Our Aims and Objectives
We are the UK association for all those who research, study and teach global development issues
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DSA Conference 2022
Registration remains OPEN! Everyone who wishes to attend the online conference has to register in advance.
Do make sure you have fully read our methodology and information pages, as this year’s conference will be a different format to past years!
The DSA’s annual conference in 2022 is taking place online, organised and hosted by University College London. This conference adopts justice and equity as central normative lenses to explore just futures in an urbanising and mobile world, facing a climate and ecological crisis in a pandemic or post-pandemic context.
The conference will bring together researchers and practitioner in the development studies field to explore just futures in an urbanising and mobile world. The innovative conference format adopts a range of approaches in order to get the most from the online format and make it an even more inclusive event. DSA and UCL aim to provide a welcoming, inclusive, and safe forum where the development studies community can share work, discuss ideas and connect with others.
Conference Host:
The conference is hosted by UCL academics in the following departments: Bartlett Development Planning Unit, Institute for Global Prosperity, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (UCL STEaPP), Centre for Education and International Development, Institute of Education.
Local Organising Committee Contact person:
Dr Andrea Rigon
Watch this welcome video for a flavour of what to expect from #DSA2022.
Do check out our upcoming pre-conference webinars (open to all) and in-conference plenaries (registered delegates only).
Conference theme – Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world
The mobility of people – both within and across borders – remains a critical but increasingly contested feature of global capitalism. Cities are the primary destination point for people on the move and most people will live in towns and cities by the end of this century. Urbanisation continues to hold out the promise of modernity and economic growth whilst exacerbating inequalities and posing significant environmental and public health challenges. Urban areas are now focal points for addressing some of the most pressing global problems, including inequalities, lack of decent jobs, resilience and poor health; addressing the ecological footprint of cities will be fundamental to promoting climate justice. Rural-urban linkages remain central to development challenges, including food security, conflict and humanitarian crises, youth employment and structural transformation. Climate change, the ecological crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic are challenging core assumptions around the nature of development at urban, national and global levels, recasting the nature of equity and justice across north and south and between present and future generations.
This conference adopts justice and equity as central normative lenses to explore just futures in an urbanising and mobile world, facing a climate and ecological crisis in a pandemic or post-pandemic context. It will explore the interconnections of these three major processes, and their implications for future development. Thinking across multiple scales and spatialities – rural/urban, urban/national/global – will provide new insights into the possibilities of just development futures.
DSA2022 will examine the over-arching themes and questions available here >>