Conference on Population Geography

CALL FOR PAPERS

Population Geography:
Inter-Generational Patterns and Processes

Third Biannual British-Irish Population Conference 18-19 April 2012

Hosted by Queen's University Belfast under the auspices of the Population Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG

Papers are invited for a British-Irish population geography conference on inter-generational patterns and processes. Whilst there is a focus on the UK and Ireland, papers that address the broad conference theme in other geographical contexts will be most welcome.

Fertility, mortality and migration, and their respective sub-components, have recorded temporal and spatial changes with each successive generation. The magnitude of change to these core components of population geography has arguably been greatest during recent decades and have obvious policy relevance. Established patterns have and continue to evolve with the causes and implications increasingly found to be multifaceted in nature. National fertility rates at, or just below the, population replacement level are accompanied by increases among specific groups, such as the number of teenage pregnancies and births occurring outside marriage. Births to women aged under 30 years have been declining, women on average are having fewer children and increasing numbers remain childless. Mortality too has declined accompanied by increasing life expectancy. The numbers aged 65 and over, 75 and over, and 85 and over are all projected to increase significantly so that demographic ageing is set to become the dominant demographic trend for the foreseeable future. Migration patterns have also evolved. Changing internal migration patterns and processes (across the lifecourse) are accompanied by increasingly complex immigration flows involving diverse origins and motivations (students, casual labour, family unification, professionals working for multinational companies, and those escaping strife and difficulty elsewhere). Second and third generation (and return) migrants also represent an increasing share of national populations. Collectively these inter-generational patterns and processes are highly variable at different geographical scales with similarities and differences noted between the UK and Ireland. Cutting across all are issues of society, community, family, health and well-being. The broad theme of inter-generational patterns and processes therefore provides a context for exploring and developing existing and new theoretical perspectives on population geography and its core components using traditional and new (such as, longitudinal studies) data sources.

Papers are invited on the following interlinked population geography themes with a particular focus on inter-generational change:

i. population patterns and processes

ii. lifecourse perspectives

iii. life expectancy and ageing

iv. implications for society, community, family, health and well-being.

Abstracts (max. 300 words) are invited by Tuesday 20th December 2011. These should be submitted to bipopgeog@qub.ac.uk and include full contact details for the correspondence author. Notification of abstract acceptance will be sent by 31st January 2012. The conference programme (including additional information) along with on-line conference registration will be available throughout February and March 2012. This will be accessible via a web page conference link at

http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/TheInstituteofSpatialandEnvironmentalPlanning/bipconf2012/

Keynote Address: Professor Irene Hardill (Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Social Sciences at Northumbria University).

The conference opens with registration accompanied by tea/coffee on Wednesday 18th April 2012 at 10.30 in the Canada Room (Queen's University Belfast). This will be followed by the keynote address from 11.30 until lunch. The conference closes mid-afternoon on Thursday 19th April (with an optional field excursion Belfast: Population Matters!).

Conference Fee: £75 (includes a conference dinner on the evening of Wednesday 18th April, and lunch and tea/coffee on both Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th April). The optional field excursion will cost no more than £10 per person and is dependent on sufficient numbers.

Conference Organisers:

Darren Smith, Chair, RGS-IBG Population Geography Research Group D.P.Smith@lboro.ac.uk

Aileen Stockdale, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast a.stockdale@qub.ac.uk

Gemma Catney, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast g.catney@qub.ac.uk



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