government institutional reforms and governance transformations, particularly those concerned with the new challenges of the 21st century.

Papers submitted to this Session can be focused, but not limited, to the following themes or issues:

·         Institutional reforms in local governance

·         Centralization and decentralization trends

·         Governance and spatial planning

·         The responses of local governance to the global climate emergency

·         Local governance and planning of coastal and maritime areas

·         Local governance and the post-pandemic

This session is sponsored by the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance.

The call for papers is open and will close on 12 January 2024.

Submit your abstract, here: https://igc2024dublin.org/call-for-abstracts/

Congress web: https://igc2024dublin.org/

Contact: Carlos Nunes Silva, U. Lisbon, Portugal (e-mail: cs@edu.ulisboa.pt)

Flyer >>

***

The IGU Commission Geography of Governance' 2024 Annual Conference takes place on Maynooth University, in the two days before the opening of the IGU 35th Geographical Congress, on 24 of August evening, in Dublin.

Maynooth town is in close proximity to Dublin with commuter services running around the clock (~ 30 mn by train or bus). For information and CFP, see here: https://sites.google.com/view/geogov2024/home

We welcome contributions to this Session of the 35th IGC Congress in Dublin and to the 2024 Annual Conference of the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance in Maynooth (30 mn from Dublin).

8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - URBAN E-PLANNING  [ VIRTUAL / ONLINE ]  -  25 - 26 March 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS >>

SESSION

'LOCAL AND URBAN GOVERNANCE FOR MORE JUST GEOGRAPHIES'

Slot I - https://aag.secure-platform.com/aag2023/solicitations/39/sessiongallery/5462

Slot II - https://aag.secure-platform.com/aag2023/solicitations/39/sessiongallery/5750

Organizer & Chair: Carlos Nunes Silva 

(Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Portugal &

 IGU Commission Geography of Governance) 

Download Call for Abstracts >>

Session- Program & abstracts >

 THEMATIC CONFERENCE

MEXICO 2023

URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS: TOWARDS RESILIENT CITIES

2nd Call for Abstracts (27 March 2023)

Sub-thematic Session 2

Local and Urban Governance: lessons from the past and prospects for

resilient and sustainable development in a time of global emergencies

and transitions (pdf >) 

 Conference website: https://igumexico2023.org/ 

Abstract submission: https://igumexico2023.org/abstracts-submission/ 

New Zealand Geographical Society Conference

23-25 November 2022 - University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand

Session title: ‘The resilience of New Zealand's regional level of governance’

Session Convenor: Jeff McNeil, Massey University, New Zealand (IGU CGoG Steering Committee member)

Conference website >> 

Sessions - Track 'IGU Commission Geography of Governance' (IGU CGoG)

Paris, 18 - 22 July 2022

IGU COMMISSION GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE

WEBINAR

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN UKRAINE

FORMATION, REFORMS, GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS AND POST-WAR RECOVERY 

Monday, 6 June 2022

12:00 - 16:30 GMT 

With

Viacheslav Oleshchenko; Pavlo Ostapenko; Tony Levitas; Andreas Umland; Aadne Aasland; Oleksandra Deineko; Anatoliy Melnychuk; Valentyna Romanova; Yuriy Palekha; Anastasiia Oleshchenko  

Moderator: Jan Bucek 

Convenor: Carlos Nunes Silva,  University of Lisbon, Portugal 

Program: https://sites.google.com/view/lgukraine2022/program 

Abstracts: https://sites.google.com/view/lgukraine2022/abstracts   

Registration: https://sites.google.com/view/lgukraine2022/registration     

Webinar webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/lgukraine2022/home  

 IGU COMMISSION GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE

WEBINAR

GOVERNING THE URBAN NIGHT

Local Governance of the Urban Night Time

 Friday, 1 April 2022, 19:00 - 21:00 GMT

 With 

 Jess Reia, Marion Roberts, Sara Ross, Silvia Grandi 

Chiara Bernasconi, Liora Bigon, Hanan Peretz

Moderator: Anna Trono 

Convenor: Carlos Nunes Silva 

6th GeoNight 2022: https://www.geonight.net/442-2/ 

Conference website >> 

IGU COMMISSION GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE  - SESSIONS >>

Workshop cancelled. For more information, contact us: igu.geogov@gmail.com 

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers

7-11 April 2021, Seattle WA, USA

Call for papers

AAG Annual Conference 2021, Seattle, WA, USA, 7-11 April 2021

SESSION TITLE

Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses

ORGANIZER & CHAIR

Carlos Nunes Silva (University of Lisbon, Portugal)

DESCRIPTION

The International Geographical Union Commission on Geography of Governance aims to advance knowledge of the geography of territorial governance, at the urban, local and regional levels, namely the conditions, scale and characteristics of new modes of territorial governance, in particular those that will emerge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and its social, cultural, political, economic and environmental consequences.

The session 'Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses' aims to examine and discuss the impact of the pandemic on central-local government relations and on local government policies, on public services, housing, social services, mobility, and spatial planning. It will discuss the actions taken by local government towards the COVID-19 pandemic, and its outcomes and impacts, during the first and second waves of the pandemic, as well as lessons for the future.

We invite abstracts that concern various aspects of the role of local government during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, as well abstracts focused on the ongoing changes in local governance systems in this context, namely changes associated with the use new digital technologies. We welcome abstracts of those engaged in the activities of the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance, as well as from anyone with a relevant contribution in this field.

We are interested to discuss:

- What strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions have been adopted by local government to control and shape the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic locally and what has been its impact on the effects of the pandemic?

- What strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions have been adopted by local government to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, on society and on the local economy?

- What strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions are local government employing to distribute resources and care among local populations, what cooperation with local community action networks and citizen initiatives during the pandemic?

- What changes have been introduced in central-local relations (decentralization / re-centralization), what innovations in multi-level governance have been tried to tackle more effectively the COVID-19 pandemic, what has been the role of inter-municipal cooperation and metropolitan government in this context, and what is being done through cross-border municipal and regional cooperation during the pandemic?

- What has been the role of technologies in local mobility, on remote work and education, and on surveillance through tracking and tracing the COVID-19 in urban areas?

- What local government strategies, policy measures, planning scenarios, and actions are being designed for the post COVID-19 crisis, namely towards building resilient, smart communities?

This session is associated with the Action Plan developed by the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance - 'IGU-CGoG COVID-19 Action Plan' (for more information, see the commission website: https://sites.google.com/view/igucgog-covid19/home).

Deadline for abstract submission: 19 November 2020 

For additional information on this session, please contact:

Carlos Nunes Silva, University of Lisbon, Portugal

E-mail: cs@campus.ul.pt

Registration and abstract submission: https://www2.aag.org/aagannualmeeting/ 

SESSIONS

SESSION I -  Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses (I) >>  

SESSION II - Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses (II) >> 

SESSION III - Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses (III) >>

SESSION IV - Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses (IV) >>

SESSION V - Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses (V) >>

SESSION VI - Local Governance and the COVID-19 Pandemic: impacts, challenges, responses (VI) >>

SESSION I - Program (pdf) >>

SESSION II -  Program (pdf) >>

SESSION III -  Program (pdf) >>

SESSION IV -  Program (pdf) >>

SESSION V -  Program (pdf) >>

SESSION VI -  Program (pdf) >>

IGU Commission on Geography of Governance

 2021 annual conference

Poznań, Poland

23-25 June 2021

Conference website: https://sites.google.com/view/geogov2021/ 

IGU Thematic Conference

Heritage Geographies: Politics, Uses and Governance of the Past

 Lecce, Italy , 27 - 28 May 2021 

Organizing Commissions

• Commission on Political Geography 

• Commission on Cultural Approaches to Geography

• Commission on the History of Geography 

• Commission on the Geography of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change

• Commission on Toponymy

• Commission on the Geography of Governance

Scientific organization

Elena Dell'Agnese, Università di Milano-Bicocca

Fabio Pollice, Università del Salento

Scientific committee 

Hamzah Bin Muzaini, National University of Singapore 

Louis Dupont, Université Paris-Sorbonne

Je-Hun Ryu, Korea National University of Education

Romeo Hanxhari, University of Tirana

Peter Jordan, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Virginie Mamadouh, University of Amsterdam

Claudio Minca, Macquarie

Dieter Müller, Umeå universitet

Alec Murphy, University of Oregon

Velvet Nelson, Sam Houston State University

Carlos Nunes Silva, University of Lisbon

Cosimo Palagiano, Università di Roma "La Sapienza"

Jarkko Saarinen, University of Oulu

Marcella Schmidt di Friedberg, Università di Milano-Bicocca

Anna Trono, Università del Salento

Local organization: Federica Epifani, Patrizia Miggiano, Sara Nocco, Antonella Rinella, Marco Sponziello

Web: http://conference.unisalento.it/ocs/index.php/heritagegeographies/heritagegeographies 

Info: heritagegeographies@unisalento.it

Themes for Sessions and Papers

• 1. Heritage governance 

• 2. Heritage and Urban Planning

• 3. Heritage-telling

• 4. Patrimonialization of cultural heritage 

• 5. Heritage and ICTs

• 6. Memories from the territories and educational strategies

• 7. Heritage geopolitics

• 8. Heritage and knowledge economy

• 9. Heritage for consumption: tourists and tourism

• 10. Heritage and toponymy

• 11. Heritages, Mediterranean cultures and Southern thinking 

• 12. Dark Heritage (from below)

• Conference website >>>

• Conference e-mail: heritagegeographies@unisalento.it

• Sessions description >>>

• Call for abstracts >>>

• Call for Sessions on 'Local and Urban Governance' (Sessions 12 to 15) >>>

IGU Commission Geography of Governance - contact

For additional information regarding the 4 sessions promoted by the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance, contact: igu.geogov@gmail.com 

• Final Conference Program »»»

• Sessions on Local and Urban Governance and Heritage »»»

• Final Round Table - Talk on Governance of Heritage »»»

Session 12.  Local Government and the Governance of Urban Heritage (IGU Commission on Geography of Governance)

Chairs: Carlos Nunes Silva (University of Lisbon) & Anna Trono (University of Salento)

This session aims to explore recent changes in the role of local government in the governance of urban cultural heritage. Papers  can  be  focused  on  local  government  issues  (instititutional  models,  cooperation  models,  organizational  and financial issues, etc.) in specific local case studies or may offer a comparison of policy cases in municipalities and cities in the same country or in different countries. The session aims also to examine and to discuss past policy approaches in the field of cultural heritage management at sub-national tiers of government. Although the focus is on local and urban government, the analysis should consider, when appropriate, the multi-level urban heritage governance context. The session is supported by the IGU Commission Geography of Governance and is proposed for sub-theme: 1. Heritage Governance.

Session 13. Citizen Participation in the Governance of Urban Heritage (IGU Commission on Geography of Governance)

Chairs: Carlos Nunes Silva (University of Lisbon) & Anna Trono (University of Salento)

This session aims to explore the role and forms of citizen participation in the governance of Urban heritage. The session aims in particular to address citizen engagement in urban planning processes, namely in innovative models of urban planning and in alternative modes of urban heritage governance. The session is open to include case studies, comparative studies and historical analysis of citizen engagement in urban planning focused on cultural heritage. The session is supported by the IGU Commission Geography of Governance and is proposed for subtheme: 2. Heritage and Urban Planning.

Session 14.  Smart Governance and Urban Heritage (IGU Commission on Geography of Governance)

Chairs: Carlos Nunes Silva (University of Lisbon) & Anna Trono (University of Salento)

This session aims to explore, discuss and present innovative theoretical and empirical research and ground-breaking approaches in the field of Urban e-Planning and its impact on the governance of Urban heritage. The session aims in particular to explore the impact of the growing number of digital innovations, new methods and new digital tools in the field smart governance of urban heritage. We welcome papers that address the current digital transition (digitization of urban governance and urban planning procedures, datafication of urban heritage activities and services, among other important changes) and its impact on the governance of urban heritage. The session is open to include case studies and comparative studies. The session is supported by the IGU Commission Geography of Governance and is proposed for sub-theme: 5. Heritage and ICT’s.

Session 15.  Urban Planning and Heritage (IGU Commission on Geography of Governance)

Chairs: Carlos Nunes Silva (University of Lisbon) & Anna Trono (University of Salento)

The  session  aims  to  address  how  urban  heritage  is  included  and  dealt  with  in  the  formal  national  spatial  planning systems. In particular, the session seeks to explore institutional innovations in the field of Urban Planning related to the urban cultural heritage as well as the new tools employed by municipalities in the planning and governance of urban heritage. The session is open to include case studies as well as comparative studies. The session is supported by the IGU Commission Geography of Governance and is proposed for sub-theme: 2. Heritage and Urban Planning.

Sessions proposed & organized 

by 

IGU Commission on Geography of Governance

10 Sessions - IGU Commission Geography of Governance >>>

Abstract submission >>>

Call for Papers (2020) for Sessions on 'Local and Urban Governance'  >>>

Call for Papers (2021) for Sessions on 'Local and Urban Governance' >>>

34th INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS 

IGU COMMISSION 'GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE'

 10 SESSIONS

SESSION 1.  CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN URBAN GOVERNANCE: FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES 

Citizens participation in local government policies is now common practice in democratic and decentralized countries. Global Urban Agendas adopted by the United Nations in recent decades, focused on human settlements and on sustainable development, put citizens at the centre of the decision-making process, in particular at the local and urban scale. Besides the now common formal institutional frameworks in which citizen participation is embedded there are also informal frameworks through which citizens can act upon the policy process and decision making. This session seeks to be a forum in which these formal and informal citizen participation modes can be presented, discussed, and confronted. The use of ICT in citizen participation processes, i.e. models and practices of e-participation in local and urban policy settings, particularly in urban e-planning, will also be explored and discussed. 

SESSION 2.  CLIMATE POLICY AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE 

Climate change is a serious environmental and socio-political challenge, with impacts visible at both local and global levels. This challenge requires urgent action. Local government must take part and lead these crucial actions. This session aims to explore and to discuss how municipalities and other tiers of sub-national government are effectively responding to climate change. The session intends to address these issues through individual case studies or in comparative approaches. In particular, the session aims to explore the policy responses in the field of municipal spatial planning, buildings, energy, transport, waste, among other sectors.  

SESSION 3.  INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES  

This session aims to explore and to discuss current trends, institutional models and challenges in the field of international cooperation of local and regional governments, in continental wide arrangements, as is the case in Europe and in Africa, but also in global networks of local authorities. The session intends to explore and to discuss the different modes of decentralized cooperation for sustainable development as well as the current practices of municipal / city twinning, its actions, impacts and challenges, namely in the context of the global agendas on sustainable development adopted in recent decades. 

SESSION 4.  LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS: DECENTRALIZATION V. CENTRALIZATION  

This session aims to explore and to discuss the current reforms of local government in different regions of the world, confronting recent cases of re-centralization with the more general trend towards decentralization. Among other issues, the session seeks to discuss the impacts of these reforms in the organizational, functional and financial autonomy of local government, in local policies - social, economic, environmental -, and on the capacity of local government to fulfil its role in the implementation of the UN Global Sustainable Development Agendas, such as the Agenda 2030 and the New Urban Agenda. 

SESSION 5.  METROPOLITAN GOVERNANCE: TRENDS, MODELS, CHALLENGES  

This session aims to explore and to discuss current trends, institutional models and challenges in the governance of metropolitan areas in different regions of the world. Besides the traditional institutional models of metropolitan government, applied in most of the metropolitan areas, new forms of governance of these large urban areas seem to be emerging. These changes need to be examined, compared with traditional models, and discussed in the context of the overall transformation of local and urban governance models. This session seeks to be a forum in which metropolitan government institutional models, metropolitan spatial planning and metropolitan policies - social, economic and environmental - are explored and discussed. 

SESSION 6.  MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE  

This session aims to explore and to discuss how local government policies have dealt with the rights of migrants and refugees in recent years, in Europe and in other regions of the world. The session intends to address these issues through individual case studies or in comparative approaches. 

SESSION 7.  SHRINKING CITIES, EXPANDING METROPOLISES, DE POPULATED  VILLAGES: THE GOVERNANCE RESPONSES  

Cities losing population represent an important challenge for local government. The urban decline associated with the notion of shrinking  cities affect numerous cities since the beginning of the 21st century, as a result of de-industrialization, socio-economic crisis and demographic transition. On the contrary, in other cities, within the same country, large metropolitan areas continue to expand. At the same time, in rural areas small villages continue to depopulate, which raises serious issues for the sustainability of these local communities. This session aims to explore and to discuss the responses of local government to these different processes, in particular the responses of the spatial planning system to these contrasted demographic processes.  

SESSION 8.  SPATIAL JUSTICE AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

The announcement by the United Nations that in 2007, for the first time, the majority of the world's population lived in urban areas, a trend expected to expand, and the paradigm shift introduced by the New Urban Agenda, adopted by the United Nations in the Habitat-III Conference in 2016, in which urbanization and cities are now seen as drivers of sustainable development, put cities at the centre of the debates on sustainable development for all. Parallel to this development, there has been in the last years a growing interest in the idea of the 'Right to the City', namely in initiatives carried out in Europe and in Latin America. A landmark in this process was the adoption of the World Charter on the Right to the City. This session intends to explore and to discuss approaches and practices developed by local government in order to improve the quality of everyday life in cities and its outcomes based on a broader notion of 'Right to the City' - civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. 

SESSION 9. LOCAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TOWARDS COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The session 'Local Government Response Towards Covid-19 Pandemic' aims to examine and to discuss strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions taken by local government towards the COVID-19 pandemic, around the world, its outcomes and impacts, as well as lessons for the future. Among other issues, the session aims to address the following: 1. Strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions adopted by local government to control and shape the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic locally; 2. Strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions adopted by local government to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, on society and on the local economy; 3. Strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions employed by local government to distribute resources and care among local populations; 4. Cooperation with local community organizations and citizen initiatives during the pandemic; 5. Relationship between local government strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions towards COVID-19 pandemic and public behaviour; 6. Effectiveness of local government strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions, taken in different countries , in the reduction of the local spread of COVID-19; 7. Changes in central-local relations (decentralization / re-centralization); 8. Innovations in multi-level governance to tackle more effectively the COVID-19 pandemic; 9. Role of inter-municipal cooperation and metropolitan government in this context; 10. Cross-border municipal and regional cooperation during the pandemic; 11. Local government strategies, plans, policy measures, and actions for the post COVID-19 crisis; 12. Lessons for the future governance of cities and other human settlements learnt from this pandemic. This session is associated with the action plan developed by the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance - 'IGU-CGoG COVID-19 Action Plan' (for more information, see the commission website: https://sites.google.com/view/igucgog-covid19/home). It is expected that a selection of this session papers will be published in the Springer Series 'Local and Urban Governance' (https://www.springer.com/series/16129). 

5th International Conference - 2020/2021

Urban e-Planning

Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning

University of Lisbon 

Lisbon - Portugal

 7-10 September 2021 

Conference website >>

Conference endorsed by the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance