Pre-conference activities
Find out more about activities taking place in the run-up to the conference.
Find out more about activities taking place in the run-up to the conference on Tuesday 26 August, all of which are free to attend for fully registered conference delegates.
Creating in Confinement: Co-production, Creative Methods and Carceral Geographies
Tuesday 26 August, 10.00am - 5.00pm BST.
Location: TBC.
This workshop explores how creative practice and research enable novel forms of knowledge production in carceral settings. Providing researchers across career stages with opportunities to meet, share experiences and try out creative approaches for their own work, the workshop is open to all. Morning and afternoon sessions open with keynote speakers engaged in creative practice in carceral settings:
- Paula Harriot (Unlock)
- Laura Caulfield (Wolverhampton University)
- Maria Addams (Doing Porridge, University of Surrey)
These in-depth presentations will be followed by practical workshops on creative writing, collage and body-mapping. We will close the day with a celebration of recent monographs, edited volumes and publications by our international network) and an informal social gathering.
Digital Geographies Research Group: Exploring Place-based Creativity in a Digitally-Mediated World
Tuesday 26th August 2025, 2.00pm-5:30pm BST.
Location: TBC.
Complementing the RGS-IBG’s conference theme of ‘Creativity/Creative Geographies’, the Digital Geographies Research Group have organised parallel workshops that invite participants to explore placed-based creative practices of researchers, content creators and game designers alike. Speaking across a range of digitally-mediated contexts, these parallel sessions introduce practices through explorative, playful or audio-visual forms of creativity. The workshops aim to address a series of questions prompted by this year’s theme:
- What new concepts, methods or practices can digitally-mediated creativity offer researchers?
- How can being creative help researchers to navigate increasingly turbulent times?
- Where are the new digital spatialities of creativity emerging?
The event will start with three parallel sessions which you will be able to sign up for followed by a panel discussion.
Energy Geographies Research Group visit to Tyseley Energy Park
Tuesday 26 August, timings TBC.
Location: meeting point TBC.
Home to the pioneering Webster and Horsfall company, this 300-year-old industrial site has been transformed into an Energy Park.
On this guided tour, we’ll visit the UK’s largest hydrogen refuelling station – powering 20 zero-emission buses for Birmingham – explore the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre, where cutting-edge research from the University of Birmingham is shaping future energy systems, and learn about the park’s programmes for community and public engagement.
Please note: this trip involves a return train to Tyseley (fare not included) and a 20-minute walk to the Energy Park through one of Birmingham’s more industrial areas.
Participatory Walking Methods
Tuesday 26 August, 11.00am-4.30pm BST.
Location: TBC.
The workshop will catalyse discussions and share knowledge on walking methods in research and practice, with a focus on:
- Ethics, care and trends in research.
- Technologies such as mobile recording
- Participatory methods
- Creative walking methods
- How to effectively communicate and teach walking methods to a broad audience inside and outside academia.
We also aim to support mentorship by linking researchers of different career stages through their interests and experiences in walking methods. This workshop would be an ideal introduction to the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) conference where we are facilitating two sessions on Creative Tensions in Place: The Promise of Walking Perspectives. (You do not have to attend the conference to attend the workshop).
The workshop is organised by three geographically-minded researchers and teachers with different perspective on walking, urban politics and participatory methods: David Adams, Morag Rose and Aled Singleton. We are supported by the Participatory Geographies and Urban Research Groups.
How to apply
Please tell us a little (100-150 words) about your practice and career. You do not have to be a geographer to attend and we welcome artists, activists, community researchers and prospective students as well as PhD students and early career researchers. To be clear: our walking is inclusive of all bodies and all ways of walking, including the use of wheelchairs, sticks, scooters etc. Trans and non-binary colleagues are very welcome.
- Please provide an abstract or provocation (200 - 250 words) about your interest in walking methods. This could include theoretical, reflexive and political perspectives.
- How would you spend the £100 bursary? If you don’t need the full amount, please tell us.
Please do indicate if you would come without a bursary. We only have £500 in total. Please state if you will attend the Annual Conference. Note we cannot help with conference fees.
How we will score proposals
We have limited places so looking for: (1) relevance to the themes: (2) participatory methods or theory; and (3) how this will help your practice.
If you would like to discuss ideas please contact us. Please email your application to Aled Singleton (singletona1@cardiff.ac.uk), Morag Rose (mlrose@liverpool.ac.uk) and David Adams (d.adams.4@bham.ac.uk).
Deadline: 5.00pm Friday 23 May 2025.
