EUROGEO celebrated its 40 years anniversary in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in August 2019 with its conference “Hidden Geographies”. The conference was also dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Department of Geography and the University of Ljubljana
EUROGEO 2019 Slovenia
“Hidden Geographies”
29 – 31 August 2019
Conference Invitation:
Join us in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 29–31 August 2019 at the EUROGEO 2019 Annual Conference Hidden Geographies. The conference will be part of the activities dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Department of Geography and the University of Ljubljana.
Hidden geographies in a very broad sense refer to ways of spatial arrangements of natural or cultural, real or imagined features, relations or processes in a landscape that are hidden in any possible meaning, such as (so far) not visible, unseen, kept out of sight, concealed, disguised, masked, unrevealed, also unperceived or unknown. Hidden to majority or to individuals, to science, to public or maybe to certain social groups. Hiding may be deliberate, e.g. to protect (natural environment, privacy, human rights) or to gain (economic, political) advantage. However, the majority of geographies remain hidden due to lack of information or lack of knowledge how to deal with them. Geography, cartography, remote sensing, geoinformatics and other disciplines focusing on spatial aspects of the nature and societies, supported by the ubiquity of the ICT, and enormous quantities of available spatially positioned quantitative as well as qualitative data reveal, or at least assess enormous amounts of (so far) hidden geographies, which leads to a growing need to adequately select, interpret, model and relate this information to the existing knowledge.
Hidden geographies are everywhere, and many have substantial impacts on (other) natural and social processes, which consequently trigger changes, for example in the landscape, economy, culture, health or quality of life.
The conference EUROGEO 2019 will provide the opportunities to discuss the origins and consequences of the daily expanding complex world of hidden geographies, the awareness of them, their perception, understanding, interpretation and use in research, education, policy-making, management or everyday life. You are invited to contribute to any of the aspects of our discussion on this special and overlooked view on the geography, including:
- gathering, studying, interpreting examples of hidden geographies in any spatial scale; examples may range from in-depth qualitative analyses of interviews, literature, artworks and internet materials, to highly quantitative analyses of remotely sensed imagery or positional data from mobile devices, from simple field explorations of human or animal spatial behaviour or public opinion using mobile applications, to complex geographic modelling;
- discussing the impacts of hidden geographies on theories and practices in academic discourses;
- discussing the roles of science and technology in revealing or protecting hidden geographies, or their impacts on landscapes or people’s spatial behaviours;
- discussing ethical, legal, political aspects of keeping hidden, or un-hiding the hidden geographies;
- discussing the roles of education in increasing the awareness of hidden geographies, knowledge and skills to discover them and live with them. A special track of the conference focusing on educational topics will partly overlap with Ilešič’s Days, the national conference for Slovenian geography teachers.
We invite you to propose paper presentations, posters or workshops on any topic related to hidden geographies. Selected papers, resulting from the presentations at the conference, will be published in a thematic issue of the European Journal of Geography after the conference.
The optional post-conference excursion will include a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site Škocjan Caves and a picturesque village Goče at the karstic edge of the wine-producing area of Vipava Valley.
More information about the conference at: http://hiddengeographies.geografija.si
Timeline
10 May 2019: Extended deadline for abstract submission and early bird registration
16 August 2019: Last day for payment
29–31 August 2019: The conference & post-conference excursion
1 October 2019: Deadline for full paper submissions for thematic issue of the European Journal of Geography
Submission and full Web site at http://hiddengeographies.geografija.si
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