In 2017 the International Geographical Union (IGU-UGI) will organize two Thematic Conferences, instead of a large Regional : one about “Energy, Geography & Balanced Development” in Baku (Azerbaijan), and one about “Geographies for Peace” in La Paz (Bolivia).

The Thematic Conference in La Paz will be focused on peace and the contribution of geography to it. It will be held on 23, 24 and 25 April 2017, in combination with another major international scientific event, “EGAL, XVI ENCUENTRO DE GEÓGRAFOS DE AMÉRICA LATINA” (EGAL The 16th Meeting of Latin American Geographers), which will take place from 26 to 29 April in the same city,

Geography has often been accused of being applied to waging war. Yet, it also offers a vast array of contributions to the construction of peace. The thematic conference “GEOGRAPHIES FOR PEACE/ GEOGRAFÍAS PARA LA PAZ” will highlight the various contributions of geography to the construction of peace.

Peace is here widely defined. Peace is always shaped by the spaces in which it is made, as it too shapes those spaces. Peace means different things to different groups in different times, spaces, places, and scales. Peace can be created at the scale of the individual, the family, the community, the nation, and/or at other scales, but these different scales are often intertwined. Peace is a situated and spatial process – and as such is necessarily plural. Therefore, geographers are particularly well placed to research it, and to draw lines that connect the pieces of differently situated peaces.

The thematic conference “GEOGRAPHIES FOR PEACE/ GEOGRAFÍAS PARA LA PAZ” will cover all possible dimensions, from the historical perspective, to forecasting, through the role of education or tourism, and the political analysis of war and peace. Therefore, several IGU Commissions may be involved in the organisation of the different sessions.

The working languages of the Conference are English and Spanish. Abstracts can be submitted in either or both languages. Presentations will be in either English or Spanish. Limited interpretation will be available. All presenters are kindly asked to adapt their speech tempo to their audience. Participants presenting in Spanish are kindly asked to complement their talk with a power point presentation in English – and vice versa.

COMFIRMED SPEAKERS include: Simon Dalby, Vladimir Kolosov, Virginie Mamadouh, Nick Megoran, Janice Monk, David Newman, John O’Loughlin, Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Jarkko Saarinen, Michael Shapiro.

The Organizing Committee

Javier Nuñez Villalba, Universidad Mayor de San Andres, Bolivia

Yuri Sandoval Montes, University of La Paz, Bolivia

Juan Manuel Delgado Estrada, IGU Commission on Latin American Studies

The Scientific Committee Elena dell’Agnese (Pres.), Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy

Adriana Dorfman,   Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Fiona McConnell, St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, UK

Josefina Domínguez Mujica, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

Chiara Giubilaro, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy Vladimir Kolossov, Russian Academy of Science, Russia Sara Koopman, University of British Columbia, Canada

Virginie Mamadouh, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Michael Heffernan, The University of Nottingham, UK

Freddy Morales Rutiña, Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática de Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba

Osvaldo Muñiz-Solari, Texas State University, U.S. Ali Demirci, Fatih University, İstanbul, Turkey Takashi Yamazaki, Osaka City University, Japan Jarkko Saarinen, University of Oulu, Finland

Contacts: elena.dellagnese@unimib.it

Provisional program

Sunday April 23:

  • Arrival and registration
  • Opening event: Simon Dalby in conversation with Nick Megoran
  • Ice-breaking party

Monday April 24:

  • Morning and afternoon: parallel sessions
  • At noon: round table (chaired by Elena dell’Agnese and Virginie Mamadouh)
  • Evening: social dinner

Tuesday April 25:

  • Morning and afternoon: parallel sessions
  • At noon: round table (chaired by Osvaldo Muniz-Solari and Ali Demirci)
  • Closing remarks: Gerard Toal/ Geraóid Ó Tuathail
  • Evening: Closing Ceremony and concert

Possible Session Themes

Theme 1: Geographical education for peace Theme 2: Mobility, migration and peace

Theme 3: The quest for peace in the history of geography Theme 4: Women for peace

Theme 5: Political geographies of war and peace Theme 6: Peace through tourism and travel

Theme 7: Geographical education for global understanding Theme 8: Globalization and regional issues

Theme 9: Religious geographies and peace

Theme 10: Historical reconciliation between neighbouring peoples and countries

Theme 11: Geographical Societies, from colonial explorations to post-colonial cooperation Theme 12: Geography, diplomacy and peace

Theme 13: Engaging with the past: managing troubled heritage and making peace with the “other’s” heritage

Theme 14: From landscapes of war to landscapes of peace Theme 15: Territorial arrangements for peace:

Theme 16: Military assemblages Theme 17: Security and public space

Theme 18: Peace movements and altergeopolitics Theme 19: Cyberpeace

Theme 20: Citizenship for peace

People wishing to organize sessions, concerning some of the suggested topics, or other themes connecting geographies and peace, are requested to propose them to the Scientific Committee by sending an e-mail with a short explanation (250 words, title included) in English or in Spanish to elena.dellagnese@unimib.it

 

Sessions will have one or more “1h 40 min” time slot each. They may be organized as papers sessions (4 or 5 papers per time slot), round tables, panels, lectures with invited speakers and discussants, “author meets critics” book discussions, videos and other visual or artistic performances.

The deadline for submitting session proposals is 15 September, 2016. Decisions will be made by 1 October 2016 and a call for papers will be published then with the final list of themes and accepted sessions .

The deadline for submitting abstracts (250 words, in English or in Spanish) for papers is 1 December. Decisions will be made by 15 December.

 

 

Registration and schedule

 

Registration fees have been kept to a minimum, so as to encourage the widest possible participation.

 

Regular registration(before 31 January 2017) Late registration
Regular fee 200 $ 250 $
Students, PhD students, unwaged researchers, retired scholars 100 $ 150 $
Social dinner on 24 April 25 $ 30 $

 

 

Fees are expressed in U.S. dollars.

 

Registration will open on 15 December 2016 Early bird registration closed on 31 January 2017

Accommodation

 Participants will have to arrange and pay their travel and accommodation by themselves.

A list of hotels in various price ranges will be provided.