October 2008 NEWSLETTER

Dear Colleagues

Please find below the October 2008 newsletter for the IGU-Commission for Local Development.

CONTENTS

1. Activities Report

2. Conference announcements

3. Publications

4. Relevant information

1. Activities Report

The annual meeting of the Commission on Local Development took place as part of the 31^st International Geographical Congress in Tunis, August 12-15, 2008. The Commission was given two specific session slots, although the number of relevant papers was much larger, and some of these relevant papers were allocated by the organisers to different sessions, some of which dealing directly with local and regional development. My estimation is that we could have themes for as many as five sessions – about twenty papers altogether.

The following congress internet site contains some information about the congress:

http://www.igc-tunis2008.com/

2. Conference announcements

The 2009 annual meeting of the Commission will be held in Warsaw, followed by a four days very attractive field trip, 7-14 of September. The conference will start with registration on September 7, three days of sessions 8-10 September. The 11-14 of September are dedicated to the excursion. The information about this meeting has been already spread among you and I’ll be grateful if you could spread it to other potential participants.

The general theme is: Socio-economic disparities and the role of local development

Those willing to receive additional information please write to the two email address below.

All those who intend to participate please return the early registration form by 15th December 2008. The organisers wish to have an early idea about the number of participants. The form should be return to:

Jurek Banski jbanski@twarda.pan.pl

Marcin Mazur m.mazur@twarda.pan.pl

The updated timetable of the Commission on Local Development activities: 2009-2011

Year	Month	Place	Comments	Theme
2009	September 7-14	Warsaw	Commission annual meeting	Socio-economic disparities and the role of local development.
2010	The dates of IGU regional conference: July 12-16	Tel Aviv / or elsewhere in Israel	IGU regional conference	To be decided.
2011	To be decided	An option Belo-Horizonte, Brazil	Commission annual meeting	To be decided.

We are debating, and it will be raised again during the 2009 meeting, whether to run the 2010 annual meeting before the main Congress (in another part of Israel), or, as the organizers suggested (actually I am one of the organizers), to hold a meeting as part of the congress in Tel-Aviv.

Collaboration with other commissions:

In the past we have collaborated with other commissions, particularly in operating the annual meeting. Recently, two commission heads have approached us, suggesting a future cooperation, again on the basis of a joint annual conference. The two commissions are:

1.          Sustainability of Rural Systems

2.          Marginalization, Globalization, and Regional and Local Responses

I’ll be happy to receive your opinions on this matter, and I expect people to suggest topics that could suit and deserve such cooperation.

4. Publications

Members of the Commission have also started to talk about a proceeding paper based on the type of template used at 2006 meeting in Cairns, Australia, and edited by Tony Sorensen (see below). Proceedings publication is an essential part of any Commission meeting, as attendance is often tied to the presentation of a paper.

The next meeting in Warsaw might go even one step forward towards a special issue of a refereed journal. Jerzy took on himself to co-ordinate the publication of papers that will be the outcome of the conference. The format in which these should be submitted will be given at a later stage. We may also consider the incorporation of papers on the Commission’s website after the conference.

The proceedings of the 2006 tri-commission meeting in Cairns, Australia, has appeared under the superb editorial work of our steering committee member Tony Sorensen. The details are below:

SORENSEN, T. (ed.) 2007. Progress in Sustainable Rural Development. Armidale, Australia: University of New England/CSRS-IGU (collection of papers presented in the 2006 colloquium). Paper and CD-ROM versions, 22 chapters, 209 pages.

3. Relevant information

I would like to have a section in the newsletter titled NEWS FROM OUR COLLEAGUES. These may include announcements regarding forthcoming conferences, conference reports, new books and other publications, educational programs, etc. So I hereby submit a request to one and all to send us news that you think may be relevant to our activities, and wish us to spread among our members.

There are some areas where the Commission has not made much progress. We should be adopting a correspondent structure to make sure that colleagues interested in what we do will be able to receive such information. A membership review is a good target for the 2008-2012 Commissions. We would like to increase the number of corresponding members. Names of potential corresponding people are welcome.

The information in this newsletter will be uploaded to the Commission's web site at: http://www.biu.ac.il/soc/ge/igucomld/

For IGU updates check the Home of Geography website:

http://www.homeofgeography.org/

Please spread the news about the commission among all those persons you might think may have interest to take part in the LD commission’s future sessions. Could you please send me information regarding activities, conferences and other issues of interest for the next newsletter?

With best wishes,

Michael Sofer

Chairman, Commission on Local Development, IGU

January 2008 NEWSLETTER

Dear Colleagues,

I wish every one of our members a creative and productive time in the year ahead and I hope that the 2008 will be an action packed year.

CONTENTS

1. Announcements

2. Commission activities in 2007

3. Conference announcements

4. Relevant information

1. Announcements

1.     I would like to inform our colleagues that Jerzy Banski has accepted to replace Campolina Dinitz as deputy chair of the commission. I would like to thank Campolina for his significant contribution to the commission’s activities in the last three years and I am sure that he will continue to contribute as a member of the commission’s steering committee.

2.     I would like to inform our colleagues that Professor Liu Weidong, from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is replacing Xiomin Pang as a new member of the steering committee.

2. Commission activities in 2007

The Commission on Local Development took place as part of a larger conference “The Second Global Conference on Economic Geography” in Beijing in June 2007. The Commission was given two specific session slots, although the number of relevant papers was much larger, and some of these relevant papers were located in other sessions, some of which dealing directly with local and regional development. The full program of the conference, the commission sessions, and other issues can be found in the following link:

http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/geoywc/conference/econgeog.html

3. Conference announcements

31^st International geographical congress - Tunis August 12-15, 2008

The 2008 annual meeting of the commission will take place during the coming IGU Congress in Tunis in August 12-15. The main reason for having the meeting parallel to the main Congress is that there are difficulties to organise the annual meeting in Tunis before or after the main congress.

The following congress internet site contains the required information:

 http://www.igc-tunis2008.com/

We are in the process of structuring the programme within the Congress. The organisers have allocated five (5) sessions for the commission’s meetings. These sessions can be concentrated in one day or spread into two days. While we could have themes for five sessions and twenty papers, we may have some themes that occupy two sessions. Details for the submission of abstracts are provided in the congress site. The organisation of commission sessions is based on 90 minute blocks, in which we insert four oral presentations followed each by a discussion.

The IGU executive committee encouraged all commissions to have, during the Tunis congress, one session related to Mediterranean Basin issues. I have already received the acceptance of Rassem Khamaisi, from the University of Haifa, to organise a session around the general topic of "Issues of Local Development in Mediterranean Countries". Possible themes are the following; nevertheless additional ideas could be well accepted:

1. What is local development and for whom

2.  The nature of local development in a mobile society

3. The role of talents and creative industries for local development in a globalising economy

4. Issues of Local Development in Mediterranean countries

Early concerns have been expressed regarding the cost of registration, and the risk that this may seriously affect the number of participants. The IGU Executive has recently discussed the matters with the organisers and my understanding is that there will be some reduction in the registration fees.

We asked the organisers to organise for the commission a two-day field trip. The excursion proposed is the Sahel region of Tunisia (Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia), a program that has to be confirmed. The excursion will take place immediately after the congress. We need a minimal number of participants in order to reduce the costs. We may try to run the field trip as a joint project with another commission.

I insert here a short report written by Lex Chalmers the chairman of the IGU-Commission for Geographic Education who visited Tunis and the Congress venue. This report adds some useful information.

Lex Chalmers report on Tunis as a venue: I spent five days in Tunis in April this year, and I provide some comments below that might be helpful. I suggest that language is not a great problem; I managed with very limited French as most people had a reasonable level of English (apart from the marche central and medina). Personal safety is also no more threatened than in any urban area; we moved around extensively on foot and on the TGM (railway). Taxis are cheap, but we were bullied about fares more than once, despite what was on the meter.

Accommodation is an issue; my April 2007 preference was for a downtown hotel, and the Abu Nawas was excellent and not expensive, but it is not on offer in August 2008. The prices quoted are much more than we paid. If you are inclined to work through the dozens of internet re-sellers, you may be able to pick up a package (European out and back) flight and hotel for the same price that you will end up paying through the Congress site. My August 2008 preference would be for the hotels removed from the city (sadly), as the three star hotels are accurately rated - some of the rooms we saw were a little stale and unappealing. On the other hand the Garmmarth and La Marsa hotels were spacious, close to Le Kram, light, modern and on the beach front - check their web sites.  The Organisers offer minibuses and the TGM is not far away. The Le Kram venue is impressive, and it seems from the documentation that our hosts will be providing a high level of support and activities for registrants; Le Kram is a very, very big facility

We want to have an idea how many of those receiving this newsletter intend to participate in the congress, how many intend to present a paper and how many intend to participate in the field trip. This will give us an early idea about the interest in the congress and allow us to be in a better position regarding the commission’s activities. Please inform Michael Sofer (soferm1@mail.biu.ac.il) whether you plan to attend the congress.

I would like to consult with you what should be the main topic of the 2009 commission’s annual conference in Warsaw. A tentative topic appears in the commission’s activities timetable below. This meeting is organised by Jerzy Banski who has already prepared a draft of the program.

The updated timetable of the Commission on Local Development activities: 2008-2010

Year	Month	Place	Comments	Theme
2008	25-29 August	Tunis	IGU International Congress; Possibly - a pre-congress meeting in Tunis	A range of topics shown above  in this newsletter
2009	July / September	Warsaw	Commission annual meeting	Poverty-reduction through local development
2010	The dates of IGU regional conference: 11/12-15/16 July	Tel Aviv / or elsewhere in Israel	IGU regional conference	To be decided

4. Relevant information

The 31st IGC, Tunis, 2008 - for details see http://www.agt.org.tn/Cong2008_fr.htm

If this site is not available please try:

http://www.igu-net.org/uk/news_and_events/tunisia2008.html

The registration form is available on the site as well.

For IGU updates check the Home of Geography website:

http://www.homeofgeography.org/

Commission's web site located at: http://www.biu.ac.il/soc/ge/igucomld/

For IGU updates check the Home of Geography website http://www.homeofgeography.org/

Please spread this news among all those persons you might think may have interest to take part in the LD commission’s sessions in Tunis. You are invited to offer your own papers. “Local Development” is certainly grounded in economic theory and regional development, but our interest is also very much into issues of spatial unevenness, governance, infrastructure, social policy, and resource management. Papers related to these issues are welcome.

I am currently gathering information for our July Newsletter including all the current conference updates. Could you please send information to me for the next newsletter? I will be sending the newsletter to everyone early in July.

I hope we will have fruitful years ahead!

Michael Sofer,

Chairman, IGU Commission on Local Development