Konferenz der International Geographical Union vom 05.-07.10.2022 in Osnabrück

The upcoming International Geographical Union (IGU) - Commission on ‘The Dynamics of Economic Spaces’ (CDES) Conference “Reshaping Economic Geography in times of Risk, Uncertainty and Crisis”, will take place from October 5-7 at the Institute of Geography of Osnabrück University.

Climate change, trade disputes, violent conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that spatialised economic interactions are risky and fragile. At the same time, these moments of crises pushed new ways of economic exchange, such as the digitalization of work and production and a higher focus on climate-sensitive production and consumption. As a result, individuals, organizations, sectors and institutions at regional, national and global level are and will be confronted with the need to respond to these uncertainties and dynamics.

In Economic Geography, significant work on resilience, adaptation, path development, innovation and sustainable transition has emerged in the last decade. But how can existing theories and concepts in Economic Geography provide answers to this contemporary and future world and where is there a need to rethink Economic Geography research?

The 2022 IGU-CDES conference aims to generate debate on existing theories and concepts in addressing risks, uncertainties and crises that are potentially reshaping the (globalized) economy, and to stir discussion on the need to rethink or develop new concepts in Economic Geography.
We welcome papers that cover spatialized economic dimensions of risks, uncertainties and crises for all regions of the world. Papers may examine topics including, but are not restricted to:

• Conceptualization and assessment of risk, uncertainty or crises in economic geography
• Impact of risks and uncertainties on corporate strategies including (dis-)investment decisions
• Resilience, adaptation and/or mitigation strategies by individuals, firms or organizations
• Reconfiguration of global value chain / global production networks (e.g. reshoring, rightshoring, regionalization, de-/recoupling)
• The role of uncertainty and risks in innovation processes Opportunities and risks of digitalisation transformation for labour, companies and regions
• Long-term strategies and policies in dealing with future risks (e.g. pandemics, supply chain disruption, political dynamics and environmental change)

The presenters are intended to highlight in their paper how economic geographic theories and concepts need to be rethought and, at best, to show where further research is needed.

Please send your abstract including 4-6 keywords (max. 250 words) and a short paper of up to 4 pages to geographie@uni-osnabrueck.de by 20 June 2022. The short paper should include research aim, methods, major (preliminary) research results. Please include in your submission also authors’ names, occupation, email address and affiliation.