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Conference theme: People, Space and Belonging

Recent events in the United Kingdom – including the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit, changes to political leadership, austerity politics, the rise of nationalism, and a weakening of climate change commitments – have brought attention to matters of spatial equity across diverse communities, regional and local, urban and rural geographies.

There is a need to consider how different communities are fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion, and how spaces for just and sustainable transitions can be actively enabled. The current unequal UK political and socio-economic landscape demands systemic change given systems of increasingly concentrated power and erosion of democracy. This also offers clear opportunities for radically new governance models, new institutions and intermediaries, blended finance models, co-productive partnerships, and innovative socio-technical interventions to enable pathways to an inclusive, green, prosperous and hopeful future.

We therefore particularly invite discussions that explore potential ways to encourage and enable open dialogues and co-designed approaches, new forms of partnerships and collaboration, policy and governance reform, alternative forms of economic development, and innovative societal and environmental relations, to enable transformative, inclusive and sustainable change.

Keynote session

This year we will open the conference with a Keynote Panel Discussion on People, Space and Belonging, featuring speakers from research and practice.

We are pleased to announce our first panel member will be Dr Eleanor Jupp, Reader in Social Policy at the University of Kent. Watch this space for more speakers to be announced.