Events

Upcoming events

23 January 2026 . 13:00 - 14:00 UTC Online Book Talk . Daniel du Plessis (Ed.) (2025). 'Territorial Governance and Spatial Transformation in Post-apartheid South Africa' Book Series ‘Local and Urban Governance’

Book presented by: Daniel du Plessis, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Discussants: Gustav Visser, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

                       Johan Olivier, Professional Urban and Regional Planner, South Africa

Moderator: Carlos Nunes Silva, Geographer, Lisbon, Portugal

                    Editor of the Book Series 'Local and Urban Governance' 

Event Details:

·       Date and Time: Friday, 23 January 2026, 13:00 - 14:00 UTC

·       Location: Online (zoom link will be sent to registered participants)

        More info (bios; book description) here >

·       Register here (Google form): https://forms.gle/rVQwaQiKJdhKoL38A 

21-24 May 2026: Workshop: “Rural Landscape Planning and Spatial Governance. The Role of Local Government in the Management and Enhancement of Heritage Landscapes”, Tirana, Albania

Organizer and Chair: Romeo Hanxhari, member of the IGU CGoG Steering Committee & University of Tirana, Albania, in cooperation with Anna Trono (Co-chair IGU CGoG Committee. University of Salento, Italy).

 The workshop devotes interest to the management and protection of the landscape as a category of cultural heritage involving a multiplicity of interests and actors, both in the development of new legal and institutional tools for its protection. The multifunctionality of cultural, social and economic interests of the landscape theme raises the question of how and who manages the heritage of landscapes at the local level.

15-16 August 2026 IGU Commission on Geography of Governance Annual Conference, Istanbul, Türkiye. Organised with the Turkish Geographical Society and Istanbul University.

see separate page

17-21 August 2026:  IRC 2026 Regional Conference, Istanbul, Türkiye

C24.15-Geography of Governance

• AI for Urban Governance; Opportunities and Challenges 

• Urban Planning and Ai. Opportunities and Challenges

• Local and Urban Governance: Trends, Challenges, and Innovations

see separate page

Past events: September 2024 - 

4-5 December 2025: Congress: Regional and ethnoregional parties in Europe and beyond. Pécs, Hungary 

8-11 October 2025: Workshop: 'European inequalities across borders: dividing and integrating processes'. Villa Vigoni (German-Italian Center for European Dialogue), Lake Como, Italy

See webpage on this site for more details

 The workshop aims to identify empirical models for the identification and evaluation of local governance models used in the management of landscapes. The workshop aims to underline the interactions among local actors; delineate the crucial role played by local governing bodies in the management of heritage landscapes, involving different administrative and sociocultural units.5-7 May 2025: 9th International Conference Urban e-Planning [Virtual / Online], Lisbon, Portugal

Conference Convenor: Carlos Nunes Silva) More information in the conference website https://sites.google.com/view/uep2025conference/home  See separate webpage under Events on this site for more details

25-26 September 2025: 3rd CEE-Loc Conference 2025, Budapest, Hungary

Contact the organiser for more information: Gábor Dobos, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences dobos.gabor@tk.hu Telephone: +36 1 224 6700/5331

11-12 September 2025: Annual Conference of the IGU Commission Geography of Governance in 2025. “ Innovation and Participation in Urban Governance: New Challenges for Local Governments”. Rome, Italy

6 October 2025 10:00–12:40 GMT: Third IGU Seminar on Geodiversity from Geographical Perspectives celebrating International Geodiversity Day under the theme “One Earth, Many Stories”

The program spans sessions on physical geography, biogeography, geopolitics of conservation, and social and cultural geography, followed by a round table, with the access link to be announced prior.  (see Details below.)

Prospective presenters for Sessions 1–4 should contact the session coordinators by 12 September 2025, and general inquiries can be directed to Link Manager Prof. Hiroya Yamano yamano@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp 

12th - 19th April 2025: IGU Thematic Conference Egypt 2025. 'Geo-Spatial Technology, Global Changes and Sustainability'

Organised and hosted by Egyptian Geographical Society (EGS). In this Conference the 'Commission Geography of Governance' is one of the organizing commissions under the theme: “Local Governance and the Challenges of Sustainability” and chair of the following sessions: 1. Local Government Reforms in a Changing World: trends, challenges and prospects; 2. Local Governance in the Middle East and North Africa Region, 3.  Local e-Governance: the role of Geo-Spatial Technologies in the governance and planning of cities and other human settlements. (Conveners: Prof. Dr. Anna Trono and Dr. Jeffrey McNeill). More information in the conference website: https://iguegypt2025.org/March 24 - 28, 2025: AAG 2025 Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan, USA and Online See separate webpage under Events on this site for more details

26-27 September 2024, 2nd CEE-LOC CONFERENCE: Local Government Studies in Central and Eastern Europe, Zagreb, Croatia.

Ilona Pálné Kovács & Balázs Brucker (HUN-REN, CERS, Institute for Regional Studies): The city diplomacy activities of Budapest and Warsaw between 2019 and 2023: Bypassing the central governments? In the presentation was examined cities finding their way in the international arena through the example of Warsaw and Budapest.

This presentation was the first case study of four-year research project called “Sub-national diplomacy in the international arena”, implemented with the support of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, starting in January 2024. This Conference was organized by Ilona Pálné Kovács member of the IGU CGoG Steering Committee & Institute for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Hungary)

More information in the conference website: https://www.eizg.hr/day-1-of-the-2nd-cee-loc-conference-2024-local-government-studies-in-central-and-eastern-europe-held/6917 

5 November 2024: Paradiplomacy Scholars Forum, (online)

Ilona Pálné Kovács, Balázs Brucker, Zsuzsanna Zsibók, Péter Balogh, Zoltán Pámer, & Petra Kézai (HUN-REN, CERS, Institute for Regional Studies): Sub-national diplomacy in the international arena (research framework). More information in the conference website: https://www.paradiplomacylab.uni.lodz.pl/international-cooperation 

17-18 October 2024: 22nd Annual Meeting of the Hungarian Regional Science Association (HRSA), Szeged, Hungary

The conference was co-organized by the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Szeged. One session was dedicated to the issue of the interaction between local goverments and the EU. The Annual Meeting had been opened by Ilona Pálné Kovács, president of the HRSA and member of the IGU CGoG Steering Committee & Institute for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Hungary. More information in the conference website: https://www.mrtt.hu/en/annual_meeting_2024.html