Call for papers – Rural Transformations in Troubled Times: A Policy Decade in Review

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by John Devlin, 24/01/2013

International Comparative Rural Policy Studies 10th Anniversary Conference June 22-23, 2013 Bertinoro, Italy

The International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Summer Institute in Bertinoro Italy marks the 10th anniversary of ICRPS. To celebrate this event a one day conference on comparative rural policy will be convened on June 22 at the mid-point of the summer institute. Participants, resource persons, and faculty who have attended ICRPS events over the past decade are cordially invited to attend and participate. We want to share experience, renew contacts and reflect upon the past and future of rural policy and on ICRPS itself. We invite papers and presentations on your current rural practice or research.

The list of topics is open but should be relevant to ICRPS, and certainly can include the range of issues covered in the various ICRPS Summer Institutes. A suggestive list would include:

  • Rural and regional- territorial economic development
  • Rural policies and sustainability
  • Sustainable rural communities
  • Energy and renewable energy
  • Water and waste management
  • Agriculture, food systems and food networks
  • Local government – centralisation and decentralisation
  • Incomes policy
  • Education
  • Culture
  • Social policy and inequality
  • Local and regional innovation systems
  • Rural Services Migration and immigration
  • Rural-urban Interactions
  • Cross boundary policies

We would be interested to hear country experiences as well as comparative analyses. Where possible, several countries will be represented on each presentation panel. We invite 250 word abstracts indicating the topic of your proposed presentation. Please forward your abstracts to John Devlin via email jdevlin”at”uoguelph.ca before 1 March 2013. Abstracts will be reviewed by the conference organizing committee and confirmation of acceptance will be made by 1 April 2013. If you do not wish to make a presentation but would like to catch up on current rural policy topics and renew ICRPS contacts then please plan to attend. You will meet colleagues and a new cohort of emerging rural policy scholars. The conference will be followed by an evening social event. A field trip for the following day is being organized.

All participants will be able to stay in the wonderful University of Bologna Residential Centre of Bertinoro which each year welcomes more than 20,000 people for residential training courses, seminars, work meetings, conventions, study and research initiatives. The centre is located in three large historic buildings in a single complex on a site above the ancient town and has a wonderful panoramic view. Bertinoro lies between Forlì and Cesena (about 50 miles south-east of Bologna). Bertinoro is close to many splendid locations such as the Republic of San Marino, Gradara, San Leo, Urbino and is 20 kilometers to the Adriatic Sea. It can also be a base for visiting some of the better-known Italian locations such as Bologna, Ravenna, and Firenze. For those with a vacation in mind the conference could be an excellent beginning or capstone to an engaging Italian tour.

For more information on Bertinoro please visit:

http://www.ceub.it/default.asp?id=346 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertinoro

Updates on the conference will be posted to the ICRPS LinkedIn Group. If you have not joined the group we encourage you to do so. Go to www.linkedin.com and sign up. Then search for the International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Consortium.

Please join us.

On behalf of the ICRPS 10th Anniversary Conference Organizing Committee,

Dr.John F. Devlin, Associate Professor School of Environmental Design and Rural Development University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1

Download the pdf version here: Call-for-Papers-ICRPS-2013-Anniversary-Conference