Conference Sessions

13th HGS International Conference · 27–28 November 2026 · Athens37 sessions

Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Approaches in Geography for Sustainability Challenges

Organizers

Eirini Skrimizea (Harokopio University of Athens), Evangelia Drakou (Harokopio University of Athens)

General Topic

1. Geography: Theory, Methods, Education and Practice

Abstract

Addressing contemporary sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, socio-environmental injustices, and governance tensions increasingly requires integrative forms of knowledge production that transcend disciplinary boundaries and connect science with policy and practice. Geography, positioned at the interface of natural and social sciences and strongly rooted in spatial thinking, is uniquely suited to contribute to these integrative efforts. This session aims to critically reflect on the role of Geography as a bridge discipline in the context of sustainability science and ongoing socio-ecological transformations. It invites contributions that explore interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches in geographical research and practice, including methodological innovations, collaborative knowledge production, and engagement with actors beyond academia. The session further explores the opportunities and challenges of advancing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work within the Greek academic and professional context, including institutional conditions, educational practices, and emerging research collaborations. It seeks to create a space for dialogue among scholars and practitioners working across physical and human geography, spatial planning, conservation, and sustainability-related fields, with particular interest in sustainability challenges emerging in island and coastal territories, rural and mountainous landscapes, and other regions experiencing intensified socio-ecological change. The format will combine short presentations with a moderated roundtable discussion, fostering reflexive exchange on methodological choices, practical experiences, and future directions for Geography in an era of complex sustainability challenges.

Spatializing Urban Vulnerability in Times of Crisis: Energy Poverty, Housing Deprivation, Homelessness, and Displacement

Organizers

Antigoni Faka (Harokopio University of Athens), Angeliki Paidakaki (Harokopio University of Athens)

General Topic

1. Geography: Theory, Methods, Education and Practice

Abstract

In the current era of intersecting housing, climate, energy, and refugee crises, urban inequalities are intensifying and becoming increasingly spatially concentrated. Escalating housing costs, shortages of affordable dwellings, deteriorating housing stock, extreme climate events, volatile energy prices, and large-scale displacement linked to conflict and environmental change are placing unprecedented pressure on cities. These dynamics deepen territorial disparities and heighten competition over housing and infrastructure. Energy poverty, housing deprivation, homelessness, and forced displacement are not isolated phenomena but overlapping expressions of structural urban vulnerability. This session brings together geographical perspectives to examine how these crises intersect across urban space and scale. We conceptualize energy poverty (inadequate access to essential energy services), housing deprivation (overcrowding, substandard housing, affordability stress), homelessness, and refugee accommodation challenges as interconnected dimensions of spatialized injustice shaped by uneven development, infrastructural geographies, migration governance, and housing market dynamics. We invite contributions employing quantitative spatial methods, such as GIS, spatial statistics, hotspot and cluster analysis, spatial regression, small-area estimation, and critical mapping approaches—and/or qualitative methodologies, including interviews, ethnography, participatory research, and policy analysis, to investigate the co-location, lived experiences, and cumulative impacts of these vulnerabilities. The session seeks to connect, combine, and/or place in dialogue quantitative spatial analysis and qualitative approaches with critical urban and political-economic perspectives, demonstrating how these methodological and theoretical lenses, individually and in conjunction, can inform debates on energy justice, climate adaptation, migration governance, housing rights, and equitable urban futures.

Health Inequalities Across Space and Time: A Historical Demographic Perspective from the 19th Century to the Present

Organizers

Pavlos Baltas (National Centre for Social Research)

General Topic

1. Geography: Theory, Methods, Education and Practice

Abstract

Spatial inequalities in health and mortality constitute one of the most persistent and deeply rooted challenges faced by societies over the long term. From the nineteenth century to the present, differences in exposure to disease, vulnerability, and survival have been closely linked to place, social conditions, and unequal access to resources. Recent experiences, including the COVID 19 pandemic, have again shown that health crises do not affect populations uniformly but tend to amplify pre existing spatial and social inequalities. This session is situated at the intersection of historical demography and historical geography, focusing on the spatial dimensions of health inequalities from the early nineteenth century to the present. It treats mortality, causes of death, and health outcomes as historically embedded and spatially differentiated processes, shaped by social structure, urbanisation, environmental conditions, and institutional arrangements. Rather than viewing epidemics as exceptional moments, the session considers them as critical episodes that reveal longer term patterns of inequality across space. Particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of health inequalities across multiple geographical scales. Contributions may examine differences between countries and regions, contrasts within cities and between neighbourhoods, as well as spatial variations observed during epidemic outbreaks. The session welcomes studies that explore how inequalities in health and mortality have evolved over time, how they have been reproduced or transformed across places, and how spatial context has influenced demographic outcomes. The session invites empirically and theoretically informed contributions drawing on a wide range of sources and methods, including historical mortality data, causes of death records (at aggregate or individual level), archival material, historical GIS, and comparative approaches. Papers combining quantitative and qualitative perspectives, or linking historical analysis with contemporary debates on health inequalities, are particularly encouraged.

Looking for (the) place in intersecting urban displacements

Organizers

Eva Papatzani (National Centre for Social Research)

General Topic

1. Geography: Theory, Methods, Education and Practice

Abstract

Contemporary cities are shaped by multiple, intersecting, and simultaneous forms of displacement. Geographical scholarship has long engaged with displacement, albeit through distinct disciplinary trajectories. Urban geography has examined displacement primarily as a consequence of urban restructuring, housing financialization, gentrification and touristification, processes that generate the involuntary relocation of residents from their neighbourhoods. In parallel, forced migration studies informed by geographical perspectives have conceptualised displacement as both constitutive of the refugee subject and as an ongoing condition experienced by displaced populations in cities of arrival and settlement. This literature highlights the role of migration regimes, accommodation (and eviction) policies, and formal and informal everyday practices - i.e. of racial banishment - in shaping ongoing displacement. Bringing these approaches into dialogue reveals displacement as a multifaceted process that unfolds simultaneously through diverse mechanisms within urban contexts. Urban displacements are produced across different interrelated scales, characterized by relational temporalities and spatialities, and concern diverse subjects. At the core of these processes lies the rupture of relationships between people and place; a process of un-homing and unsettling of relations, encounters and practices of familiarity and belonging in situ; a process contributing to the broader reconfiguration of urban space. This session seeks to foreground the centrality of place in the context of multiple and intersecting displacements, both empirically and theoretically. Although place has long been a contested concept, it re-emerges as critical in addressing contemporary sociospatial challenges. Place remains central even when it appears to be 'lost' through the temporality and rupture of displacement or undermined by forced mobility and relocation. The session aims to explore how place(s) are reshaped in displacements, how displacement is experienced in everyday life, and how negotiations and contestations over place(s), as well as practices of emplacement function as counter-processes sustaining sociospatial relations at both individual and collective levels.

Landscapes and seascapes at the edge: boundary zones under global environmental change

Organizers

Evangelis Drakou (Harokopio University of Athens), Stefanos Boutsios (Harokopio University of Athens), George Lampropoulos (Harokopio University of Athens), George Kefalas (Harokopio University of Athens), Konstantina Apostolopoulou (Harokopio University of Athens), Yannis Kefalas (Harokopio University of Athens)

General Topic

2. Physical Geography, Climate Change, Coastal Systems and Natural Hazards

Abstract

Under the ongoing global environmental change, terrestrial, coastal, and marine environments are changing. Boundary zones—such as alpine and latitudinal treelines, coastal and intertidal zones, estuaries, and small to medium-sized island systems—are particularly sensitive to these changes. Placed at ecological, geomorphological, and socio-environmental boundaries, such "edge-scapes" are often disproportionately exposed to climatic shifts, sea-level rise, extreme events, and human-induced pressures. At the same time, edge-scapes function as early-warning systems and sensitive indicators of broader planetary change. Treeline shifts, coastal retreat, coral reef degradation, wetland loss, and island geomorphological change often provide measurable signals of systemic transformations. This session seeks to examine landscapes and seascapes located at ecological and spatial boundaries as critical sites of environmental transformation. We invite contributions that explore how processes such as warming, erosion, biodiversity shifts, forest-to-shrubland conversion, desertification, land abandonment, resource extraction, or hazard intensification manifest in these boundary environments. Particular attention will be given on understanding how the observed changes relate to scale, insularity, boundness of these edge-scapes, as well as to the ways in which edge conditions amplify or mediate environmental impacts. By bringing together perspectives from physical geography, landscape ecology, human geography and island studies, this session aims to collect evidence on the dynamics, risks, and adaptive capacities of landscapes and seascapes at the edge, while starting an interdisciplinary dialogue on their implications for landscape planning and spatial decision-making. We welcome empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions that critically engage with boundary environments as sites of vulnerability, resilience, and transformation.

Biogeography & Spatial Ecology

Organizers

Thomas Tscheulin (University of the Aegean)

General Topic

2. Physical Geography, Climate Change, Coastal Systems and Natural Hazards

Abstract

We invite researchers to submit their latest findings to the Biogeography & Spatial Ecology session. In an era of unprecedented global change, understanding the mechanisms that dictate the distribution, abundance, and interactions of organisms across space and time has never been more critical. This session serves as a multidisciplinary forum for exploring the fundamental processes—historical, evolutionary, and environmental—that shape the living world. We welcome contributions that push the boundaries of spatial theory and application. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: • Phylogeography and Historical Biogeography: Deciphering the legacy of past climate shifts and geological events. • Species Distribution Modeling (SDM): Innovative approaches to predicting range shifts under future climate scenarios. • Landscape Ecology: Spatial patterns and how they influence ecological processes. • Macroecology: Identifying general laws of biodiversity and metabolic scaling across broad spatial scales. • Conservation Biogeography: Applying spatial frameworks to design protected areas and manage invasive species. Whether your work utilizes remote sensing, complex spatial statistics, or extensive field surveys, we encourage you to share your insights.

Geomorphological Processes and Landscape Dynamics

Organizers

Konstantinos Tsanakas (Harokopio University of Athens), Christos Pennos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Efthimios Karymbalis (Harokopio University of Athens)

General Topic

2. Physical Geography, Climate Change, Coastal Systems and Natural Hazards

Abstract

Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape the Earth's surface over time. Positioned at the intersection of geology, geography, and environmental science, it examines how landscapes evolve under the influence of tectonic forces, climate dynamics, biological activity, and human intervention. From mountain environments to coastal zones, geomorphology investigates the processes shaping the physical framework of our planet. Recent advances in geospatial technologies, such as remote sensing, GIS-based terrain analysis, and high-resolution topographic modeling, have contributed significantly to improving the accuracy and scope of geomorphological research. These tools enable researchers to quantify landform changes with precision and to reconstruct past environmental conditions. By integrating field observations, laboratory analysis, computational modeling, and geomorphological mapping, geomorphologists are better equipped to understand hazard dynamics such as landslides, flooding, and coastal retreat. In this session, we invite submissions that explore endogenic processes such as crustal deformation, tectonic movements, and volcanism, alongside Earth surface processes including weathering, erosion, sediment transport, and deposition. In addition, contributions focusing on fluvial systems, karst landforms, glacial landscapes, coastal morphology, and arid-region geomorphology, highlighting how these environments respond to both natural variability and anthropogenic pressures, are particularly welcome. The session encourages contributions that apply innovative methodological approaches, present novel datasets, or demonstrate the integration of emerging technologies in the analysis of landscape evolution, geomorphological mapping, and geomorphic hazards, as well as studies addressing interdisciplinary applications and practical implications for risk assessment and environmental management. This session will also address the growing concept of the Anthropocene, emphasizing how human activities now function as a dominant geomorphic agent. Bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, this session aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and promote innovative approaches to landscape analysis. Participants will gain a comprehensive perspective on how geomorphic knowledge supports environmental management, infrastructure development, and long-term ecological sustainability.

Energy, Space and Inequalities: Exploring Pathways toward a Just Energy Transition

Organizers

Ferenaki Vatavali (National Centre for Social Research)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

Energy is fundamental to social and economic life. As a basic good and a prerequisite for well-being, access to clean and affordable energy is central to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to addressing the climate crisis and broader social justice challenges. Yet energy is produced, distributed and consumed in profoundly uneven ways across territories and social groups. This session invites contributions that critically examine the geographical dimensions of energy systems, infrastructures, services and policies, with particular attention to housing, and the inequalities they generate and reproduce. We are especially interested in how neoliberal policies have reshaped energy landscapes, transforming energy from a public service into a financialized commodity. These processes have intensified energy poverty, housing precarity and uneven access to essential services across multiple spatial scales, from the dwelling and neighbourhood to the city, region and beyond. We also welcome analyses of how individuals, households and communities respond to the evolving energy landscape. This includes shifts in everyday practices, emerging forms of saving, sharing or producing energy, new collective arrangements, and changing perceptions of energy as cost, risk or right. Such lived experiences reveal how energy transitions are negotiated in homes and cities, how they generate socio-spatial conflicts, and how they may open transformative pathways toward more just futures. Particular emphasis is placed on dwellings' energy efficiency and upgrading policies. While retrofitting is central to decarbonization and climate adaptation, the capacity to improve housing performance is highly uneven. Energy renovations may reduce emissions while producing new socio-spatial disparities, leaving vulnerable groups exposed to high costs and inadequate thermal comfort. We welcome contributions addressing energy inequalities, housing and energy efficiency, and the socio-spatial dynamics of energy transitions. This session aims to foster critical dialogue on advancing equitable, climate-responsive and socially just energy futures for our neighborhoods, cities and peripheries.

Unmapped geographies: Contemporary Socio-Spatial Transformations in Thessaloniki

Organizers

Loukas Triantis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Evangelia Athanassiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Charis Christodoulou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

In recent years, Thessaloniki has been undergoing profound socio-spatial transformations. The city's longstanding and multilayered geography intersects with contemporary social, spatial, and environmental transformations within an increasingly fluid and globalised context. Thessaloniki is changing in a fragmented, yet arguably fundamental ways. However, many of its recent and ongoing transformations remain blurred, while its nascent geographies are still unmapped and poorly discussed. This session seeks to shed light on emerging patterns of socio-spatial and environmental inequalities; processes of economic and productive restructuring; lack of housing affordability and the transformations of the built environment; energy/green transitions and infrastructure development; shifting dynamics of urban tourism and real estate markets; suburbanisation trends; and property-led large-scale urban projects. These transformations carry significant social, environmental, and political implications. The session welcomes contributions across multiple geographical scales –from the neighbourhood to the metropolis – and from various disciplines, including urban geography, urban studies, architecture and planning, as well as the social, economic, and political sciences. It aims to critically discuss contemporary socio-spatial transformations while bringing together researchers working on Thessaloniki. Furthermore, it seeks to expand and enrich research produced within the framework of Thessaloniki Social Atlas –a dynamic digital platform that collects, presents, and disseminates topics concerning the city's evolving geographies.

Urban Micro-segregation, segregation at the micro scale

Organizers

Stavros Spyrellis (National Centre for Social Research), Thomas Maloutas (National Centre for Social Research & Harokopio Uiversity of Athens), Robert Musil (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

Urban micro-segregation – segregation below the neighbourhood level – is a neglected yet emerging topic in segregation studies. It has long been overlooked due to the traditional focus on neighbourhood-scale analysis, but growing evidence from cities worldwide reveals social (ethnic and racial) hierarchies at the micro scale, such as within building blocks or apartment buildings. This evidence shows that social mix takes multiple forms with diverse social consequences, raising questions about how micro-scale hierarchies reproduce or alleviate inequalities. It also renews debates on the relationship between social and spatial proximity, highlighting that spatial closeness can generate both social bridges and barriers depending on policy and context. The proposed session seeks to advance evidence on urban micro-segregation structures and, in particular, their social effects. Contributions addressing forms such as vertical segregation within apartment blocks, distinctions between façade and back-street dwellings, or housing on main streets versus alleys—and their implications for inequality or discrimination—are welcome. The Panel aims to foster discussion of new and cutting-edge findings and invites papers addressing the following questions/topics: 1. Conceptual debate on the contradiction between micro-segregation and social mix. 2. Empirical insights on the patterns of microsegregation and its social implications within neighbourhoods. 3. Discussion on the urban context (school system, public space and infrastructure policies) that foster/dissolve social hierarchies and inequalities on the microscale. 4. Innovative methodological approaches to measure social proximity (and social distance) at the micro scale. 5. Implication for urban social, housing and planning strategies/policies focused on improving co-habitation and inclusiveness.

Municipal and Community Housing Observatories: monitoring mechanisms for democratic governance and urban justice

Organizers

Dimitra Siatitsa (National Technical University of Athens), Laura Colini (Università Iuav di Venezia), Stavros Spyrellis (National Centre for Social Research)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

Amid intensifying housing crises and widening socio-spatial inequalities, the need for systematic, transparent and publicly accessible housing data has become increasingly urgent. This session invites contributions that examine the role of local Housing Observatories as crucial infrastructures for monitoring housing systems and supporting equitable housing and urban policy. Housing observatories can provide open data, indicators and mappings on key dimensions of the housing question: market dynamics, affordability trends, the condition and availability of housing stock, as well as housing precarity, discrimination, exclusion and unmet needs. By consolidating fragmented datasets and developing coherent monitoring frameworks, such mechanisms can strengthen evidence-based policymaking at municipal, regional, and national levels. At the same time, housing observatories can function as democratic tools. Beyond informing decision making, they can enhance transparency in the housing sector, empower citizens and grassroots initiatives, support claim-making processes and contribute to alternative knowledge production. In doing so, they may help counterbalance the dominant economist and real-estate market–oriented discourses that shape contemporary housing policies. The session welcomes contributions that address housing observatories from multiple perspectives: policy frameworks across different governance levels; bottom-up, citizen-led or community-based initiatives; and hybrid institutional models. We also invite methodological reflections on the development of housing observatories, including available databases and sources, the construction of meaningful indicators, GIS and mapping tools, and the integration of quantitative and qualitative socio-economic and geographical analysis. By bringing together policy-oriented and methodological approaches, the session aims to foster a critical discussion on monitoring mechanisms as instruments for housing justice and socio-spatial equity.

Collective actions and social struggles for the right to the city and the commons, and their role in spatial planning

Organizers

Christy (Chryssanthi) Petropoulou (Univeristy of the Aegean), Naya Tselepi (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

This session will discuss the right to the city (as explored by Henri Lefebvre, David Harvey and Doreen Massey) and the city as commons (as discussed by Stavros Stavrides), in conversation with Holloway's social theory of cracks, and the debate on new social anticolonial movements and collective action for the commons, as explored by Silvia Federici, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, María Lugones and Raúl Zibechi. Inspired by anti-colonial, anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal approaches in critical geography and political ecology, the session will explore these themes. It includes critical pedagogical spatial approaches and actions, as well as empirical research in cities and regions around the world, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean and the Abya Yala Afro-Latin America. Priority will be given to action-based or participatory research, as well as theoretical approaches that incorporate field research.

Socio-spatial changes in the neighborhood scale: methodological and theoretical considerations

Organizers

Nikolina Myofa (Harokopio Univeristy of Athens), Iris Polyzou (National Technical University of Athens)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

The proposed panel focuses on the neighborhood as an adequate spatial scale for investigating socio-spatial change in the South European urban context, a context characterised by common specificities, such as the weak welfare state provisions, the limited public housing policies —historically substituted by familial support systems— and the high rate of homeownership as a mechanism of social reproduction. These characteristics have produced a socially and ethnically heterogeneous urban landscape, which we propose to further investigate through the scale of the neighborhood. The session proposes to discuss neighborhoods not as closed or bounded spatial entities, but rather as spaces of coexistence where multiple social and spatial dynamics intersect in the long term. Moreover, the session aims to emphasize on how the recent past shapes present-day processes. Since 2010, multiple crises and the subsequent austerity policies have profoundly affected South European cities, resulting in significant GDP losses, the privatization of public goods, and the decline of property values. For the case of Athens, in the post COVID-19 period, further substantial changes have taken place in central areas, particularly affecting housing and commercial land uses. In the housing sector, the touristification trends and the expansion of short-term rentals, alongside the increasing acquisition of apartments by foreign investors, affects the social composition of neighborhoods and puts pressure on property values. At the same time, shifts in commercial land uses have further transformed urban social structures, as the already declining retail activities are being replaced by enterprises catering primarily to tourists or short-term residents. Within this changing context, the session emphasizes the neighborhood scale as a key analytical lens, as it allows for an understanding of contemporary dynamics from the level of everyday practices to the macro-level metropolitan shifts, while taking into account both past and present genealogies.

The geography of housing markets

Organizers

Polixeni Iliopoulou (University of West Attika)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

The geography of housing markets is defined by spatial heterogeneity in terms of the structural characteristics of properties, socioeconomic conditions in the neighborhoods and location-specific factors relative to amenities. The spatial differentiation of structural characteristics such as the type of houses (single family or apartments), size, age, additional amenities etc. is often influenced by zoning regulations and the historical development of neighborhoods. Differences in socioeconomic conditions (e.g. income, education, employment) can also be attributed to the same factors, but also to the attractiveness of certain areas for investment, for example tourism. Location-specific factors such as the distance from the city center, transit and amenities are often considered the most important determinants of property prices. Neighborhood characteristics, such as green spaces, proximity to the sea, environmental quality, criminality etc. can increase or decrease their attractiveness. As a result, the housing market in urban areas is segmented and clusters of high-value, desirable neighborhoods are observed. The session aims to highlight the geographic differentiation of residential property markets in terms of house prices, house characteristics, locational attributes, zoning regulations, ownership status, land use, amenities and socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods. Theoretical and empirical contributions may refer to the following (non-exhaustive) themes: - Spatial analysis of house characteristics - Price determinants of housing prices - The geography of home ownership - Spatial analysis of rentals and especially short-term rentals - The impact of infrastructure projects on the geography of housing - Gentrification and house prices - Second home market - Demographic drivers on housing demand - Housing policy

Compassionate urban geographies of transformative power

Organizers

Charis Christodoulou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Pinelopi Vergou (University of Thessaly)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

Taken-for-granted everyday labor and social relations sustain urban life on a daily and inter-generational basis. Feminist scholars have shown that they take over space in often invisible yet structured and open-ended thrown-together ways. In the backdrop of the global economy and consecutive crises, urban life shifts by means of tourism and consumption, investment and non-investment, construction works and abandonment, new population flows and pushes, local economies transitioning, housing precarity and much more. In parallel, everyday compassionate and care relations and networking in solidarity and ethical responsibility survive in everyday routines and unexpected urban niches. They constitute the basis of social reproduction, also its subversion, in hope and despair. Geography matters! What are the spatial attributes, places and timespans of these compassionate strings that tie together communities and inter-subjectivities? Are they that invisible? Where are their traces to be found in the city? And, in what fields and contexts do they thrive against all odds? How does urban design facilitate or eradicate their presence in neighbourhoods and central areas? Where does their transformative or emancipatory power lie in the city, if any? Are they treated in relation to urban public goods or social infrastructures? How do they cross urban inequalities and diversity? How does the contemporary housing system intensify and shape the crisis tendencies of social reproduction? Papers that address such questions by research are invited in this session to broaden our evidence-based understanding about the life-making conditions and realities in contemporary cities, in Europe and beyond.

Naming space, creating territory : language practices, representations and urban imaginaries

Organizers

Souad Bouhadjar (University of Saida), Mohammed Dib (Uiversity Centre of Maghnia)

General Topic

4. Urban Geography, Housing and Trends of Socio-Spatial Inequalities

Abstract

This session aims to explore the practices of naming space as fundamental indicators of territorial, social, and cultural dynamics. Place names, commercial signs, official and vernacular toponymy, symbolic and commercial designations all contribute actively to the production of geographic space and the construction of collective representations. At the intersection of human geography, cultural geography, and linguistics, the session fully aligns with the theme "Geography Matters," demonstrating that language constitutes a fundamental tool for territorialization highlighting, and hierarchizing spaces. Naming is not only about designating, but also about attributing meaning, projecting imaginaries, and inscribing power relations within space. Communications may cover the following: - Urban and commercial onomastics; - Linguistic and symbolic landscapes - The identity, economic, and political issues of naming - Tensions between local and global naming conventions - Multilingual, postcolonial or diasporic contexts. Particular attention will be placed on changing urban spaces, mainly in the Global South, where naming practices reveal dynamics of territorial recomposition, symbolic resistance, and social appropriation of space. This session aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue by bringing together geographers, sociolinguists, and sociologists around a common theme: language as a vector of spatialization and as a fully-fledged geographical resource.

Mobilities, Migration and Rural Transformations: Rethinking Countryside Futures in Motion

Organizers

Loukia-Maria Fratsea (Harokopio Univeristy of Athens), Apostolos Papadopoulos (Harokopio University of Athens)

General Topic

5. Demographic Dynamics: Population, Migration and Mobility Flows

Abstract

The special session explores the multidimensional concept of mobility and the diverse forms it takes in rural contexts, focusing on contemporary movements of populations, labour, and lifestyles that are reshaping rural spaces. In recent years, the so-called "return to the countryside" has emerged as a key theme in discussions on rural revitalisation, linked both to the search for quality of life and to new spatial development strategies. At the same time, the notion of the rural idyll operates as a powerful cultural and symbolic narrative influencing decisions about relocation, investment, and the attraction of new residents, including digital nomads and professionals engaged in remote work. The session investigates different forms of mobility, such as migration from urban centres to rural areas, international migration, and daily commuting, highlighting their impacts on local labour markets, social relations, and spatial development. Particular emphasis is placed on employment and on the role of migrants in rural economies, as well as on their contribution to demographic renewal and the challenges of integration and the formation of a sense of belonging. The session features contributions employing diverse methodological approaches—qualitative, quantitative, and mixed—allowing for a comprehensive understanding of mobility processes and their spatial implications. It also examines how employment policies, local development strategies, and initiatives aimed at enhancing rural attractiveness shape mobility flows and processes of social transformation, including forms of rural gentrification. Through interdisciplinary perspectives and empirical case studies, the session aims to illuminate the dynamic interactions between mobility, identity, work, and place, contributing to a broader dialogue on the future of rural areas in an era of increasing mobility.

Mapping socio-spatial transformation: tracing population demographics, mobility and inequality across time

Organizers

Myrsini Fotopoulou (University of Thessaly), Ifigeneia Kokkali (University of Thessaly), Nikolaos Kokosis (University of Thessaly)

General Topic

5. Demographic Dynamics: Population, Migration and Mobility Flows

Abstract

Socio-spatial dynamics are constantly evolving, shaped by the ways that people move, settle, and interact within space. Social and demographic transformations are becoming increasingly complex worldwide, determined mostly by population aging, low fertility and migration trends, as well as by economic conditions and institutional decisions impacting these outcomes. These factors play a decisive role in the reconfiguration of local and regional labor markets, welfare systems and social structures, which interplay with trends of inequality and poverty. As socio-economic vulnerability intersects with mobility patterns – be it daily commuting, seasonal or permanent relocation, voluntary or forced migration, and due to economic or environmental reasons – unequal opportunities produce or reproduce inequalities across social groups and territories. Understanding these dynamics is critical, not just for spatial planning but also for economic and social policy and governance, as societies face increasing polarization, inequality, and interconnectedness on a global scale. These demographic and social processes do not happen in a vacuum: they are interconnected, while pertinent to the historical, economic and environmental shifts taking place around the world. In this sense, today more than ever, local experiences are connected to global processes, calling for a better understanding of the ongoing mechanisms behind socio-spatial transformation. With these considerations, the proposed session invites researchers to share perspectives on the spatial aspects of demographic processes, migration flows and patterns of inequality, relevant to the subject areas of spatial demography, migration and mobility flows, population distribution and population mapping, living conditions and quality of life, poverty and socio-spatial inequalities. We welcome multi-disciplinary and multi-scalar contributions that provide theoretical, empirical or methodological insights into these subjects.

Diverse Demographic Realities Across Space and the Challenge of Territorial Cohesion

Organizers

Pavlos Baltas (National Centre for Social Research)

General Topic

5. Demographic Dynamics: Population, Migration and Mobility Flows

Abstract

Demographic change, characterized by persistently low fertility, population ageing, and population decline, constitutes one of the defining challenges of contemporary societies. As highlighted by the conference theme "Geography Matters", these processes do not unfold uniformly across space. Instead, they are expressed through diverse spatial patterns, intensities, and trajectories, generating significant implications for territorial cohesion and spatial inequality. This session aims to demonstrate the analytical value of spatial demography by exploring the spatial dimensions of demographic change beyond national averages. It examines how fertility decline, ageing, and population shrinkage vary across regions, localities, and types of space, resulting in diverse demographic realities. Particular attention is given to understanding demographic change as a spatially embedded process shaped by regional contexts, settlement structures, and levels of accessibility. The session welcomes contributions that bridge different approaches and connect disciplinary boundaries to analyse the uneven intensity and configuration of demographic change across varied spatial settings. Papers may address demographic dynamics in metropolitan regions, intermediate urban areas, rural and agricultural spaces, as well as remote, mountainous, and insular regions that often face heightened demographic pressures. Indicative themes include: - Spatial patterns of population decline, low fertility, and population ageing at regional, municipal, or lower levels, - Demographic resilience and vulnerability in remote, mountainous, and insular areas, - The role of the rural–urban divide in shaping population sustainability, - Spatial inequalities resulting from demographic divergence, - Methodological approaches for mapping, analysing, and interpreting spatial demographic change. By highlighting the spatial variability of demographic change, the session seeks to demonstrate why geography matters for understanding contemporary population dynamics. It aims to foster dialogue between population geography, human geography, and related fields, and to contribute to discussions on balanced territorial development and spatial cohesion amid ongoing demographic transformation.

Rural Depopulation as a Socio-spatial Process: Inequalities, Employment, and Social Change

Organizers

Pavlos Baltas (National Centre for Social Research), Apostolos Papadopoulos (Harokopio University of Athens)

General Topic

5. Demographic Dynamics: Population, Migration and Mobility Flows

Abstract

Rural depopulation is one of the most critical and spatially differentiated processes shaping contemporary rural areas in Greece and across Europe. Rather than a uniform demographic trend, population decline occurs unevenly and is closely linked to ageing, selective migration, social differentiation, labour market restructuring, and social change. These processes generate distinct social and territorial inequalities that require careful geographical analysis. Situated within the social geography of rural areas, this session approaches rural depopulation as a socio-spatial process rather than solely a demographic phenomenon. It seeks contributions that examine how depopulation intersects with migration, rural labour markets, access to services, and digital transformations, reshaping social relations and lived experiences in demographically fragile rural settings. The session places particular emphasis on spatial differentiation within rural areas, including contrasts between mountainous, insular, and lowland regions, as well as between peripheral and more accessible rural areas. Contributions are invited that focus on empirically grounded and theoretically informed analyses of rural depopulation, addressing issues such as migrant labour, employment restructuring, social inequalities, and the selective role of digitalisation in depopulating rural areas. By foregrounding rural depopulation as a key analytical lens, the session aims to foster focused dialogue between human geography, spatial demography, and rural sociology, highlighting the importance of geography for understanding uneven rural change.

Geographies of Transition: Energy and Transport

Organizers

Vasiliki Krommyda (University of the Aegean), Stefanos Tsigdinos (University of West Attica), Yannis Paraskevopoulos (National Technical University of Athens)

General Topic

6. Political and Economic Geographies

Abstract

This session explores the political and economic geographies of contemporary transitions of the energy and transport sectors, focusing on how they unfold unevenly across space, scale, and social groups. Taking a multiscale perspective, the session examines the linkages between global transition agendas, national regulatory frameworks, regional infrastructures, and local lived experiences. Particular attention is paid to questions of justice, including how costs, benefits, and risks of transition are distributed across local contexts, labour markets, and end-users. The session foregrounds electrification as a central driver of change in both energy and transport systems, examining the evolving spatial relationships between areas of energy production and areas of energy consumption. Contributions will examine how these relationships are shaped by governance arrangements, market structures, and managing and regulating practices within and across sectors as well as geographical contexts. Moreover, we invite analyses that engage with labour in energy and transport industries, considering employment restructuring, skill transitions, and the political agency of workers within decarbonising economies. Building on a digital transition framework, the session also addresses the growing role of data, digital infrastructures, and platformisation in reconfiguring system management, user participation, and sectoral coordination. Emphasis is placed on end-user experience and local context, highlighting how transition pathways are mediated by everyday practices, place-specific constraints, and social expectations. Methodologically, the session encourages a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative spatial analysis, qualitative fieldwork, policy analysis, and participatory methods. Overall, the session aims to advance critical geographic perspectives on energy and transport transitions by connecting structural political-economic dynamics with grounded, place-based insights.

Critical geopolitics and/in cities

Organizers

George Kandylis (National Centre for Social Research), Penny Koutrolikou (National Technical University of Athens)

General Topic

6. Political and Economic Geographies

Abstract

In the past years, discussions concerning international relations and actual or possible wars have become almost banal. Geopolitics, in other words, are everywhere and as Hyndman (2004) writes, they provide us with ways in which we "read," "look at," and "know" the world, creating "maps of alliances and hostilities." Such geopolitical "knowing" of the world is shaped by multiple imagined geographies, discourses and representations that categorize and divide people and places, construct their own "regimes of truth", legitimise interventions and hegemonic relations of power and dependence. Critical geopolitics on the other hand, aim to challenge and destabilise such 'truths' and power relations and to contribute to their understanding as articulations of discourses, narratives, representations, and materialities. In this discussion, cities become simultaneously the stake, the terrain, and the place where those who experience the repercussions of geopolitical antagonisms live. Cities simultaneously become the territory of control, security, humanitarian interventions and counterinsurgency, but also places of alliances, collective action and resistance. Bringing together critical approaches to geopolitics and urban studies, the proposed session on critical geopolitics and/in cities aims to discuss the articulation of scales, powers, strategies, and geopolitical representations in the urban field. We invite contributions that address the multidimensional manifestations of geopolitical influences and relations on cities and seek to highlight the interactions of power, everyday practices, and representations at multiple spatial scales that traverse the urban. These critical approaches concern as much the South as the North, the West and the East and their inter-relations. They wish to trace the shifting geopolitical manifestations and relations within their historical-political and spatial contexts, while attempting to explore the ways in which the state and the international are produced and reproduced in cities, even in everyday and embodied realities of their subjects.

Migrant emplacement and urban ambiances: fearscapes, ethnoscapes, commonscapes

Organizers

Panos Hatziprokopiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Charalambos (Haris) Tsavdaroglou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Eva Papatzani (National Centre for Social Research)

General Topic

7. Cultural Geography, Heritage and Landscapes

Abstract

This session aims at conceptualizing the embodied practices, relationships, and encounters of migrants in urban settings through the lens of (lived) urban ambiance(s). It embarks from the idea that urban ambiances dictate the conditions of migrant emplacement and are at the same time themselves transformed by migrant presence. While the concept of "ambiance" (or "atmosphere") signals a burgeoning field of study - referring to the sensory and cognitive perceptions of place shaped by emotions, affective relationships, everyday social experiences, as well as material and aesthetic elements of the built environment— it remains largely absent in migration studies and debates about migrant emplacement in urban environments. Despite extensive research on how migrant populations contribute to the production of space, a significant epistemological gap persists regarding the intersection of these two fields. This study addresses this lacuna by investigating how migrants perceive existing urban ambiances and the ways in which their practices and relationships modify these or generate new ones. The session aims at enacting a dialogue around three distinct "landscapes" that constitute migrant-related urban ambiances: - Fearscapes: Referring to the ambiances related to spaces defined by xenophobic reactions, racially motivated violence, or police harassment. - Ethnoscapes: Pointing to the ambiances of the infrastructures established by migrant themselves, such as ethnic businesses or community associations. - Commonscapes: Accounting for solidarity initiatives that foster shared spaces for both locals and migrants. By synthesizing perspectives from critical geography, urban sociology, and migration studies with recent conceptualizations of urban ambiance(s), this session intends to enrich scholarly debates concerning migrants' emplacement and how it intersects with the production of space and the right to the city.

Cultural productive landscapes and rural water infrastructure systems

Organizers

Charis Christodoulou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

General Topic

7. Cultural Geography, Heritage and Landscapes

Abstract

Historically productive areas around and between traditional rural settlements in mediterranean climates constitute important cultural landscapes. They are physically urbanizing while their population is declining and they are increasingly abandoned and not taken care of as cultural landscapes while they are transformed into tourist and tourism-oriented areas. The starting points for discussion are the recommendations for redefining urban-rural connections and the countryside by the United Nations, especially the relationships of rural settlements within their wider landscapes, the modern conceptualizations of landscape in international conventions, but also the growing interest in traditional water and irrigation infrastructures as commons in the climate adaptation discourse. Water infrastructures have always been parts of wider socio-spatial networks and relations taking care of land and social reproduction within the local communities. In political ecological terms they constituted complex techno-environmental systems combining networks of physical facilities such as aqueducts, irrigation channels, bridges, mills, paths, tanks, etc) as well as institutions and powers to collectively support and manage their effective and seamless functioning for the common good. The session aims to enhance the discussion of contemporary regeneration of rural landscapes, also their adaptation in climate change. It invites papers that address active local practices and regional conceptualizations of water infrastructures as cultural heritage in physical, relational and institutional terms, also as highly environmentally and socially important tangible and intangible legacy in the present. The session also welcomes research papers around different geographies and mappings of material and immaterial aspects of rural water infrastructure systems.

Participatory approaches in spatial contexts: Limits, contradictions and emerging practices

Organizers

Anastasia Christaki (National Technical University of Athens & Commonspace co-op), Eleni Mougiakou (Agricultural Univrsity of Athens & Commonspace co-op), Giorgos Velegrakis (University of Crete & Commonspace co-op)

General Topic

8. Spatial Planning, Regional Development and Territorial Governance

Abstract

Participation has become a key reference point in spatial planning, regional development and territorial governance. It appears in policy documents, planning strategies and climate adaptation frameworks as a necessary condition for democratic legitimacy and socially inclusive development. At the same time, the actual integration of participatory processes into spatial decision-making remains uneven and often limited. This session focuses on participatory approaches in spatial contexts and examines their limits, contradictions and emerging practices. It considers how participation operates within contemporary governance settings shaped by the climate crisis, socio-spatial inequalities and rapid urban transformation. In many cases, participation is reduced to consultation, while major spatial interventions are implemented through accelerated procedures and centralised decisions. In other cases, local initiatives, civic groups and professional collectives attempt to open new spaces for dialogue and meaningful participation. Particular attention will be given to methodological questions and tools, including citizen science, Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS), participatory mapping and other forms of collaborative spatial knowledge co-creation. The session will explore how such approaches can broaden access to information, make inequalities visible and support more accountable planning processes. Bringing together research and applied work developed by members of the commonspace cooperative, the session aims to create a focused discussion on the role of participation in shaping contemporary spatial policies. By critically assessing both constraints and possibilities, it seeks to contribute to ongoing geographical debates on governance, inequality and participatory planning.

Sport events as a territorial resource ?

Organizers

Antonin van der Straeten (UMR EDYTEM, University Savoie Mont Blanc)

General Topic

8. Spatial Planning, Regional Development and Territorial Governance

Abstract

Organisation of sport events and individual practices are nowadays a part of territories' development : big events as Tour de France or Olympic Games generate mobilities and tourism which are a key point of development into rural and mountainous areas, as such as a argument to involve common transports and urban planning in host cities. In some cases, this is however more than debatable, for example in host cities like Rio, Athens or Sochi. This session offers the opportunity to question the positives and negatives impact of the coming of these big events : if tourism is mentioned, what about ecological issues and about apparition of wastelands in areas planned for sports ? Moreover, events of that dimension could go to very retired places as mountain villages or little tourism stations, the question to be posed is about the contribution of the event to the place it goes : is the impact of sport events remarkable in every case or is it reserved for the most important sites, already planned and frequented by a big amount of people each year ? The final question is about the authorities goal to host these events, whatever its size : hosting a sport event could be an important occasion to show the territory to a global audience whether a possibility to develop the site in a long term logic. Indeed, what is the reason of hosting the authorities adduce and how could these events be considered as territorial resources, used to improve the territory ?

Geography as a driver of political discontent

Organizers

Yannis Radin (University of Thessaly)

General Topic

8. Spatial Planning, Regional Development and Territorial Governance

Abstract

The aim of this session is to explore the spatial roots of political discontent and how regional divergence manifests in economic, social and political outcomes. Despite efforts to grow decentralisation as a mechanism for increased democracy, accountability, and efficiency, the results have been mixed. Globally, regions are becoming more polarised, highlighting a divergence between dynamic superstar cities where innovation and economic activity are concentrated and regions which are described as "left-behind". Unequal geography not only shapes the labour market but also deeply influences political behaviours and economic dynamics within regions. Areas suffering from limited job prospects often experience population decline as residents, especially younger and more mobile individuals, migrate toward more prosperous locations. This selective mobility exacerbates regional disparities, creating a feedback loop in which many young residents leave. Divergent regional trajectories consequently influence infrastructure investment, as well as the provision, accessibility, and quality of public services. In this sense, uneven geography has become one of the central political challenges of our time, especially at the local level of governance. Local institutions operate within this uneven landscape at a time when trust in public institutions is increasingly fragmented and polarised. The "geography of discontent" is a key contributor to democratic volatility and the emergence of political resentment. When residents perceive that geographic disadvantages translate into neglect or exclusion, distrust deepens, and support for democratic norms may erode. Unequal territorial development can therefore act as a catalyst for political polarisation, as marginalised communities question institutional legitimacy and demand alternative political responses to their needs. This session welcomes contributions that explore local governance, territorial inequality, and the spatial foundations of political discontent. We invite both empirical and theoretical papers that investigate the mechanisms through which regional disparities shape institutional trust, democratic accountability, and the contemporary political dynamics.

Integrating Geography and Planning: Urban types, mobility patterns and spatial justice in contemporary planning research

Organizers

Yannis Paraskevopoulos (National Technical University of Athens), Staefanos Tsigdinos (University of West Attica), Efthimios Bakogiannis (National Technical University of Athens)

General Topic

8. Spatial Planning, Regional Development and Territorial Governance

Abstract

Planning in the era of complexity should function as a converging nexus involving multiple disciplines and methods. Hence, practice and academic research should strive for integrated approaches that take a comprehensive view of urban and transport dimensions, while utilising diverse knowledge sources to decode (and plan) the contemporary city. Over the past decade, rapid urban redevelopment, touristification, and housing financialisation have reshaped central areas, amplifying patterns of exclusion and inequality. Against this backdrop, this session explores urban types, mobility patterns and their interrelations, bridging urban geography and planning to reconsider spatial planning through an inclusivity and justice perspective. To this end, spatial analysis that incorporates both evidence-based and community-based layers can be key to a more inclusive interpretation of the ongoing urban processes, towards socially-biased planning approaches. Scenario development constitutes another centrepiece of this session, treating future-oriented planning not as a simple projection but as a structured conceptual and methodological process capable of addressing the various challenges and uncertainties of planning. To achieve this, a critical approach that revisits traditional planning principles is particularly relevant. The session, therefore, foregrounds questions of inclusivity and justice: are (current or future) planning strategies prioritising local communities and vulnerable groups, or do they reproduce existing inequities? This session welcomes methodological, empirical, and theoretical contributions that examine the interplay between urban form, mobility patterns and socio-spatial inequalities across different contexts and scales. Particular emphasis is placed on spatial analysis as a core analytical lens, encouraging mixed-method or quantitative approaches, while also inviting critical reflection on the role of urban data and spatial metrics in planning processes. Contributions may also engage with scenario-building approaches or relevant participatory methodologies, and submissions that bridge analytical insights and planning implications, while remaining attentive to questions of equity and inclusion, will be particularly relevant to this session.

Geographies of Circularity

Organizers

Vasiliki (Vily) Mylona (National Technical University of Athens), Giannis Zgeras (National Technical University of Athens), Evangelia Mpakogianni (Municipality of Aigaleo)

General Topic

8. Spatial Planning, Regional Development and Territorial Governance

Abstract

Environmental degradation worldwide has reached critical levels, and the unsustainable ways we extract, process, use, and consume resources are major contributing factors. In this context, the circular economy (CE) has emerged as an influential paradigm across policy, planning, and research. Recent research highlights both the growing debates around circularity and the need to critically investigate its territorial implications, opportunities, and governance dimensions (Davies et al. 2024; Pekdemir et al. 2025; Surekha et al. 2025). However, despite rapid interest in research and policy agendas, the spatial, political and participatory dimensions of circular transition remain unevenly theorised and empirically grounded. The session, Geographies of Circularity, invites contributions that would investigate circularity within a theoretical framework and a situated practice across multiple spatial scales - from regions and metropolitan areas to neighbourhoods, buildings and public spaces. We welcome papers that bridge conceptual reflection and real-world applications, examining how circular initiatives are shaped and challenged across diverse environments, socioeconomic contexts, resource capacities, and governance models. A central focus of the session is participation and co-design. How are communities meaningfully involved in shaping circular transitions? In what ways do participatory planning and bottom-up activation of public spaces foster socially just and place-sensitive circular practices? How could we approach the contradiction of delegating a public responsibility in the neoliberal context? How can "phygital" environments enable peer-to-peer exchange, collective stewardship and new forms of active citizenship? How do materialities of the circular urban transition intersect with immaterial levels of administration? How may informal networks for circularity and materials recycling be affected by the establishment of public programs, and how should those two interact? By foregrounding spatiality, power relations, and collective agency, the session aims to advance critical geographical perspectives on circularity beyond theorised approaches, contributing to a more democratic and territorially embedded understanding of the sustainable transition.

Mountain Geography in Europe: Depopulation, Spatial Inequalities, and the Challenge of Territorial Cohesion

Organizers

Dimitris Kaliampakos (National Technical University of Athens), George Panagiotopoulos (National Technical University of Athens), Stathis Avramiotis (National Technical University of Athens)

General Topic

8. Spatial Planning, Regional Development and Territorial Governance

Abstract

Mountain areas cover 36–41% of European territory and are home to 13–20% of its population, depending on delineation. They provide critical ecosystem services — water supply, carbon sequestration, biodiversity — yet mountain communities across the continent face an accelerating crisis of depopulation, ageing, and marginalization. A Horizon 2020 study across 23 mountain regions and 16 European countries identified climate change and depopulation as the two primary threats to mountain areas, significantly impacting local economies and ecosystem services. The patterns are consistent across European mountain systems. In the Italian Alps, population declined by 1.2% between 2013 and 2023 while the share of residents aged 65 and over rose from 22% to over 25%. In the Central Apennines, municipalities in the Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise National Park lost 57% of their population between 1921 and 2020. In Spain, the mountain provinces of Soria and Teruel record densities below 10 inhabitants per km². The most isolated rural settlements in the Romanian Carpathians retain only 44% of their 1912 population. In the Western Balkans, losses of 18–23% are projected by 2050. In Greece — where nearly 78% of the territory is mountainous or semi-mountainous according to NORDREGIO — three out of four municipalities lost population between 2011 and 2021, with mountain regions declining most sharply. Across all contexts, young people migrate to urban centres and abroad, traditional agro-pastoral economies collapse, services withdraw, and landscapes transform through land abandonment and forest encroachment. Despite Article 174 TFEU listing mountain regions among territories requiring particular attention, EU cohesion policies have insufficiently addressed mountain specificities. This session invites contributions examining mountain demographic dynamics, accessibility deficits, land use change, the effectiveness of policy interventions, and local resilience strategies, from any European mountain context.

Democratic Landscape Monitoring: Integrating Earth Observation, Landscape Ecology and Participatory GIS

Organizers

Dimitrios D. Alexakis (Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas), George Lampropoulos (Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas)

General Topic

10. Geospatial Technologies, Digital and Computational Geographies

Abstract

Landscapes are dynamic socio-environmental systems shaped by the continuous interaction between natural processes and human activities. Their transformation unfolds across multiple spatial and temporal scales, requiring advanced monitoring approaches that integrate spatial, spectral, and temporal information while also accounting for ecological processes, local knowledge, public perceptions, and cultural heritage values. Within this framework, Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) plays a central role, providing a structured methodology to identify, classify, and interpret distinct landscape types based on their physical, ecological, and cultural attributes. This session focuses on innovative methodologies for diachronic landscape monitoring, combining multi-temporal, multispectral, multiscale, and multisource Earth Observation (EO) data with GIS-based participatory tools, landscape ecology principles, and LCA frameworks. EO data derived from satellites, UAVs (drones), aerial surveys, and in situ observations enable the detection of land cover transitions, vegetation dynamics, coastal and geomorphological changes, and the impacts of climate-driven hazards. When integrated with landscape ecological metrics—such as fragmentation, connectivity, habitat quality, and ecosystem functionality—these datasets provide deeper insight into the structural and functional consequences of landscape change. The incorporation of LCA further enhances interpretation by linking quantitative indicators with landscape identity, character types, and sensitivity analysis, supporting more nuanced planning and management strategies. At the same time, Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), participatory mapping, and citizen-based monitoring approaches offer valuable insight into how communities perceive, value, and experience landscape transformation. Such democratic participation strengthens the legitimacy and societal relevance of monitoring frameworks, ensuring that landscape assessment reflects cultural meanings, local narratives, and shared heritage values. The session welcomes contributions that harmonize advanced geoinformatics, ecological indicators, LCA methodologies, and community-driven knowledge, promoting transparent environmental information, compliance monitoring, climate resilience, and evidence-based, participatory landscape governance.

Geoinformatics and Spatial Intelligence: Methods, Applications and Challenges

Organizers

Dimitris Kavroudakis (University of the Aegean)

General Topic

10. Geospatial Technologies, Digital and Computational Geographies

Abstract

Geoinformatics has become a core pillar of contemporary geographical research, enabling the collection, integration, analysis, and visualization of spatial data across multiple scales. Advances in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial data infrastructures, open geospatial data, and computational methods are transforming how geographers model, analyze, and interpret complex spatial and environmental processes. This session aims to bring together contributions that explore theoretical, methodological, and applied dimensions of Geoinformatics, with particular emphasis on technological developments and analytical workflows. The session focuses on the role of geospatial technologies in addressing key geographical challenges related to climate dynamics, urban systems, environmental risk, and territorial organization. Special attention is given to the integration of GIS and remote sensing with data science techniques, spatial modeling, machine learning, automation, and decision-support systems. The session welcomes empirical case studies, methodological innovations, and educational perspectives that demonstrate how geoinformatics supports advanced spatial analysis and reproducible research. Contributions may address topics such as spatial data quality and uncertainty, multiscale and spatio-temporal analysis, geovisualization, smart and sensor-enabled environments, environmental monitoring, spatial planning tools, and the use of open-source software and open-data ecosystems. By fostering dialogue between physical and human geography, applied sciences, and spatial planning, this session underlines the relevance of Geoinformatics as a bridge between geographical theory and technological implementation. In line with the conference theme "Geography Matters", the session highlights how spatial intelligence and geospatial technologies contribute to more robust, transparent, and methodologically sound geographical research and decision-making.

Web Mapping and Web GIS tools & applications

Organizers

Vassilios Krassanakis (Univeristy of West Attica), Andriani Skopeliti (National Technical University of Athens)

General Topic

10. Geospatial Technologies, Digital and Computational Geographies

Abstract

This session explores the latest advancements in Web Mapping and Web GIS technologies, alongside their practical applications and theoretical approaches in the fields of physical and human geography. In an era where high-quality spatial data and Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSs) play a critical role in effective decision-making, we aim to bridge the gap between complex geographic analysis and digital accessibility by focusing on innovative workflows that utilize both open-source tools and commercial technologies. We welcome contributions ranging from theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches to the development of publicly available platforms, showcasing diverse applications in sectors such as spatial planning, urban development, natural disaster and risk management, and environmental monitoring. A key priority of this session is to highlight research that incorporates real-world data derived from scientific projects and empirical studies, demonstrating how academic findings can be translated into practical solutions. Furthermore, the session addresses critical domains, such as transport, smart mobility, and socioeconomic analysis, illustrating how web mapping provides essential solutions to complex spatial problems. We also encourage research studies that utilize Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and crowdsourced data. By presenting interdisciplinary approaches, we seek to highlight how the synergy between proprietary frameworks and open-source flexibility produces scalable, interoperable, and user-friendly mapping tools that transform geographic information into functional web interfaces. We encourage researchers to present work where the integration of geospatial algorithms and web technologies supports both spatial literacy and professional practice. Ultimately, our goal is to foster a dialogue on how Web Mapping and Web GIS tools and applications serve as an important groundwork towards transparent policy-making, addressing contemporary societal and environmental challenges.

Geographical knowledge Production in a world of crisis: Reviving workers' inquiry and renewing labour geography

Organizers

Nikolaos Vrantsis (Institute for housing and Urban Research – Uppsala University)

General Topic

11. Geography and Education – Educating Geographers

Abstract

Critical intellectual life has increasingly turned inward, producing knowledge often detached from social struggle (Riley, 2025). Yet the erosion of academic autonomy and the rise of authoritarian restructuring may force a rupture with this enclosure, reopening the question of how knowledge production can function as an instrument of collective struggle. This question lies at the intersection of workers' inquiry and labour geography. Labour geography challenged capital-centred accounts of spatial restructuring by insisting that workers actively shape economic landscapes and spatial relations (Herod, 1997; 2002). Workers' inquiry shares this premise, treating labour as the primary subject of historical transformation and knowledge production as part of processes of class recomposition (Tronti, 1966; Alquati, 1993). Despite its advances, labour geography has struggled to explain how fragmented and precarious forms of labour are recomposed into collective political agency, particularly as labour increasingly extends beyond the workplace into housing, logistics, migration, and social reproduction (Strauss, 2018; Neilson and Rossiter, 2008). Workers' inquiry offers a means of addressing this limitation by treating inquiry as a practice embedded within struggle, capable of tracing and contributing to class formation. Under conditions of authoritarian urbanism and rentier capitalism, urban space has become a central terrain of exploitation and resistance. This session proposes workers' inquiry as a methodological and political practice capable of knowledge production with collective struggle. The session welcomes theoretical, empirical, and activist contributions exploring how workers' inquiry can help advance labour geography and support struggles for housing justice, urban commons, and collective resistance.

Playing, Mapping, and Thinking Spatially: New Technologies for Geography Education

Organizers

Aikaterini Klonari (University of the Aegean)

General Topic

1. Geography: Theory, Methods, Education and Practice

Abstract

The rapid evolution of digital technologies is reshaping how geography is taught, learned, and experienced. This session explores how emerging tools—such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial data platforms, artificial intelligence, interactive mapping applications, and Game-Based Learning—are transforming geography education across different educational levels. By integrating these technologies into teaching practices, educators can foster spatial thinking, critical analysis, and real-world problem-solving skills, while increasing student engagement and inclusivity. The session will present practical examples and pedagogical strategies for using new technologies to connect geographic concepts with contemporary global challenges, including climate change, urbanization, and sustainability. Particular attention will be given to learner-centered approaches, open data, and digital collaboration, highlighting how technology can support inquiry-based learning and interdisciplinary connections. Challenges such as digital divides, teacher training, and ethical considerations related to data use will also be discussed. By bridging theory and practice, this session aims to provide educators, researchers, and curriculum designers with insights into innovative approaches for integrating technology in geography education. Participants will leave with concrete ideas and critical perspectives on how new technologies can enhance geographic learning while supporting more meaningful, accessible, and socially relevant educational experiences.

Geography and Education: Research, Practice and Reflection in Dialogue

Organizers

Emilia Fakou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Zoi Karampini (University of the Aegean)

General Topic

1. Geography: Theory, Methods, Education and Practice

Abstract

This session aims to shape a dialogue between geography and education to explore concepts, key ideas, and methodologies that enrich the Geographies of Education field, in times of uncertainty, fragmentation, and social exclusion. We seek to highlight interdisciplinary approaches that examine how current socio-spatial processes may enrich pedagogical thought and practice, and how contemporary and critical pedagogies can, in turn, reshape geography education. In contrast to static views of space, a critical geographical perspective foregrounds the constitutive relationship between education and multi-scalar socio-spatial dynamics. The 'spatial turn' in education compels us to examine how educational spaces are produced within urban transformations, spatial inequalities, and everyday socio-spatial practices. From this standpoint, children's and young people's everyday worlds—their movements, encounters, and communities—are understood as meaningful sites of knowledge production, recognizing that learning is embedded in relational space rather than confined within institutional walls. This framework also provides insights into how axes of social identity are formed and negotiated across (in)formal learning spaces. At the same time, critical pedagogy, together with experiential and contextual learning approaches, reconceptualizes geography education as socially grounded. By emphasizing dialogue, participation, reflexivity, and democratic engagement, it challenges technocratic models of instruction and highlights embodied knowledge as central to learning. Scholarship in Geographies of Education further examines how structural inequalities and power relations are enacted and contested through educational practices. In doing so, it invites reflection on how spatially grounded pedagogies can foster transformative learning that is inclusive, embedded in students' everyday realities and connected to broader questions of spatial justice. The session welcomes theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented contributions that explore, but are not limited to, the following axes: - Conceptual dialogues on time, place, space, scale, power - Fieldwork, participatory and visual methodologies - Pedagogical practices and experiential learning approaches - Sociospatial inequalities and (in)justices, - (In)formal learning spaces

Reproductive commons and political infrastructures: Care and collective Life making in the urban polycrisis

Organizers

Matina Kapsali (University of Manchester), Aliki Koutlou (University of Manchester), Mantha Katsikana (York University)

General Topic

12. Feminist urban geography

Abstract

Crisis framings of the current conjuncture–including notions of polycrisis (Rakowski et al., 2025) and a deepening crisis of care (Fraser, 2016) – highlight how everyday life is increasingly marked by uncertainty, exhaustion, isolation, and vulnerability. These dynamics intersect with socio spatial inequalities that shape how people navigate and sustain lives that are worth living in contexts of depletion (Rai, 2025). Drawing on feminist and critical geography, we take social reproduction as a broad field through which life-making unfolds in, with, and beyond neoliberal capitalism, and as a process deeply entangled with the (re)production of urban space (Katz, 2001; Peake et al., 2022). Building on debates around care and commoning as responses to urban precarity and on infrastructural thinking, we are interested in discussions that consider reproductive commons as a potential political imaginary and everyday labouring place-based practice. This session focuses on place-based collective practices and relations forged within communities, foregrounding the significance of care, mutual aid, and solidarity in sustaining commons and cultivating commoning subjectivities (García López et al., 2021; Parris & Williams, 2019). We are also interested in socio-material, and political embodied infrastructures as sites of struggle over how life is made liveable in the city and as foundational to reimagining the right to the city. We invite contributions that engage with, and critically expand, these ideas. Potential themes include but are not limited to: - Reproductive commons as socio-material and political infrastructures in polycrisis (solidarities, subjectivities and forms of living-in-common) - Social reproduction as a terrain of urban struggle (mutual aid, harm-reduction, claims to housing, care, safety, and dignity) - Contradictions that shape reproductive labour in the urban (the uneven formation, maintenance, and collective reworking of infrastructures of care and their role in sustaining everyday life) - Scaling, solidarities, and political horizons of reproductive struggles, reimagining the right to the city and translocal movements