IGU COMMISSION GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE 2020 - 2024: Aims & Themes

IGU COMMISSION GEOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE 2020 - 2024

 II. Aims

1. To advance knowledge of the geography of territorial governance, at the urban, local and regional levels, namely the conditions, scale and characteristics of new modes of territorial governance, in particular those that will emerge as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, and its social, cultural, political, economic and environmental consequences.

2. To identify new perspectives and to explore new research methodologies and different geographical approaches in the field of urban, local and regional governance.

3. To provide a platform for the exchange of information, research outcomes, and best practices among its members, namely through digital tools.

4. To enhance current bilateral and multilateral research cooperation among its members and to support the creation of new research networks in the field of urban, local and regional governance, connecting its members with existing international research programs and organizations, increasing interdisciplinary research collaboration across disciplines.

5. To support and promote the publication and dissemination of scholarly research outcomes of its members, in peer-reviewed international journals and in books.

6.To advance educational activities through workshops focused on urban, local and regional governance issues, contributing to the training of the next generation of scientists in this field.

7. To increase the awareness of urban, local and regional governance issues among citizens, local communities and governments.

8. To develop initiatives focused on specific issues in cooperation with members of other IGU Commissions sharing similar or related interests.

 

III. Themes

The Commission aims to explore, but is not limited to, the following themes:

1. Local government reforms

2. Urban and metropolitan governance

3. Local Government and the 2030 Agenda: 'localization' of the Sustainable Development Goals

4. Urban, local and regional government responses to the Covid-19 pandemic: lessons for building resilient territories

5. Decentralization and multi-layered governance: new relations between national, regional and local government in the post-pandemic

6. Digitalization of local government and Citizen e-Participation

7. Governance of spatial planning processes

8. Citizen participation in local and regional government

9. Administrative fragmentation and merger reforms

10. Decentralized cooperation and development 11. Inter-municipal cooperation

12. Cross-border municipal and regional cooperation

13. Climate change, the governance of complex environmental systems and the challenges for local action

14. Age-, disabled-, minorities, and gender-responsive approaches in urban, local and regional government policies

15. Administrative systems, housing, health services, and local public service delivery

16. Local government finance systems

17. Anthropocene: changes and challenges for urban, local and regional governance

18. Governance in conflict and post-conflict areas

19. Transparency, accountability, good governance, and human rights in local and regional government

20. Big Data and new digital research methods in urban governance