NZGS Conference 2020
25 - 27 Nov 2020 Wellington
About the conference

For the 2022 version of the NZGS conference hosted in Christchurch visit this link

Welcome

The School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington will be hosting the biennial New Zealand Geographical Society Conference from 25 - 27 November 2020 at Victoria University of Wellington. The conference will commence with pre-conference workshops and field trips on Tuesday 24 November and conference sessions will run from 25 - 27 November. The conference theme is Embracing Diversity: Expanding Geographies.


We're really pleased to share two articles developed out of keynote presentations at the NZGS 2020 conference: That which feeds: sacred solidarities and roots of resistance by Emalani Case and Climate change, COVID-19 and the co-production of injustices: a feminist reading of over-lapping crises by Farhana Sultana

Keynote speakers

Farhana Sultana

Syracuse University

Farhana is Associate Professor at the Department of Geography and Research Director for Environmental Collaboration and Conflict at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She is interested in nature-society relationships, political ecology, critical development studies, feminist theories, urban studies, climate change, water governance, social justice, human rights, citizenship and South Asia. She has a background in the natural and social sciences, policy experience, has lived and worked on three continents, is a post-colonial subject and scholar and has a lifelong commitment to critical praxis and social justice. Farhana is the recipient of the 2019 Glenda Laws award from the AAG.

Tina Ngata

Ngāti Porou

A Ngati Porou wāhine and mother of two, Tina’s work involves advocacy for environmental, Indigenous and human rights. This includes local, national and international initiatives that highlight the role of settler colonialism in issues such as climate change and waste pollution, and promote Indigenous conservation as best practice for a globally sustainable future. Tina has been a leading voice in pushing for action on plastic waste that tackles the root of the problem, empowers communities, and avoids reproducing colonialism. She blogs as The Non-Plastic Māori, and is a staunch advocate of Indigenous science.

James Renwick

Victoria University of Wellington

James is Professor and Head of School at the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington. James has nearly four decades’ experience in weather and climate research. His main field is large-scale climate variability and climate change, including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle, the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, and the impacts of climate variability and change on the Pacific, New Zealand and the Antarctic. James was a lead author for the last two Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and is a Convening Lead Author for the new 6th IPCC Assessment. He was recently awarded the Prime Minister’s 2018 prize for Science Communication.

Geoffrey Caruso

University of Luxembourg and LISER

Geoffrey is Professor in Urban Analysis and Modelling at the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER). His research is devoted to understanding spatial patterns and dynamics with specific foci on urban forms and residential choice, their impact on transport and the environment, the role of green space, and the integration of geosimulation and urban economics.

Emalani Case

Victoria University of Wellington

Emalani is a lecturer in Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. She coordinates core Pacific Studies courses focusing on Pacific heritages, histories in Polynesia, and the role of artists and activists in reframing Pacific societies. As a Hawaiian woman, activist, writer and dancer, she is deeply engaged in issues of indigenous rights and representation, dietary colonialism and food sovereignty, political independence, and environmental and social justice. Her current research focuses on Hawaiian articulations of identity and nationalism, sovereignty, and decolonizing indigenous minds and bodies. She is from Waimea, Hawaiʻi.

Jo Sharp

University of St Andrews

Jo is a Professor of Geography in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She is a feminist political geographer with varied research interests including postcolonialism, health, and critical geopolitics. Much of her early work sought to extend what is considered to be the geopolitical beyond the formal spheres of statecraft to include popular culture and the everyday, and this has continued through her more recent postcolonial work on subaltern geopolitics. More recently, Jo has worked on environment, gender and health projects including interdisciplinary research to evaluate the key drivers of zoonotic disease (those which are transmitted from animals to humans) in northern Tanzania, and their impacts.

Important dates

2 July 2020 - Registration now open
1 Sept 2020 - Presenter registration deadline
24 Nov 2020 - Pre-conference workshops and field trips
25 - 27 Nov 2020 - NZGS Conference

Programme

Conference programme and information on pre-conference events & proposed sessions - please click below.

Programme

Pre-conference events

Proposed sessions

Registration

Registration fees
Fees are in New Zealand dollars (incl. GST) and include: Conference sessions, morning/afternoon teas and lunches, online networking spaces and discussion fora.

Registration Type Standard Online
General member* $300.00 $150.00
General non-member $375.00 $175.00
Student member* $175.00 $50.00
Student non-member $225.00 $100.00
Day registration $100.00 $50.00

*NZGS Member number required during the registration process for proof of membership.
Student registration fees apply to all students and currently unemployed early careers.

Venue

The conference will be held at Victoria University of Wellington on Kelburn Campus in Wellington, New Zealand.

Conference venue

Contact us at VUW

nzgsconference2020@gmail.com

Dr Mirjam Schindler, Dr Marcela Palomino-Schalscha, Dr Amanda Thomas, Pascarn Dickinson