The IGU Commission on Population Geography plans once again to sponsor and actively promote some themed sessions at the bi-annual international population conference to be held in Umeå, Sweden in 2011. The Commission proposes three themed sessions linked to the commission’s core interests in ‘Population and Difference’ and ‘Population and Vulnerability’.

A. Population and Difference

This theme provides an opportunity for dialogue on a range of demographic issues pertinent to the present context of globalization. The theme emphasizes the rethinking of ‘population’ as a heterogeneous concept open to constant reworkings through diverse socio-cultural, political, and economic framings. The interest here is to interrogate the various intersecting inflections of ‘difference’ within population studies – age, nationality, ethnicity, race, class, gender, sexuality,  etc. – and to appreciate how these arise from the shifting imaginaries, practices and experiences of inclusions and exclusions between groups and across geographic scales.

Papers on any aspect of the theme are welcome, but (given the location of the conference) researchers are especially encouraged to offer papers on two sub-themes: 

1. 1. Population and Difference in Remote Rural and Marginal Environments

Key questions might be ‘How do remote rural and marginal environments ‘make’ populations different?’ and ‘How is ‘difference’ experienced, negotiated and resisted in these geographical contexts?’

1. 2. Mobilities and Difference

Key questions might include ‘To what extent does migration intensify the social and economic divides of sending and receiving locations?’ and ‘How does mobility make possible new ways of connecting across difference?’

B. Population and Vulnerability

This theme has been explored in several IGU Commission meetings over the last few years including conferences on topics as diverse as ‘making sense of vulnerability’, ‘risks and hazards’, ‘climate change’, ‘successful ageing’ and ‘marriage migration’.

Once again papers on any aspect of the Population and Vulnerability theme are welcome (see Population, Space and Place, vol 11, pages 429–39 for a mapping of the topic), but the commission would be especially glad to welcome papers by geographers with a focus on how vulnerability is produced, reproduced and resisted by Asylum Seekers and Refugees.

Offers of papers on any of these themes should be directed to Professor Allan Findlay (a.m.findlay@dundee.ac.uk). Enquiries about the conference should be sent to Gunnar Malmberg (gunnar.malmberg@geography.umu.se) by February 20^th 2011. Authors of papers should indicate that the papers are intended for the IGU themed sessions listed above.

Population Footprints 25-26 May 2011,

The Mermaid Conference Centre, London EC4V 3DB

1st Announcement & Call for Poster Abstracts

www.populationfootprints.org

We would like to bring to your attention this major UCL and Leverhulme Trust symposium on human population growth and global carrying capacity to be held in London on Wednesday 25 & Thursday 26 May 2011. The symposium will aim to provoke debate on themes often regarded as simply too controversial and difficult to be tackled through rational analysis, with sessions addressing:

• The likely causes and effects of both northern and southern population migration in the 21st century
• The most appropriate public policy responses to projected changes in population dynamics, and common ground for meaningful dialogue
• The most important determinants of population growth and how to prepare for it
• How paradigms of gender and sexual rights should be developed to meet the challenges
• The medium term implications of different global patterns in ageing
• The ‘fair’ and sustainable level of carbon emission for each person

The themes will be discussed by an impressive list of internationally renowned speakers from universities, NGOs and civil societies, multinational and government agencies. You are invited to register your interest through the website www.populationfootprints.org as soon as possible. If you know of networks or organisations to which this event would be of interest please do let us know, or pass on this email.

We are asking for registration of interest by 28th January 2011. The deadline for submission of abstracts for posters is 21st February. We are offering three full scholarships (travel, accommodation and conference fee) to the best three poster submissions from the global south and three full scholarships from the UK. To ensure active involvement outside the UK, we will award at least two grants to local agencies in Africa and South Asia to host a meeting of local experts, advocates and researchers and the conference will be ‘streamed’ live, with a Twitter feed to encourage participation from outside the Hall. The live streaming will be available globally to anyone registering on the site at the time of the symposium, and the Twitter feed is available to all. We look forward to your involvement with Population Footprints 2011.

With best wishes

Claire Lister, Event Coordinator

On behalf of the UCL Institute for Global Health and the Symposium Organising Committee

I C H Events, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH

Phone: 020 7905 2232 Fax: 020 7831 6902

Email: claire@ichevents.com www.ichevents.com

The Population Geography Research Group (PopGRG) invites proposals for sessions at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference in London, 31^st August-3^rd September 2011.

The conference theme is the geographical imagination.

Sessions may take the form of presented papers, panels, practitioner forums, discussions or workshops.  Innovative sessions and formats are encouraged.

Sessions are 1 hour 40 minutes long.   Most sessions will contain five 20-minute presentations which include time for questions, or four 20-minute presentations with discussion and questions at the end.  Interactive short papers sessions (5 to 10 min presentations with plenary discussion at the end) usually accommodate up to 8 papers.

To apply for a PopGRG sponsored session, please forward your proposal (max. 350 words), the name of the session convenor(s), and the session format (e.g. panel, paper session, discussion) to Joanna Sage (j.sage:lboro.ac.uk) by Friday 26^th November 2010.

A Ph.D. studentship is available commencing end September 2010 for three years to create an updated methodology for the creation of a new area classification that will be employed on the 2011 Census of the Population, when the output data are made available. The current classification can be viewed as the ‘OAC interactive map’ at www.areaclassification.org.uk.

This provides an excellent opportunity to address a range of important methodological issues with geodemographic classifications, and to build better visualisation methods for dissemination that will maximise engagement and create more opportunities for public feedback. As such, the key research deliverables of this award will be: to evaluate alternate clustering methodologies that create more stable assignments of areas into clusters; to design new geographically sensitive methods of measurement that inform the underlying indicator variables used to create the classification; to develop and evaluate new modes of dissemination which better utilise web based technology and new advances in GIS.

The successful candidate is likely to have a background in GIS or computer science, and will have as a minimum an upper second or first class degree. The applicant will be a home (UK) or EU student. Applicants should email a curriculum vitae and supporting statement to Professor Paul Longley at the Department of Geography, University College London: plongley@geog.ucl.ac.uk. The closing date for applications is Friday 27 August 2010, with interviews planned for the following week.

ANGLO-IRISH POPULATION CONFERENCE 12-13 MAY 2010

Contemporary Labour Migration: National and International Perspectives

Hosted by NUI Galway under the auspices of the Population Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG and Population Commission of the International Geographical Union

Papers are invited for an Anglo-Irish population conference on Labour Migration. Whilst there is a focus on Ireland and the UK, papers that address the broad conference themes in other geographical contexts will be most welcome.

Major changes have taken place in the scale and character of labour migration in the UK and Ireland since the early 1990s, involving both national and international workers. Established patterns of movement have continued within and between rural and urban regions; both countries also experienced dramatic increases in overseas labour immigration from the early 1990s on, to fill vacancies in highly skilled and lower skilled employment. Both countries, with Sweden, opened their borders immediately in 2004 to members of the new accession states of the European Union to meet labour deficits. In response to reduced rates of economic growth since 2008, demand for labour has fallen and new challenges have emerged for labour, employers and governments. New migration patterns are apparent, associated with migrant return to countries of origin and relocation within and between regions. Ireland and the UK provide similarities but also contrasts in terms of labour migration, in particular the diversity of the former’s immigrant flows. Both countries are currently facing crises in their labour markets which are finding expression in changing migration patterns, a phenomenon that is not exclusive to them. This experience provides a context for exploring and developing existing and new theoretical perspectives relating to internal and international migration.

Papers are invited on the following themes in particular:

(i) the socio-economic and political contexts of recent labour migration, including the role of employers, national governments and international agencies in the migration process;
(ii) the composition of migration flows at an international scale and impacts in source and reception areas;
(iii) the internal and transnational labour migration experience within urban and rural settings;
(iv) the transnational labour migrant experience in the broader host society.

Abstracts (max. 300 words) are invited by Tuesday 6th April 2010: http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=90.

Guest Speaker: Professor Adrian J. Bailey, University of Leeds and Hong Kong Baptist University will deliver a plenary address on Recession, Labour Migration, and Europe’s Transnational Turn, at 18:30 on 12th May, in the D’Arcy Thompson Theatre.

Graduate Bursaries: A limited number of graduate bursaries are available on a competitive basis to cover the cost of the registration fee, (sponsored by the Dean of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies): http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=90.

Registration commences at 10:30 on Wednesday 12th May followed by buffet lunch at 12:00.  The Conference opens at 13:00 on the 12th May and closes at 17:00 on Thursday 13th of May.
Conference web site:
http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=90

Organisers
Darren Smith, Chair, RGS-IBG Population Geography Research Group  d.smith@brighton.ac.uk
Mary Cawley: mary.cawley@nuigalway.ie
Marie Mahon: marie.mahon@nuigalway.ie
Valerie Ledwith: valerie.ledwith@nuigalway.ie
School of Geography and Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway

The Anglo-Irish Population Conference, under the auspices of the Population Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG and Population Commission of the International Geographical Union, will take place on 12-13 May, 2010. The theme this year is:  Contemporary labour migration: national and international perspectives to be held at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Papers are invited, consisting of abstracts of maximum 300 words. The deadline for submission is 12th March 2010.

For submissions and further inforamtion please see: www.nuigalway.ie/labour_migration/conference/

The 2010 BSPS Conference will be held at the University of Exeter from 13-15 September. Preliminary abstracts of papers – which may be in the form of declarations of intent- are invited. These abstracts are to be of a maximum of 250 words in length with a provisional title. The deadline for submission is 30th April 2010. Submission itself is online at the following site:

https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/lsewebsite/bsps2010/

More information is available in this pdf.

The annual PopFest conference, a conference specifically open to postgraduates from all disciplines across the social
sciences studying any aspect of population, has announced a call for papers for its 2010 conference in St. Andrews.

Full details of the programme are still to be confirmed but will include: parallel sessions running over three days, poster presentations, keynote speaker addresses, and this year will offer an innovative panel session, allowing with contributors drawn from a range of backgrounds (e.g. public sector and charity) showing how aspects of population studies might be applied in different contexts.

The first call for papers has now been made, and is open to all postgraduate researchers engaged in the study of human populations from any social science discipline. Submissions for works-in-progress or completed reports are all welcome.

Themes might include, but are certainly not limited to:
*Health and populations
*Migration
*Reproductive and sexual behaviour
*Social participation and active citizenship
*Fertility and contraception
*Childhood and youth
*Innovative data uses and methodological approaches in population studies

Oral presentations will be 15 minutes long with 5 minutes for questions. There will also be one dedicated poster session.

For full details of the event including a downloadable call for papers, submission guidelines, how to register, how to arrange accommodation, travel information, information about the area and details of the organising committee, please visit: www.popfest.org.uk

You can also register for email updates about the event, and contact the organisers directly with any questions via popfest2010@st-andrews.ac.uk

The University of Surrey are hosting a workshop on the ONS longitudinal study specifically geared towards exploring population and health trends.

Workshop: Exploring population and health trends – the ONS Longitudinal Study
Time: 14.00-16.30
Date: Friday, 22 January 2010
Venue: Room 46AD03, The University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) offers a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales. It draws its data from each Census (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 so far), linking the information (on both individual and household) together to form a developing history for each sample member. Data are also drawn from the Registrar General’s birth and death records, among other sources. It is a very important data source for many fundamental population studies. Recent topics of LS research have included inequalities in life expectancy, health and socio-economic status; a profile of the ‘oldest old’; migration trends; the outcomes of cohabitation; the effects of childlessness and of single parenthood in women; and the changing ethnic distribution of the population.

Despite the importance of the LS it remains little-known outside government departments, and yet it is not difficult to use. The aim of this workshop is to describe the LS, some possible research uses of it and how to access it; and to offer hands-on experience of analysing the LS by means of specimen datasets. The Longitudinal Studies of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be briefly described, as will the other Census data resources available for academic use in England and Wales.

Hands-on exercises will use SPSS; guidance will be provided for those unfamiliar with it.

The workshop is free to attend, booking and further information is available here.