Call for Papers
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
The 2024 Annual Conference of the IGU Commission Geography of Governance - 'Reimagining Local Governance: just, sustainable and diverse' - celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Commission. In 1984, the International Geographical Union established a Study Group under the title 'Geography and Public Administration', which was then used as the preliminary status before a Commission could be launched. It was replaced in 1988 by a Commission on 'Geography and Public Administration'. Since then, the Commission was renamed twice to reflect new issues and perspectives on the relation between territory and public administration. In 2000 the name became 'Commission on Geography and Public Policy' and in 2008 it adopted its current title 'Commission on Geography of Governance'.
In the last four decades, the Commission has explored, examined and discussed the continuous making and remaking of new spaces of local and urban governance, around the world, as is perceptible in the programs of its annual conferences, workshops and other meetings, and in its extensive list of publications as well.
The 2024 Annual Conference 'Reimagining Local Governance: just, sustainable and diverse' aims to reflect on these past sub-national institutional and policy changes, its outcomes and impacts, and to explore and discuss the future of some of the key emerging trends, challenges and opportunities with which local and urban governance is confronted worldwide.
The Conference is an opportunity for inter-disciplinary discussions on a broad spectrum of ground-breaking research within the field of the Geography of Local and Urban Governance.
The Conference will bring together researchers from academia, public and private sectors, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, in an effort to present and debate their research on local and urban governance, and to share knowledge, viewpoints, methods, research outcomes and policy ideas.
The conference is organized into three main tracks with several themes each. We invite contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
Track 1 - Territorial Reforms, Multi-level Governance, and Democracy
This track examines and discusses the local dimensions of institutional and policy shifts and innovations in multi-level governance systems due to decentralization, devolution, globalization, nationalization, populist local leadership, digitalization, including the use of AI, and compares local government systems and practices in different regions of the world.
· Territorial administrative reforms and outcomes
· Changes in multi-level governance
· Decentralization v. re-centralization
· Local government finance: trends and challenges
· Metropolitan governance
· Inter-municipal cooperation
· Cross-border municipal cooperation
· Urban-rural governance partnerships
· Municipal amalgamation reforms
· New forms of local democracy, citizen participation and co-governance
· Populist leadership in local government
· Local government and the digital turn
· Artificial intelligence and big data for a smart local governance
Track 2 – Sustainability, Resilience and Justice in Local Governance
This track explores and discusses the responses of local governance to natural and human made disasters, crisis and emergencies, namely local government climate actions, local government post-pandemic policies, energy crisis and transition, and the role of local government in housing policy, in migration and refugee policies, and in post-war recovery. It also aims to address the local governance of the green transformation, the interventions promoting spatial justice, and the role of local government in the urban peripheries, in rural areas, and in informal territories.
· Local governance and the management of natural or human made disasters
· Local government actions towards climate change and its effects
· Local government adaptation and mitigation policies
· Local government post-pandemic policies
· Local governance and the energy transition
· Local government housing policy
· Local governance and the post-war recovery
· Local governance of the green transformation
· Local governance and spatial justice
· Local government in the urban peripheries and in informal territories
Track 3 - Spatial Planning Systems and Local Governance
This track examines and discusses the role of spatial planning in local and urban governance, as well as the evolution of planning systems in different countries, including the governance and planning of coastal and maritime areas. It also aims to address the changes in spatial and strategic planning systems, as a result of digitalization processes, and the development of various forms of social participation and policy co-creation.
· Spatial and strategic planning in local and urban governance
· Evolution of planning systems
· Citizen participation in spatial planning and local governance
· Digitalization of spatial planning systems
· Formal and informal spatial planning institutions and practices
· Spatial planning for climate adaptation and mitigation
· Spatial planning in coastal and maritime areas
· Governance and planning of the urban nightlife
In each of these three tracks we welcome country and cross-country studies, as well as individual and comparative studies of cities or municipalities.
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.
The Conference is On-site / In-person.
PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE, SELECTION CRITERIA AND SESSIONS ORGANIZATION
● Participation in the conference is free of charge (no conference fee).
● Participation in the conference requires the presentation of a paper.
● All abstracts submitted will be double blind peer-reviewed by the Conference Scientific Committee.
● The working language of the conference is English.
● Translation service is not provided.
● The conference is organized in plenary sessions and parallel panels according to topics and issues.
● Each panel (1,5 or 2 hours) has 4 - 5 oral presentations.
● A time slot of 15 minutes is assigned to each speaker. This time slot includes introduction, presentation and discussion.
● The Conference rooms are equipped with computer (Windows and Office) and projection system. No equipment for presenting films or overhead transparencies will be available at the Conference.
● Oral presentations will be supported by PowerPoint only. Presentations will not be collected in advance. Participants are advised to bring their PowerPoint presentation to the Conference Room on a personal computer or a thumb drive.
REGISTRATION
● Participation requires the presentation of a paper
● Number of participants is limited
● Participants are expected to attend the entire conference
● Registration (free of charge) is mandatory for all participants present in the conference (authors /co-authors of accepted papers)
● Registration is an expression of a firm commitment to be present in the conference
● Registration (online): 15 April - 15 May 2024
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
● Please submit an abstract, of no more than 200-250 words, by 15 January 2024, to:
IGU Commission Geography of Governance
E-mail: igu.geogov@gmail.com
● Download abstract submission form, here >
PUBLICATION
●The Conference does not publish 'Conference Proceedings'.
● It is expected that a selection of the conference papers will be published.
● More information on the Conference website ('Publication').
IMPORTANT DATES
● Submission deadline for abstracts: 15 January 2024
● Notification of abstract acceptance: 20 February 2024
● Registration: 15 April - 15 May 2024
● Conference: 23 - 24 August 2024
● PowerPoint presentation (PPT file): during the conference
● Full paper for publication: date to be announced during the conference
CONFERENCE VENUE
● Maynooth University - North Campus - Iontas building, 2nd floor
Maynooth, Ireland
THE IGU-CCoG ANNUAL CONFERENCE & THE 35th GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS
The 2024 Annual Conference of the IGU-CGoG takes place in the two days before the 35th International Geographical Congress (IGC) - ‘Celebrating a World of Difference’ - (Dublin, 24 - 30th August 2024). Maynooth is easily accessible from Dublin (~30 mn by train or bus).
FURTHER INFORMATION
● All inquiries, expressions of interests, and abstracts should be sent, by e-mail, to:
Carlos Nunes Silva (U.Lisbon, Portugal)
IGU Commission Geography of Governance
E-mail: igu.geogov@gmail.com