IAG Study Group Annual Report Study Group: Rural Geographers Studies Group (RGSG) Report 2015/2016 Convenor: Dr Meg Sherval – Senior Lecturer, Discipline of Geography & Environmental Studies, School of Environment & Life Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW. 1. The purpose of the group has delivered on the purpose for Study groups in the following ways: a. Development of IAG Study Group members’ specialist knowledge and expertise through a community of practice. How? To support emerging research strengths in Rural geography, the study group facilitated 3 sessions at the 2015 IAG Conference at the Australian National University, Canberra . The sessions were entitled: ‘Rural Futures’, ‘Rural Mobilities’ and ‘Natural resource management & land use change’. RGSG members also spoke in other themed sessions on Environmental Governance, Legal Geography and the Extractive industries. Many of the members of this group are also members of the Legal Geographers Study Group. On February 12 -­‐13, 2015, they attended and presented at a 2 day Australian Legal Geography Symposium hosted by UTS Sydney and supported by the IAG. Members from both study groups collaborated on producing a special edition for Geographical Research that was published in November ,2015. The RGSG warmly thanks the IAG for their ongoing support. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. Focused on collegiality and mentoring among IAG members. How? In 2015, our newest member Lauren Rickards from RMIT attended and presented at the RGS/IBG at the University of Exeter and also met with fellow British rural geographers where she discussed the research interests of our study group. Meg Sherval will be attending the RGS/IBG in London in 2016 and will continue this conservation and try to make stronger links between the two groups of scholars. In Australia, the relationship between the Rural and Legal Geography Study Groups continues to flourish as mentioned above. In 2016, 28-­‐29 January -­‐the Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (IES) group at UNSW will be hosting the annual IAG Legal Geography Study Group workshop entitled ‘Legal Geographies, Legal Pluralisms’. This is a combined group with members from both study groups attending. Further joint publications from this event are planned. Also in 2016, the RGSG is planning to sponsor a post-­‐conference field trip through rural South Australia. This field trip will be open to all IAG members and will focus on issues such as changes to productivist landscapes, amenity, geo-­‐political landscapes and debates, indigenous identity and country. c. Development of new directions in the discipline of geography. How? In late 2014, the Ashgate publication entitled – Rural Change in Australia: population, economy and environment edited by Rae Dufty-­‐Jones and John Connell was released. As mentioned in the last report, 13 of the RGSG members were involved in the writing of this book. In 2015, a combined special edition of Geographical Research was published as an outcome of the Australian Legal Geography Symposium at UTS Sydney. In 2016, further publications are expected to emerge from the UNSW workshop. Also, a special edition of Geoforum edited by member Robyn Mayes, based on papers presented in the ‘Extraction, Community and Identity ‘ sessions at the 2015 IAG + invited papers, is in train.
Also this year, study group member – Frank Vanclay and co-­‐author’s published another book on SIA. See: Vanclay, F., Esteves, A.M., Aucamp, I. & Franks, D. (2015) Social Impact Assessment: Guidance for Assessing and Managing the Social Impacts of Projects. Fargo ND, International Association for Impact Assessment. In 2016, from August to November, Meg Sherval will be on sabbatical in the Department of Geography at Durham University, UK (currently ranked 4 in the world). She will be working with Prof. Gavin Bridge and the ‘Culture-­‐ Economy-­‐Life’ research cluster on energy and resource governance. It is hoped that new research links and relations will be forged to extend her work and provide increased opportunities for combined geographical research and grants. Also in 2016, member Sonia Graham from UNSW will be running a workshop in Alberta, Canada on applying a transdisciplinary approach and systems approaches for sustainable weed management, an important component of farming in the Anthropocene. This will also expose some of the research interests of our study group to new international scholars. 2. The following events were held during the financial year, and were adequately advertised and outcomes communicated to members. Event Date Rural Geographers Study group AGM July 2015 Advertised (where, date) Outcomes Reported (Where, date) AON List, Study 2014/2015 Group List + Conf Annual Report website IAG Members/ Non-­‐members Attendance or participation Only 5 members attended as this was not adequately organised by Conference organisers & clashed with other group meetings* 5 members and 1 non member attended. UNSW Legal Geography Symposium IAG -­‐ Flinders Themed Sessions Jan, 2016 Rural Geographers Study group AGM July 2016 June/July 2016 AON List, Study Group List 2015/2016 Annual Report, IAG News IAG List, AON 2016/2017 List, Study Group Annual Report List + Conference website & Program IAG List, AON 2016/2017 List, Study Group Annual Report List + Conference website & Program Expected members from the RGSG = 3 Expected members 15-­‐20 12 non-­‐
members Expected 10-­‐15 members 4-­‐6 non-­‐
members * The discussion and suggestions for the 2015 IAG that occurred at the AGM were relayed to all members via an email after the IAG conference. It has also been suggested to organisers of the 2016 IAG Conference that study group meetings might occur over 2 days with the most popular/largest groups being on different days to increase attendance and support. 3. The study group’s membership list is attached. The number of members has increased/decreased/remained static in the last year (circle one). Increased by 2 in 2015. Rural Studies group members + email addresses 2015 Convener – Meg Sherval , [email protected] Aleric Maude, [email protected] Alison McIntosh, [email protected] Ally Lankester , [email protected] Amanda Davies, [email protected] Andrew Gorman-­‐Murray, a.gorman-­‐[email protected] Ann Pomeroy – [email protected] Anna de Jong – [email protected] Anthony Hogan, [email protected] Anthony Kent -­‐ [email protected] Barbara Pini, [email protected] Bill Prtichard, [email protected] Chris Gibson, [email protected] Deborah Che, [email protected] Ellie Biggs -­‐ [email protected] Fiona McKenzie, [email protected] Fran Rolley, [email protected] Francis Markham – [email protected] Frank Vanclay, [email protected] George Curry, [email protected] Helen Feist, [email protected] Holly Giblin –[email protected] Jim Walmsley, [email protected] John Connell, [email protected] John Holmes, [email protected] Karen Eyles, [email protected] Kim Crameri – [email protected] Lauren Rickards [email protected] NEW 2015 Lesley Crowe-­‐Delaney, lesley.crowe-­‐[email protected] Mark Evans, [email protected],, Matthew Tonts, [email protected] Neil Argent, [email protected] Phil McManus, [email protected] Rachel Chapman – [email protected] Rachel Williams – [email protected] Rae Dufty-­‐Jones, r.dufty-­‐[email protected] Rebecca Cross, [email protected], Robert Gale, [email protected] Robyn Bartel, [email protected] Robyn Mayes -­‐ [email protected] Roy Jones, [email protected] Sarah Rogers – [email protected] NEW 2015 Sonia Graham – [email protected] Stewart Williams, [email protected] Tiffany Morrison -­‐ [email protected] Tom Barratt – [email protected] Tom Measham, [email protected] Tony Sorensen, [email protected] Warwick Murray, [email protected] 49 members (2 New). 4. I have communicated with the study group members in the following ways in the last year. Type eg email, newsletter, Date Outcome telephone Email communication – re 14/01/15; 28/01/15; Follow up on suggestions made at group updates for the IAG 11/03/15; 25/3/15; 2015 AGM -­‐ Canberra. Newsletter, 2015 IAG 23/06/14; 24/06/15; Conference and issues 10/09/15; 11/09/15; discussed at 2015 AGM. Email communications re: 25/11/15; 08/12/15; 2016 IAG Sessions ideas, 2016 IAG 10/12/15; 11/12/15; organisation & convening duties 15/12/15 (thus far) 5. In addition, the group is applying for funding from the IAG to assist with costs of running the SA fieldtrip. 6. In the coming year, the group are considering undertaking the following activities: We will be progressing ongoing publishing with the Legal Geography study group and fostering relations through our sessions at the 2016 IAG Conference and the post-­‐conference field trip. ______ Convenor Dr Meg Sherval Date: 15/12/2015 ____________________________________Accepted by IAG President