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On the left, Thursday's plenary chair, Jazmin Scarlett (University of East Anglia), and on the right, a compilation of images taken from social media (with thanks to Twitter images by Martin Sokol, Zach Boakes, Mary Pearson and Anil Sindhwani)
Day three of conference saw another full day of sessions, taking place across Newcastle University and online, as well as fieldtrips and exhibitions.
In the Curtis Auditorium, the chair’s plenary event was a panel discussion on ‘Disaster recovery' from the individual to the global community, chaired by Jazmin Scarlett (University of East Anglia). Panellists included Kevin Blanchard (DRR Dynamics) and Ashleigh Rushton (University of the Fraser Valley, Canada).
The panel offered a broad range of discussion points, drawing on their varied experiences of disaster recovery research, from work with rural men following the Kaikura Earthquake in New Zealand, to working with communities in landslide zones in Nepal, and broader policy questions related to how marginalised peoples engage in disaster recovery work. Key topics included questions around what recovery looks like, and when we might be able to consider it as having ended – both of which led to interesting, if not very finite, answers from the panel and audience.
Alongside the chair’s plenary sessions, the theatre saw three journal sponsored lectures. The first was the Political Geography lecture: Slow violence, over-indebtedness, and the politics of (in)visibility: Stories and creative practices in pandemic times, given by Katherine Brickell (Royal Holloway, University of London). Discussants includes Amanda Rogers (Swansea University), Sabina Lawreniuk (University of Nottingham), and James Tyner (Kent State University, USA).
The second lecture was the Space and Polity lecture: ‘Damage, recovery, and the geographies of military-civil entanglements’, given by Rachel Woodward (Newcastle University). Discussants included Matthew Farish (University of Toronto, Canada) and Carl Grundy-Warr (National University of Singapore).
The final lecture of the day was the Antipode Lecture, given by writer and researcher, Rhian E. Jones (Red Pepper magazine). This was followed by a drinks reception.
Alongside the lectures there were further fieldtrips today with Dee Heddon (University of Glasgow) and Morag Rose (University of Liverpool) leading a trip called WalkCreate: Exploring Newcastle (and beyond) with artists’ recipes for creative walking; Michael Mulvihill (Newcastle University) also led a group out to explore the Military geographies and diaspora on the Roman Frontier at the mouth of the River Tyne; and Michael Richardson (Newcastle University led a trip titled, Is There a Right Time? Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, at Newcastle Quayside.
The final set of highlights were three sessions by the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), as part of the Levelling up and Recovery policy-focused stream. The first of these was Levelling up and recovery in Northeast England chaired by Danny MacKinnon (CURDS, Newcastle University) with panellists including Rob Hamilton (North of Tyne Combined Authority); Jennifer Hartley (Invest Newcastle); Louise Kempton (CURDS, HASS, and Insights NE); Rosie Lockwood (IPPR North); Henri Murison (Northern Powerhouse Partnership); Jen Williams (Financial Times Northern correspondent) and Lucy Winskell (Northeast Local Enterprise Partnership).
The second session of the day was International experiences and lessons, chaired by Louise Kempton (CURDS, Newcastle University) with Anne Green (University of Birmingham; Danny MacKinnon (CURDS, Newcastle University); Ron Martin (University of Cambridge); Raquel Ortega-Argilés (University of Manchester); and Damian Thomas (National Economic and Social Council, Ireland) forming the panel.
The final session in the policy-focused stream was National: Levelling up and recovery for cities and regions in the UK, chaired by Andy Pike (CURDS, Newcastle University,). Panellists included Rachel Campbell (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities); Tina Beatty (Sheffield Hallam University); Richard Blyth (RTPI); Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (London School of Economics and Political Science); Elisa Roller (European Commission) and Jane Wills (University of Exeter, UK).
Tomorrow, on the final day of the conference, there is still plenty to look forward to including a full programme of lectures, sessions, and other events.