Call for Membership
"Gender in Spatial Development – Perspectives, Similarities and Differences"
The Academy for Spatial Re- search and Planning (ARL) (www.arl-net.de) investigates the spatial effects of human activi- ties, be they economic, social, ecological or cultural, in order to identify the conditions necessary for sustainable spatial develop- ment. As a transdisciplinary network of experts from aca- demia and practice, the excel- lent research findings of the ARL provide new impulses and scien- tifically based advice services for policymaking and administration.
This is achieved through theme- focused, inter- and transdiscipli- nary working parties convened on various spatial levels.
Led by Prof. Dr. Barbara Zibell, Leibniz University Hannover, a European Working Party (EAK) on "Gender in Spatial Development – Perspectives, Similarities and Differences"
is to be established as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue between academia and practice. Participants are sought who wish to make their own contributions to the working party and who have already taken a scientific perspective on the topic in question or some aspects thereof.
Background
The work of the EAK is embedded in the conceptual framework of sustainable spatial development. The sustainability discourse is shaped by two basic normative elements:
the equity requirement (intragenerational and intergenerational) and the integration re- quirement. This means that possible courses of action and design options for spatial de- velopment are to be equitably distributed and kept open for future generations. Undis- puted prerequisites for sustainable development are equity between women and men and the equal value of paid and unpaid work, i.e. symmetrical gender relations with a view to diverse options for realising life plans.
Since 1997 this element of the sustainability discussion has been supported by the Trea- ty of Amsterdam, which (among other things) calls on the European Community to "...
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aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women" (Art. 3 Para. 2). Based on this, the European policy of gender mainstreaming has been intro- duced in all member states. However, it is not yet a self-evident and integral element of planning practice or scientific reflection – this is also the case in the specialist sphere of spatial development and research.
A future-oriented spatial planning must therefore be assessed according to:
Whether and to what extent the realisation of a planning measure or spatial utilisation does not impede future developments,
Whether, in the context of the sustainability concept, spatial development is oriented towards the life-worlds, daily requirements and spatial demands of users in such a way as to take into account differences in the various life stages, life situations and lo- cal or regional particularities,
Whether the principle of cooperation (which for twenty years has influenced the dis- course of the "caring economy" in social-ecological research and is taken as self- evident in recent planning theory debates on "cooperative planning") satisfies the re- quirements of gender equality in terms of increasing the "accuracy of fit" of planning and design measures in the planning process.
Against this background, space is understood as an entity consisting of economic, natu- ral and social living space. The utilisation and appropriation of space by various actors results in specific spatial structures. In this context the conscious influencing and man- agement or development of spatial structure by design and planning measures cannot avoid weighing up and compensating for different and at times competing development aims and space utilisation requirements. This involves analysing conflicting goals and shedding light on the social-cultural aspects of decision-making structures.
Aims
From these fundamental ideas a question essential for the working party emerges: "How does the recognition of the relevance of gender affect the organisation and structure of the planning of space utilisation and appropriation in different European regions ("cul- tures")? The working party is therefore to first present an investigative framework, and then use this as a basis from which to undertake a gender-oriented evaluation with re- gards to specific patterns of the steering and control of spatial utilisation/appropriation, spatial structure and spatial design/planning in selected European states. This then pro- vides a foundation for pinpointing differences and deficits, as well as identifying open research questions. Where thematically appropriate, links to other current working par- ties of the ARL will be established.
One element of the collective task is the drawing up of an introductory paper on shared European values and normative perceptions. The members of the working party should regard this as a framework for the activities of the member states. It is also expected that those involved produce individual papers as case studies of member states or regions.
Suggestions for possible case studies and specialist focuses will be generated according to the personal competences and experience of the working party members. In this con- text collaboration between members in the form of interdisciplinary sub-groups is explicit- ly encouraged.
An English-language, peer-reviewed scientific publication is planned. This may be an Open Access (Book on Demand) publication undertaken by the ARL or it may be pub- lished elsewhere. Further publications of partial findings in specialist reviewed journals or the compilation of a project proposal (e.g. Horizon 2020) are welcome.
It will be possible to organise the presentation and discussion of research findings with experts from both academia and practice in a forum open to the specialist public, and also to enable expert presentations on individual topics.
Procedure
The members of the working party meet two or three times a year in different places, preferably in line with the locations of those involved, where they establish a detailed working programme and discuss findings and progress made in the collective undertak- ing. The ARL reimburses the costs incurred by participants for travel and accommodation in accordance with the German regulations governing travel expenses, and provides or- ganisational support for the working party. Through participation in the meetings and writ- ten papers, members contribute towards scientific knowledge and the further develop- ment of the thematic complex. The working party can invite a limited number of other experts for specific presentations and hold colloquia to reflect on findings.
Application
Members of the working party may belong to universities, non-university research institu- tions, planning administrations or associations. Entire research groups are not eligible but may be considered through the application of one representative. There are no re- strictions in terms of the disciplinary orientation of the academic or professional qualifica- tions of applicants. Of relevance is rather engagement with the abovementioned aims, and compelling and relevant competence and experience.
If this applies to you and you are interested in contributing to the working party, we would be most pleased to receive your application. This should include a brief outline (maxi- mum 5,000 characters without spaces) of your proposed work making clear reference to the abovementioned aims, a brief CV and your three most important topic-related publi- cations in digital form. Colleagues from practice are requested to name and describe briefly relevant projects (or to point out respective web-links) in which they have had sig- nificant involvement instead of including publications. Please submit your application by:
26 January 2014 to the following address:
Dr.-Ing. Evelyn Gustedt gustedt@arl-net.de Tel.: 0049/511 34842-29
If you have questions on the ARL, the thematic orientation of the working group or the form of application, please also use this address.
