We are delighted to announce the theme and our initial plans for the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2022.
The conference will be chaired by Professor Rachel Pain of Newcastle University, on the theme Geographies Beyond Recovery. It will take place at Newcastle University, from Tuesday 30 August to Friday 2 September 2022, with a strong in-person element, and with hybrid and online ways to participate.
We are really excited to be bringing the conference to Newcastle, and hope to see many of you there in person.
This year’s conference will not be ‘business as usual’ given everything that has happened over the last two years, from COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter, and from COP26 to concerns about cultures and behaviour within disciplinary spaces. So before we open the call for sessions and papers, we want to encourage everyone to pause and think about the conference, what it means, and what it offers to those attending. We too will be thinking widely and expansively about sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility in and around the conference and our broader activities with Research Groups and the geographical community. Please see our chair's statement on inclusivity and safety.
Submissions for the conference will open on Monday 31 January 2022 and close on Friday 25 March 2022. Between now and then, we invite you to take the opportunity to think about how you want to organise sessions and papers at the conference, focusing particularly on the kinds of spaces and conversations you want to curate and who and how you want to engage attendees in person and online. There is more information on our call for sessions and papers page.
Over the next two months, we will also be publishing a series of resources on these themes. As part of this, we also want to situate the conference within our wider programme of events and activities, particularly those delivered by the Society’s Research Groups. Rather than trying to meet all needs in a single event, this is about enabling a wider programme of activities, for colleagues at all career stages and across geography.
If you have any questions, please contact ac2022@rgs.org.
Code of conduct
The RGS-IBG Annual Conference is intended to be a space that allows geography, geographers and geographical careers to flourish through respectful, inclusive and equitable treatment of others sharing professional information, knowledge and ideas.
The RGS-IBG chair of conference and organisers want to promote a positive sense of academic community by asking everyone to:
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Behave professionally
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Treat everyone equally and respectfully
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Listen to others’ views and engage constructively with them
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Set an example
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Be committed to helping each other and to be kind
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Respect the environment and the people around you
We believe that everyone (delegates and staff) has the right to be in a respectful, safe and welcoming environment at the conference.
We are dedicated to providing an inclusive conference experience for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, or language, political or other opinion, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, religion or economic class. Discrimination, harassment, bullying and behaviours that are patronising have no place at the conference and will not be tolerated.
We ask that conference delegates practice:
Please see our full code of conduct for more information. All delegates are requested to act in accordance with the code of conduct.
About the conference
The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is the learned society and professional body for geography.
Geography, by its very nature, looks outwards and acts inclusively. As an independent, self-financing learned society and professional body, so does the Society. We are absolutely committed to the importance of international collaboration in research, scholarship, teaching and field science and the value of sharing ideas, understanding and perspectives widely.
The annual conference is international in nature and outlook. Each year we welcome hundreds of colleagues from around the world, with a third of attendees coming from outside the UK. We are committed to continuing this open and outward-facing approach, and particularly welcome contributions by international delegates to the conference programme.
Future conferences
The dates and location for conference in 2023 are expected to be as follows (though are subject to change):