IGU Commission on Local and Regional Development Annual Meeting

Cuenca, Spain, 13-15th October 2022

Chair: dr. Carmen Vázquez-Varela

Topic: Sociodemographic change and its impact on territorial development policies

Dear colleagues,

As most of you know, the 2022 IGU Congress in Paris has just been on last July. Initially, we planned to hold a meeting in July to create an opportunity for a face-to-face conference with colleagues at a pre-IGU Congress Seminar. However, July seemed to be a very busy month for meetings and pre-meetings of different Commissions and groups, so we thought it would be wise to move our proposal to October.

The seminar, entitled Sociodemographic change and its impact on territorial development policies is organized by the International Geographical Union (IGU) Commission on Local and Regional Development (LRD), the Spanish Working Group of Local Development, which is part of the Association of Spanish Geographers (AGE), and the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Castilla-La Mancha.

SEE PROGRAMME

Registration Fee

There is no seminar participation fee. Fees for the excursion will be fixed in due course.

The participants will pay for their accommodation and meals (lunch) during the conference themselves. However, information on meal options will be provided shortly.

Call for papers

The commissions for Local and Regional Development, the Spanish Working Group of Local Development, and the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Castilla-La Mancha are pleased to announce a call for papers for the Pre-Congress Meeting on Local and Regional Development, to be held on 13th through 15th of October 2022.

We currently seek submissions of abstracts within any of the proposed sub-themes by the 23th of September 2022. Please send abstract (300-500 words) in doc format, as an attachment, to Dr. Carmen Vázquez-Varela carmen.vazquez@uclm.es. The language of the seminar is English. Following acceptance of abstracts (both in English or Spanish), authors will be notified and invited to submit complete papers for its publication by the University of Castilla-La Mancha following the Seminar.

Thematic axes

– Population challenges and territorial development policies.

– Between theory and practice of local development. Issues, methods, and experiences.

– Cross-border cooperation and neighbourhood policies.

– Challenges of urban-rural relationships. Implications on local and regional development.

– Territorial development and 17 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

– Addressing territorial inequality in a post-pandemic world.

Venue

The seminar will take place at the Faculty of Humanities, Cuenca Campus, University of Castilla-La Mancha. The address is: Avenue Los Alfares, 44, 16071 Cuenca, Spain. 

(Website: https://www.uclm.es/es/Cuenca/educacion-humanidades).

According to the number of people interested, the format of the meeting could be hybrid, combining the face-to-face meeting with online participation.

A further detailed programme will be provided in the 3rd circular to be issued shortly in mid- September.

SEE PROGRAMME

International Scientific Committee

  • Jerzy Bański (Poland), Honorary member, Commission on Local and Regional Development at the IGU, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences.
  • Francisco Javier García Delgado (Spain), Treasurer/Secretary, Standing Committee of the Working Group on Local Development at the Spanish Geographical Association, Huelva University.
  • Jesús M. González Pérez (Spain), President of Spanish Geographical Association, University of the Balearic Islands.
  • María Hernández Hernández (Spain), Vice-Chair, Standing Committee of the Working Group on Local Development at the Spanish Geographical Association, Alicante University.
  • Luis Alfonso Hortelano Mínguez (Spain), Member of the Standing Committee of the Working Group on Local Development at the Spanish Geographical Association, Salamanca University.
  • Rubén C. Lois-González (Spain), Member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Geographical Association, Vice-President of the IGU Executive Committee 2022-2024, Santiago de Compostela University.
  • Antonio Martínez-Puche (Spain), Chair, Standing Committee of the Working Group on Local Development at the Spanish Geographical Association, Alicante University.
  • Bianca Mitrică (Romania), Secretary, Commission on Local and Regional Development at the IGU, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy.
  • Ines Grigorescu (Romania), Chair, Commission on Local and Regional Development at the IGU, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy.
  • Ángel R. Ruiz-Pulpón (Spain), Head of the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning, Castilla-La Mancha University.
  • Michael Sofer (Israel), Honorary member, Commission on Local and Regional Development at the IGU, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University.
  • Vicente M. Zapata Hernández (Spain), Member of the Standing Committee of the Working Group on Local Development at the Spanish Geographical Association, La Laguna University.

Organizing Committee

  • Carmen Vázquez-Varela (Spain), Vice-Chair, Commission on Local and Regional Development at the IGU, Department of Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Humanities, Castilla-La Mancha University.
  • Ana E. Aparicio (Spain), Department of Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Humanities, Castilla-La Mancha University.
  • José M. Martínez-Navarro (Spain), Department of Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Education, Castilla-La Mancha University.
  • José A. Montero (Spain), Department of Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Education, Castilla-La Mancha University.

Getting to Cuenca

Madrid – Cuenca: 

By car, 170 km from Madrid by motorway (2 hours). 

By High-speed rail (55 minutes). Prices depending on advance purchase and date of travel, from 7€ to 80€

 

Accommodation

Because October in Cuenca is high season for tourism, most hotels are fully booked, so we have pre-booked several rooms in Hotel Torremangana (4 stars) (https://www.hoteltorremangana.com/) for the nights of 12, 13 and 14 October. The hotel is located in the city centre, in front of a park bordering the river Júcar, next to the old town and about 15 minutes walking distance from the university campus.

The costs for accommodation in this hotel are 77 € per day (single room or double room for single use) or 88€ per day (double room), bed and breakfast included, as well as VAT. Please reserve your room ASAP, as single rooms are limited in number. On the night of 15 October the hotel is very busy, so we have been told that a price will be offered depending on occupancy and availability. You are kindly asked to make your own accommodation arrangements on time, mentioning “JORNADAS ACADÉMICA IGU-UCLM”(reservas@hoteltorremangana.com).

Of course, besides the hotel arranged by the organisers, the city of Cuenca offers a good number of accommodation possibilities in the old town and in the city centre. All of them within walking distance of the university campus.

Below is a selection of hotels, inns, hostels, and guesthouses, to which should be added a long list of tourist accommodation in dwellings and flats.