The Commission on Biogeography and Biodiversity addresses various aspects of spatial, ecological and historical biogeography, and emphasizes the societal relevance of biogeography. The four themes include 1) Scientific Mapping of Climate Change, Water, Forests and Biodiversity, 2) Influence of Extreme Weather Conditions and Water Induced Disasters on Biodiversity, 3) Biodiversity and Livelihood Security in Forest and Agricultural Landscapes in the Himalayan Region, 4) Biodiversity and Forest Conservation: Policy Implications and Local Knowledge System. These themes are rather integrative, encompassing nature and culture, highlighting both ecological and socio-economic aspects of biogeography, indicating a distinct enthusiasm for interdisciplinary topics such as land use and land cover change, people, forest resources and sustainable development, political ecology or livelihood enhancement of local people.

A special focus of the commission's work is promoting biogeography in developing countries particularly in the Himalayan region. Recently, numerous studies on patterns of biodiversity, implications of global climate change, remote sensing of ecosystem properties, conservation biogeography, and other biogeographical aspects have been published by scientists from developing countries. A session on the Himalaya is representative of such studies.

We will organize the following three sessions on specific topics in climatology and two joint sessions with the Commissions on Hazard and Risk and on Water Sustainability.

In this session, we will discuss climatic change and variability in various spatial and time scales. Researches based on observation, historical document, and various climatic proxi are all included in this session.

In this session, we will discuss various aspects of urban climate in any part of the world. We welcome observation, historical data analysis, and modeling studies. We will cover urban climate effects on environment and /or human activities including human health. Mitigation of urban effect, expected future changes, relationship with land use or urban structure will also be included in this session.

Asian and Australian monsoon system plays an important role in the global climate system. In this session we will discuss past, present and future changes of this vast monsoon system in various temporal and spatial scales. We will also deal with their impact on water, ecosystem, landform, agriculture, and other human activities.

In this session, we will focus on recent divastating floods and droughts occurred in the Asian Pacific region where more than 60% world population is living. We will also discuss expected future changes of climate-related risk and hazard in this region within the 21st century based on future climate projection.

Global warming has been linked to changes in hydrological cycle, including intensity and extremes of precipitation, and runoff patterns. Precipitation variability is expected to increase the risk of flood and drought. These consequences are projected to affect water environment and water availability. In this session, the effect of recent climate change on water resources is discussed.

Within the context of the main theme for the 2013 IGU Kyoto Regional Conference "traditional wisdom and modern knowledge for the earth's future", the Cold Region Environments Commission is organizing the session "Resilience and sustainability assessment in Cold regions Environment". This session will be focused on one of the central issues of contemporary geography: the integration of traditional knowledge and modern science in assessing resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems at the local, national, and global scales. This issue is of special importance for extreme environments people live in and adapt to, such as cold regions including the Arctic and high mountainous regions as well as those people investigating the Antarctic environments. These regions nowadays are experiencing very rapid changes and that is why the thresholds standing on the ways for building resilient and sustainable systems should be specially analyzed and discussed at this session. We invite indigenous peoples and biophysical, socio-economic as well as cultural geographers to discuss components of resilience and sustainability necessary for assessment such as: climate change uncertainty or stability; sea ice melting; biological diversity and productivity; issues of life quality and well-being; social justice and connectedness; cultural diversity; building human capacities; issues of self-organization of the coupled socio-ecological systems and many other issues concerning Cold regions investigations such as: integrating knowledge, understanding change; earth system science and social observation; future earth-what are we hoping for?

1. Cultural dimensions in sustainability research
Benno Werlen, Friedrich Schiller Univ. of Jena, benno.werlen [at] gmail.com

Three pillars anchor much of the current literature on sustainable development: economic growth, ecological integrity, and social equality. The major cultural differences in the meanings ascribed to these three concepts have received relatively little attention. Understanding the impact of cultural interpretations is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. However, current integrated research – in and outside geography – lacks an appropriate consideration of the culturally specific interpretations of the natural world. That is, it is not sufficiently sensitive with regard to the power that cultural differences have when dealing with natural living conditions.

This call invites contributions that identify possibilities for overcoming the aforementioned weaknesses theoretically and empirically/practically. The contributions should demonstrate the importance of socio-cultural approaches in geographical sustainability research and other disciplines. Papers that discuss theoretical innovations and provide empirical findings that support the importance of the cultural dimensions of ecological problems and sustainable ways of living, are welcome.

2. Representations of nature
Karsten Gaebler, Friedrich Schiller Univ. of Jena, karsten.gaebler [at] uni-jena.de

Everyday attitudes towards the natural world are affected by culturally different representations of it. Influential images of nature are produced in both the everyday life-world (e.g. in literature, art, or popular science) and expert discourses, engendering different ideas about nature's inherent value, its boundaries, and society's relation to it. From scientific story lines (such as 'global change') and iconic images (such as climate science's famous hockey stick graph), to wildlife photography, environmental novels, and traditional local narratives, representations of nature frame our understanding of the bio-physical world, as well as our everyday 'ecological' actions.

The session will focus on representations of nature in culturally different contexts and in science and everyday life. We invite papers that discuss modern and/or traditional representational practices, their implications for environmental policies, or the conflicts resulting from encounters of (culturally) different depictions of nature and nature-society relations.

3. Sacred places and cultural identities in East Asia
Je-Hun Ryu, Korea National Univ. of Education, jhryu [at] knue.ac.kr
Shangyi Zhou, Beijing Normal Univ., twizsy [at] 163.com

The worship of mountains as embodiments of mysterious power is one of the major elements of East Asian religions (ideologies). In East Asia, revered mountains are numerous; some have been designated as nationally sacred mountains and many are worshipped locally. The intrinsic numinosity of nature – summits, cliffs, vistas, caves, springs, rocks, and trees – was the foundation on which a variety of altars, shrines and temples were built. At different times, different East Asian people have held widely varying and sometimes opposing ideas of what a sacred site on a specific mountain meant. Different cultural groups, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Shamanism, have practiced their ideologies (power) on sacred mountains to create and maintain their territories and identities.

As a place, mountains are regarded as a resource that may be relatively conducive to commercialization. As a heritage, mountains are an economic resource – exploited everywhere as a primary component of strategies to promote tourism. The meaning of a place is demarcated by identity, and is produced and exchanged through social interaction in a variety of media; it is also produced through consumption. That is, heritage sites are places of consumption and are managed to encourage consumption. The session will discuss the relationship between sacred places on mountains and cultural identities in East Asia.

The special session of the IGU Commission on Environment Evolution will be focused on studies of the landscapes evolution and human activity in different geographical regions during the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The principal lines of proposed study are: Landscape dynamics, Natural Processes and Human/environmental interaction.

The principal objectives of the session are:
- Landscape dynamics: to investigate the landscape dynamics during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene (the last 120 kyr). It will help us to assess the position of modern environments in the general evolutionary system more confidently.
- Natural Processes: to present the results of the experimental and theoretical studies in the key-regions. Selection of key regions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres has to be based on the following requirements: availability of detailed paleontological information (pollen, macrofossil, diatoms, etc); geomorphological data, paleolimnic and paleohydrological materials, dendrochronological records, radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data and the evidence about beginning of human activities.
- Human/environment Interactions: human activity in late Pleistocene and Holocene become a more and more important factor in the environment evolution system. Both evidences of human impacts on climate change and influences of climate change on human subsistence could be obtained from archaeological sites. This knowledge will help us to assess the relationship between human and environment today. A special attention will be paid to studies of human impacts on land surface – atmosphere interactions under modern environmental conditions and under different scenarios of projected future climate changes.

In accordance with the central theme of 'Scaling gender: from the body to the globe' that the Commission on Gender and Geography will focus on for 2012-2016, the various panels in this session will examine gender, both theoretically and empirically, at a range of geographical scales. We will ask questions about the relevance of scale in geography today, the politics of focusing on various scales, what it means to move between scales, and the way in which scales exist simultaneously in relation to gender but also race, ethnicity, class, caste, sexuality, culture, age, disability and other forms of difference. Interrogating these issues will enable to think about people's gendered experiences of moving between and connecting across a range of spaces such as the body, home, workplaces, educational spaces, communities, institutions, towns, cities, rural spaces, nations, continents, virtual space, and the globe.

Within this broader theme, we particularly welcome papers that will pay attention to the topics of intersectionality; sexualities, sex, space and place; as well as teaching and learning, theory and practice. The sessions will culminate in two panel discussions that will hopefully identify key emerging issues within the broader theme of 'Scaling gender: from the body to the globe' that should the subject of fruitful investigation and debate for feminist geographers in the next few years.

Within the context of the main theme for the 2013 IGU Kyoto Regional Conference "traditional wisdom and modern knowledge for the earth's future", the History of Geography Commission and the Gender and Geography Commission plan to organize a joint session "History of Geography, Geographical Thought and Gender." As decades of vibrant scholarship, including feminist scholarship, have revealed the social processes and the power relations that produce them, both of traditional wisdom and modern knowledge, are neither universal nor neutral. Geographical knowledge is no exception. Over the years we have witnessed a comprehensive critique of geographical traditions in several sub-disciplines within academic geography. In this joint session, we re-consider the production, transformation and distribution of geographical knowledge – academic and non-academic – from a gender perspective. Papers using a gender perspective are welcome especially in relation to:

- reconsiderations of the history of academic geography and alternative histories of geography;
- critical reflections on geographical concepts (e.g. place, space, home, boundaries, landscape);
- the myriad ways in which geographical knowledge – academic and non-academic – has been produced and embodied in society.

Participants are welcome to submit abstracts on the topics listed above, but are not limited to those mentioned. Other topics and papers concerning "History of Geography, Geographical Thought and Practice, and Gender" are also welcome.

1. Traditional wisdom and modern knowledge in geography teaching for the earth’s future
John Lidstone, Queensland Univ. of Technology, j.lidstone [at] qut.edu.au

Geography teaching and research in geography education evolve as times are changing and old and new knowledge meet. What wisdom in the field of geography in education do we bring with us to the new contexts of tomorrow? Do we have a consensus about geography teaching for the earth’s future or do we focus on different strategies? How do we involve our geography colleagues and students in different parts of the world in bringing old and new knowledge together for the earth’s future?

2. Maintaining indigenous perspectives in school curricula
Koji Ohnishi, Univ. of Toyama, ohnishik [at] hmt.u-toyama.ac.jp

Not only the geography of every country is different, also geography teaching is different from country to country. It is good to see what the similarities and differences in geography teaching between countries are and why they are as they are. Can we learn from each other ? And can we agree on the key messages for young people in the world of today and tomorrow?

3. Didactics and pedagogy in geographical education
Joop van der Schee, Vrije Univ. Amsterdam, j.a.vander.schee [at] vu.nl

Modern technology and growing international communication offer many opportunities for new ways of teaching geography worldwide. What evidence in the field of research in the geography education is it worthwhile to use? Does the use of computers and computer software really improve geography in education? What is the strength of non-technological approaches? Can we use the possibilities of new media to co-operate better and to exchange good practices more effectively? What should be the agenda for the years to come?

4. Perspectives in geographical education
Clare Brooks, Univ. of London, C.Brooks [at] ioe.ac.uk

Changes in the geographical sciences, in pedagogy and in society all have their impact on geography teaching but is the future of planet earth really the main teaching goal in geography education? Alternative and creative practices, at a national and international level, in the field of future studies and geography teaching will be discussed, along with their potential to put geography on the agenda for years to come and to inspire young people to think and act geographically.

GIScience is now broadly used to conduct research in geography and other academic disciplines. To help understand global issues, GIScience provide a powerful tool to understand and analyze the phenomena. We interpret "global studies" broadly, including topics on theoretical, methodological development in GIScience for the study of regions and related empirical applications

The existing modes of governance are often results of search for the best possible combination of traditions and innovations. We should understand how traditional forms of governance can be successfully incorporated into changing governance at the local and regional level. There are many traditional governance structures and actors that are active, as well as those that were replaced under the pressure of social changes. New developments are accompanied by new institutional arrangements, new actors and their networks. It is important to know, to which extent localities and regions are adopting their governance and protect their role in serving needs of the people. Such "needs" as democracy, service delivery, local development, local resources sustainability, or quality of life in urban or rural environment face challenges of societal transformations, administrative reforms, inter- governmental shifts, or various kinds of global processes. Comparative and country studies, as well as case studies addressing the latest changes in governance are especially important in times of crisis, when needs of various groups of people are threatened.

This session explores the cultural geographies of ICT in the Mediterranean Region, such as the relationship between cultural identity and language, power, history, and technology. Also relevant is discussion of the ways that ICT shapes the identity of people and places, and how new technologies reflect traditional cultural landscapes.

The relation between tourism and environment has interested geographers for a long time. More recently global change has emerged as a major discussion in tourism geographies with multitude of links with sustainability. Global change affects the basis of the tourism system through numerous sets of ecological, social, cultural, economic and political transformations. This session aims to discuss the relation between global change, tourism and sustainability. Papers may focus on both the theory and practice of tourism geographies, sustainability and global change in local, regional and/or global scales.

Tourism is commonly looked on as having favourable economic and social impacts, introducing new, external sources of income and opportunities for work. In the context of a core-periphery system, tourism can transfer wealth from the richer urbanised areas to the poorer peripheral regions and it can also act as a promoter of modernisation in less-developed regions. As a result, tourism is widely used in regional development processes and projects, especially in peripheral areas which have faced major challenges in the past decades. However, the desired goals of community and regional development are not always met in tourism which may also have social, economic and environmental costs. This session aims to discuss the challenges of the economic transition process of peripheries towards tourism and the complex relationships between tourism, regional development and local communities.

Taking up the theme of the conference, tradition and modernity, this session will look into ways of heritage interpretation and imagery, but also examine possible conflicts between heritage conservation and tourism. Heritage tourism also has turned to the redundant or disappearing spaces of modernity like old urban and industrial landscapes and increasingly includes dark heritage that reminds the visitor of disasters and wars. While exploring these varieties, critical questions about who owns, who creates and who sells heritage and culture could also be addressed.

Since the de-industrialisation of many urban areas in Western societies, tourism has become a tool for regenerating urban environments through the creation of urban tourism production and consumption spaces. Tourism is also increasingly used in place promotion and competition in urban contexts. Recently, tourism-related urban transformations have been influenced by a wider set of tourism mobilities, creating a multitude of changes in urban settings and new ways of producing and consuming urban tourism and related activities. This session aims to address how current urban transformations and an emergent 'mobilities turn' can be spatialised in urban tourism geographies. Presenters may also address a need to develop new kinds of approaches, methodologies and theories in urban tourism studies.

Over the past decade, Asia has been a major driver of the global economy in general, and tourism in particular. At the same time, Asia covers such a vast territory from among the most rural to the most urban, and from the warmest tropical waters to dry deserts and frozen tundra. This session includes papers that provide insight into both the diverse and the shared tourism experiences of Asia.

The triple-catastrophe of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in Northern Japan on March 11, 2011 has once again recalled the risks our societies face. In the aftermath of the catastrophe, international tourism to Japan almost came to a standstill. On the other hand, tourism infrastructure like hotels and tour busses played an important role in transporting and housing evacuees. Volunteers from all around the country, as a special type of tourists, helped to clean up debris and start the rebuilding process. Resilience has since become a keyword for recovery. The tsunami and its aftermath in Sumatra 2004 has shown similar complexity. This session will look into the multiple relations between tourism, risks, disasters and resilience.

While visits to locations of films and novels have long been an established sector of the tourism market, in recent year this phenomena has spread to include anime, manga and even video games. Travel based on media contents has the potential to attract younger tourists and to cross the divide between virtual and real spaces. It is also discussed as a tool for regional development and for active tourism, where fans of manga and anime become involved in the creation of destination images, products and services. In Asia, where Asian-made popular culture is increasingly crossing borders, it even induces international tourism flows. This session will look into potentials, issues and theories of all kind of media-based tourism.

International migrations are generally motivated by imbalances in labor markets and salary levels around the world. Political and environmental causes could also play a critical role, due to personal safety and integrity concerns. But these factors are not more important than cultural, psychological and behavioral considerations, which have been subject of analysis and have enriched the theoretical framework of the human mobility during the last years. From this point of view, it is interesting to analyze how the migratory experiences are shaped by gender, age, marital status and profession; how the emotions attach individuals to the material and social worlds; how the community social practices are guided more by affective and symbolic motivations than by instrumental rationality; or how the migrant acquires a sense of national identity. Contributions on the mentioned topics are welcome.

After a long post-fordist restructuring process, the capitalism without borders has contributed to a deep recession that is creating uncertainty beyond the pure economic effects. In this context, we ask ourselves how this financial situation is affecting one of the most important areas of the Geography: the human mobility and its framework. Several researchers are studying the complexity of the current migratory trends from a regional point of view. Their first conclusions are that human mobility, thanks to its ability of putting together locations and societies as well as local and global processes, poses some challenges for the citizens to overcome difficulties and frontiers in spite of the economic situation. At the same time, we start to discern a change in the dimensions and characteristics of international mobility in some regional areas. The main purpose of the session is therefore to highlight the spatial differences of human mobility in times of economic crisis. Participants are welcome to submit abstracts on these topics.

There are five main areas of endeavor for the 2012-2016 Commission, including to improve links with related agencies working in geographical approach for hazard and risk. The aim is to promote round tables for discussions on risk management and to contribute to social interchange. We will discuss the six sessions, such as, geo-hazards, atmosphere-related hazards, ecosystem and biotic interactions with natural catastrophes, disaster prevention and early warning system, risk assessment and risk communication, disaster risk and conflict. Geo-hazards include land slide, coastal erosion, volcanic hazard and also earthquake with liquefaction and Tsunami. Regarding to social dimension, risk assessment should be more discussed with risk communication and also there are risk and conflict in mega city. Eastern Japan Mega earthquake and Tsunami issue is welcome to our session.

Geo-hazards include flooding, storm surge, subsidence, coastal erosion, land slide, debris flow, volcanic hazards, earthquake with liquefaction and Tsunami etc. Asia-Pacific region is one of the vulnerable zones of geo-hazards in the worlds. The number of low frequency and huge damage disaster occurrence has been increasing in Asia and Pacific region, South America and Europe. In this session, geo-hazards will be discussed with human impacts and their impacts on human society.

Atmosphere-related hazards such as floods, droughts, strong winds are among the most devastating calamities in the world. Usually they have also very high impact on human society, infrastructure, etc. In the second session, we shall concentrate on analysis of mechanisms of the atmosphere-related hazards, their frequency and geographical distribution, combination of various disasters, as well as risks for society and economy.

Eco-systems with natural catastrophes are important for understanding of natural environmental change in short period under natural catastrophes. Most environmental problems and catastrophes in nature conservation are caused by human-induced activities. Natural hazards have a highly destructive potential as well, but up to now very few irreversible impacts on ecosystems and organisms were detected. E.g. extremely few plant and animal species have become extinct by them. The third session will aim to give examples of natural hazards and their various potentials as well as observed impacts on environmental components. Ecological risk to landscape and organisms may also be the result of combined natural-human effects.

In the view of the future disaster reduction, we need to prepare disaster prevention system and early warning system based on long term period hydrologic simulation based on observed and reliable data, and long term period precipitation probability. We will discuss about disaster prevention and early warning system concerning with flood, storm surge, Tsunami, Typhoon, cyclone, hurricane etc. in this session.

Risk zoning and risk assessment are important issues for regional planning toward to avoidance of calamity and disaster mitigation. In this session, we aim to discuss the risk assessment methodology related with remote sensing related to GIS, mapping methodology of disaster risk, risk zoning and hazard map etc. How to manage risk avoidance and traditional engineering works for disaster mitigation is next step for promoting risk communication in the future. Within the context of the main theme for KRC2013 "traditional wisdom and modern knowledge for the earth's future," the traditional disaster prevention work and local community activities with risk communication will be discussed in this session. Risk assessment and vulnerability assessment issues are including to principal components and also preparedness and response/relief with risk communication.

Regarding to social dimension, disaster risk has been increasing in mega city and surrounding area. In this session, extreme events in natural environment and society should be discussed.

In this session, we will focus on recent divastating floods and droughts occurred in the Asian Pacific region where more than 60% world population is living. We will also discuss expected future changes of climate-related risk and hazard in this region within the 21st century based on future climate projection.

The Commissions on Applied Geography and on Health and Environment will organize a joint session on applied GIS and spatial analysis for health research. The Commissions welcome papers with broad themes on health GIS including health planning and epidemiological analysis in GIS environments. All types of spatial modelling approaches are also welcome. We particularly invite papers which have a relevance to public planning agendas.

Our Commission plans to organize a themed session to contemplate over how different geographical languages and discourses have been deployed in the material and representational construction of modern spaces and places, and how the materiality of modern social life has in turn shaped those languages and discourses. The concept of “geographical modernities” refers thus not only to the differentiated modern spaces and places, but also to modern academic and non-academic geographical discourses themselves. Papers are welcome especially dealing with:

- relationships between the history of geography and material objects, institutions and localities;
-critical reflections on various geographical languages (written texts, maps, photographs, paintings, engravings and others);
- material cultures and the production, circulation and consumption of geographical knowledges;
- imaginative geographies in academia and broader society;
- academic and non-academic geographers and the planning and development of cities, regions and countryside.

Participants are welcome to submit abstracts on the topics listed above, but are not limited to those mentioned.

Within the context of the main theme for the 2013 IGU Kyoto Regional Conference “traditional wisdom and modern knowledge for the earth's future”, the History of Geography Commission and the Gender and Geography Commission plan to organize a joint session “History of Geography, Geographical Thought and Gender.” As decades of vibrant scholarship, including feminist scholarship, have revealed the social processes and the power relations that produce them, both of traditional wisdom and modern knowledge, are neither universal nor neutral. Geographical knowledge is no exception. Over the years we have witnessed a comprehensive critique of geographical traditions in several sub-disciplines within academic geography. In this joint session, we re-consider the production, transformation and distribution of geographical knowledge - academic and non-academic - from a gender perspective. Papers using a gender perspective are welcome especially in relation to:

- reconsiderations of the history of academic geography and alternative histories of geography;
- critical reflections on geographical concepts (e.g. place, space, home, boundaries, landscape);
- the myriad ways in which geographical knowledge - academic and non-academic - has been produced and embodied in society.

Participants are welcome to submit abstracts on the topics listed above, but are not limited to those mentioned. Other topics and papers concerning "History of Geography, Geographical Thought and Practice, and Gender" are also welcome.

With the official end of colonisation across the globe in the 20th century, we are meant to be in an era where the shackles and remnants of this era have been cast aside. However as the experiences of many Indigenous peoples around the world testify, there remains not only a powerful history of colonisation which impacts on the present, but there are many contemporary policies and practices which continue to inscribe unequal colonial relationships. One of the many vehicles by which colonisation was effected as well as one of the current ways of re-inscribing colonial relationships is through planning - be it urban, regional, resource or other forms of deliberate government intervention into land use systems and resource allocation. However, planning also offers at least some Indigenous communities the means by which identities can be asserted and better outcomes delivered. This session invites all of those who are working in this post-colonial space, engaging with the history and current operation of the planning system, to present papers on their work. Papers are therefore invited with consider: The role of planning in colonisation; Planning as a contemporary tool of neo-colonisation; Planning as a vehicle for achieving post-colonial objectives.

The term "community development" can refer to many different practices based on varied theoretical frameworks. In general, though, community development attempts to empower individuals and groups to effect positive changes in their community. In Canada, leading Indigenous theorist Gerald Taiaiake Alfred has argued that current approaches to empowering First Nations communities through self-government and economic development in fact entrench both dependency and assimilation. He argues that solutions to Indigenous development lie in decolonization and the regeneration of First Nations communities around land-based cultural practices. Other researchers found that significant opportunities exist for Indigenous people to make collective decisions about matters affecting their lives, particularly in cities. These opportunities come about when Aboriginal people develop organizations to address their own needs and priorities, albeit often within the limitations of existing legislation and programming. This session calls for papers that explore theoretical frameworks for Indigenous community development and/or provide examples of practices adapted to meet the needs of Indigenous communities across different local and national scales.

Recent disasters around the Pacific's 'Ring of Fire' have emphasised the risks all inhabitants face from ever-present natural hazards and their recurring disasters. Several events stand out for the scale of destruction and the severity of disruption to affected communities: tsunamis in Japan (2011) and Samoa (2009), and a series of earthquakes in Christchurch (2010-11). Climate change is expected to exacerbate flooding and bushfire hazards in Australia and sea-level rise is a daunting challenge for the Pacific Islands. Indigenous communities often find themselves more at risk to such hazards through histories of marginalisation, discrimination and poverty despite these communities possessing extensive knowledge of local hazards and maintaining collective memories of past disasters. This session aims to bring together aspects of Indigenous knowledge relevant to reducing exposure and surviving disasters. Contemporary experiences will also be examined for response and recovery approaches. In particular attention will be drawn to the increasing urbanisation of Indigenous communities which exposes them to new and emerging risks.

Sustaining resilient landscapes has been the central concern of humanity's systematic exploration of nature since the dawn of our species. Indigenous peoples, particularly those who maintain a strong connection with their territory through subsistence or sustainable agriculture, continue to use their own scientific methods for understanding and maintaining their lands. This deep spatial knowledge of Indigenous communities fully integrates humans into the natural world and its processes. In a similar manner, the transdisciplinary project know as sustainability science has, over the past couple of decades, developed a similar viewpoint to Indigenous science in recognizing the dynamic nature of social-ecological systems. It has also begun to identify useful methods from a number of disciplinary traditions toward understanding how anthropogenic changes to the environment might be mitigated. Unfortunately, despite holding a similar vision of sustaining resilient landscapes, Indigenous and sustainability sciences have not entered into dialogue on how to accomplish this goal. With our common shared interest in sustaining resilient landscapes we must explore the best practices of both the transdisciplinary approaches of sustainability science and the ontologically distinct traditions within Indigenous science toward reaching this common goal. Can these two paradigms work together? If so, what new insights might be gained through the incorporation of Indigenous science and its placed observations? What new or newly adapted methods will be required in order to meet the challenges that face humanity? This session will address the intersection of Indigenous and sustainability sciences and explore strategies geared toward bridging this ontological divide.

While some authors question whether Indigenous self-administration, endogenous governance and various degrees of collaborative management will lead to Indigenous self-determination, others evaluate the opportunities which are opened by such limited expressions of autonomy. Participants in this session will consider the challenges to Indigenous decision-making, the conditions for long-term success and the nature of the relationship between self-determined governance and community responsibility. They will explore whether experiments in autonomous governance promote responsible governance, collective efficacy, governance capacity, ownership of and action against significant problems of Indigenous concern and the conditions for conflict resolution and progressive collaborations. Likewise, the session calls for presentations which explore the risks of engaging with the more limited expressions of autonomy for Indigenous activism and for the over-arching goal of self-determination. Although both the potential and the pitfalls of those expressions has most often been realised within natural resource management, the session will be open to papers in that arena along with those engaging with other spheres of Indigenous political life.

As bounded arenas, islands have facilitated examination of structural forces and mechanisms of interaction and change in term of Sustainability since 1980s. Bringing all the related themes together in islands sustainability geographic studies and international collaborative projects is becoming an increasing urgent task　in a rapidly and unevenly globalizing world.

The sessions of sustainability on islands in the 2013 KRC will include on Topics:
- Environmental / Ecological Dimension on Islands Sustainability ;
- Social / Cultural Dimension on Islands Sustainability ;
- Economical Dimension on Islands Sustainability.

Besides, the IGU Commission on Islands also seeks to work together with related IGU Commissions and Task Forces in promoting on inland development issues in the 2013 Kyoto Regional Conference.

The demand for geography training in Latin America is increasing, this is reflected when is viewed as the place where the great civilizing native societies of our continent as the Aztec, Maya and Inca ordered his territory and also, archaic societies from Rio Grande to Patagonia that territorialized in space - time their wild and extreme physical geography.

The Commission for Latin American Studies, aims to study Latin America in space and time, socio-spatial transformations that have been taking place in our continent, from a critical perspective with endogenous relationships (intra - continental) and exogenous to the other continents or sub-continents (North America, Asia, Africa and Europe).

Crisis management of socio - territorial problems generated by socio-historical-environmental that exist in our space and time called Latin America are the events that have given our interest in power relations between the political organization of society and geographical space at different scales in Latin America.

The Latin American Geography is no stranger to all world events because in the past, our new states - nation to independence began to inventory their natural resources, to organize their territories according to their changing needs, for that Geography of the time with profile a cartographic was the main weapon of domination as it was in the centuries of the colony on indigenous peoples and minorities as well as racial and religious transformations through which culture is produced and everyday cultural practices of individuals and communities, as expressed in institutions, subjectivities and social movements.

The interaction of the Committee on Latin American Studies will be with the following themes selected by Latin American researchers, which are

This session aims to investigate the current issues regarding local development in Japan. Japan has been a country where Tokyo dominates politically, economically and socially for a long time. At the time when the population of the country is aging and shrinking, the country is facing unprecedented challenges. It is critical to examine what is happening in the country and how to interpret it in terms of local development. This session will be organized in collaboration with the session on Management Geography in the Commission on Dynamics of Economic Spaces.

These three sessions provide a forum for the study of issues related to such matters as local and regional development, reorganization of space, local development in the urban and rural space, and the role of both institutions and agencies in developing and reshaping the settled space.
All these issues are studied in developing and developed regions and nations. The perception and attitudes towards local development may be different in different countries. In some places the local development theme is closely related to rural and non-metropolitan development, in other parts of the world it is related to the establishment and development of new towns, to spatial form of entrepreneurship, or to the evolution of new cores of sophisticated high-tech activities. The Commission's aim is to amalgamate such debates within the various sessions.

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Papers on the broad issue of local and regional development with a regional focus on the Mediterranean Region are welcome. Decades of globalization and neo-liberal interventions aimed at attracting FDI and opening local markets, as well as place-based and local actors' initiatives, shaped and are challenging traditional Mediterranean economic space, social relations, infrastructures and regional development. Dialectics of improved local conditions, deepening of regional and social disparities, interplay of big players, local governments, civil society, foreign investments, need to be fully explored and critically mapped in this region.

Work done over the past years has revealed that the concept of marginality must be viewed from various perspectives as it is a complex and dynamic phenomenon. While marginalization tends to increase with the current socio-economic and political processes of globalization and deregulation, it is never a unidirectional process, as a look back into history since the Industrial Revolution demonstrates. It is also a relative concept that depends on the prevailing socio-economic and political systems and on the scale of observation. We would like to invite participants to present their methodological and theoretical views on marginality, marginalization, globalization and structural bonds between them. We intend to devote one 90 minutes time slot to a workshop about the definition of marginality and marginalization. Formal presentations within the workshop will be shorter and the discussion among participants will be the core essence of the workshop.

Papers dealing with questions such as what are the consequences of globalization on people and places with special regard on areas and people outside the mainstream and how can we critically evaluate them (considering both urban and rural marginalized people and areas – including physically marginalized areas such as mountain environments) are also welcome.

One of important topics that correspond with the KRC main theme is the role of traditional knowledge and practices within marginality and globalization context. We are specifically interested in case studies showing how traditional wisdom in combination with modern knowledge can offer different responses to cope with marginalization and negative effects of globalization. Other examples of regional and local responses to marginalization and globalization are also welcome, especially those dealing with marginality in urban areas.

Many rural areas all over the world in the South as well as in the North are by the definition remote, disadvantaged with population struggling for survival at the edge of the system (economic as well as social). Inventive survival strategies that have a potential to evolve into developmental actions and may be of a fundamental meaning for designing appropriate developmental policy are of special interest when we have to deal with marginal rural areas. Therefore we expect contributions that will present examples of good practice, analytical studies that reveal the dynamics of economic rise or decay of the above described areas as well as case studies with synthetic overview of social, economic and environmental characteristics of marginal rural areas with special regard on the effects of developmental policy or its absence.

Papers on the broad issue of local and regional development with a regional focus on the Mediterranean Region are welcome. Decades of globalization and neo-liberal interventions aimed at attracting FDI and opening local markets, as well as place-based and local actors' initiatives, shaped and are challenging traditional Mediterranean economic space, social relations, infrastructures and regional development. Dialectics of improved local conditions, deepening of regional and social disparities, interplay of big players, local governments, civil society, foreign investments, need to be fully explored and critically mapped in this region.

We welcome papers from the Political Geography perspective on the issue of cooperation and regional change in inner seas. The joint session is aimed to attract papers focused on theoretical implications of regional cooperation for Political Geography, and vice versa papers focused on spatialities of regional change and cooperation stemmed out from contemporary evolutions of Political Geographies in inner seas.

Papers in this session focus on the cognitive aspect of spatial behavior. Topics include spatial thinking, geographical education, cognition and navigation.

Contemporary borders undergo a permanent process of de-territorialisation / re-territorialisation. They do not disappear. But the very location of the border is increasingly open to question. This mobility is the core issue/problem of several border areas. Debordering / Rebordering processes involve selective and hierarchical processes on borderlands. We experience a multiplycity of forms and processes of materialization of borders themselves. The concept of mobile borders has become a major issue of contemporary border research. In some areas the spatial inscription of borders and their visibility appear difficult to define. Borders, as for example in the EU, become more fluid, open or fuzzy. On the other hand, as nation-state interests shift, and power relations change borders become an issue of renewed negotiation and conceptualisation. Inherited borders, often the result of bilateral or international peace treaties (often as enforced borders), are becoming instability factors as political, economic and/or cultural interest come in foreground of interest. Hard-core borders, meaning closed borders or semi-closed borders appear in growing numbers.

After the main conference, the Commission on Political Geography will organize a field trip to Okinawa where US military bases are concentrated. For the information about the trip, please look at: http://www.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/user/yamataka/IGUKRC_2ndCFP.pdf

We welcome papers from the Political Geography perspective on the issue of cooperation and regional change in inner seas. The joint session is aimed to attract papers focused on theoretical implications of regional cooperation for Political Geography, and vice versa papers focused on spatialities of regional change and cooperation stemmed out from contemporary evolutions of Political Geographies in inner seas.

The catalytic role that transnational migrants play in transforming the city can be grasped not only in the increase in population diversity but also in the creation of new possibilities and limits in cosmopolitan civic life. In opening this statement up to the analytical gaze, it is important to take into account not only transnational migrants circulating in the upper circuits of 'talent' and 'business' migration, but also a wider range of the more numerically dominant migration streams including labour migrants, marriage migrants and educational migrants. This creates unparalleled opportunities to interrogate a multiplicity of contact zones in the city including new spatial patterns of (in)equality and segregation/concentration, new encounters of intimacy and prejudice, new modes of hybridity and fusion, and new practices of coexistence and forms of conflict. In short, immigration and in particular transnational modes of migration of varying degrees of permanence and transience – has become a compelling force not only in increasing diversity in cities but in challenging us to formulate vocabularies, discourses and practices that go beyond the unimaginative language of assimilation, acculturation and integration embedded in much of migration theory. Among the many possibilities and trajectories, we would like to highlight experiences, encounters, modes and practices of interaction that foster cosmopolitan sensibilities and openness in urban life among locals and migrants at different scales, including the family, the neighbourhood and the city. We would also like to explore the ways in which urban planning and public policy making shape the contours of migrants' negotiation over urban space and 'rights to the city' and in doing so promote or retard cosmopolitan possibilities in cities.

The aim of the session is to discuss the consequences of the current move by numerous countries from traditional decennial censuses to population register and targeted surveys. This move has many advantages but also potential drawbacks for population geographers: some variables that were collected for decades disappear as they are not recorded in population registers, some populations might be underrepresented, and surveys might be inadequate to study phenomenon such as ethnic, professional or cultural discrimination at a detailed geographical scale.

The session aim is threefold: - Establish a state of the art of data collection trends and of the move toward post-census data collection systems;
- Exchange experiences about the positive and negative aspects of that move for population geographers;
- Establish a "best-practice" list that would clarify the needs of population geographers and that would be useful for statistical offices worldwide.

The amount of empirical research focusing on the link between environmental degradation and forced migration in order to forecast the migratory consequences of global warming has risen significantly in recent years. The variety of empirical methods used by researchers is impressive, ranging from qualitative interviews and historical analogies to questionnaire surveys and highly sophisticated statistical methods. This session will attempt at an overview of recent empirical results as well as at a critical assessment of different methodologies.

Different countries, regions and cities are experiencing different paces and patterns of population change driven by migration and changes in mortality and fertility. Some countries and regions are experiencing rapid population growth and urbanization while others are facing population decline. These different trends of population changes have profound consequences for social and economic development. The aim of this session is to examine emerging trends of population changes in different countries, regions and cities and discuss the social impacts of such population changes. Each paper can focus on a particular case and all participants can exchange and compare the processes, patterns, social impacts and policy options of population change in different parts of the world.

The session has three aims:
- Analyse emerging processes and main drivers of population changes in different countries, regions and cities;
- Examine the social and economic impact of emerging trends of population changes;
- Discuss policy options for solving the challenges brought by population changes.

Since Malthus, reciprocal linkages between population growth and the use of resources are discussed. In the current debate about the future development of living conditions on earth optimists and pessimists are facing each other contrary. However, there is also the view that pessimists exaggerate and optimists underestimate the challenges to the availability of resources that arise from the future population development with continued high absolute annual increases despite continued declining growth rates. Mid-2012, prices for wheat and corn augmented significantly worldwide and approached the high level of 2008. This recent increase also raise again fears of a declining security of food supply. Already in 2009, the causes for the rise in prices was manifold: On the one hand locally/regionally effective factors such as poor harvests, the lack of land for agricultural use or the lack of incentives for investment in agricultural production played a decisive role. On the other hand influences of global range were detected such as speculation in commodity markets, export restrictions as well as agricultural subsidies to promote exports of countries. Among the multifaceted trajectories on different spatial scales we would like to explore the influences of local/regional development as well as the social context and factors which are effective on a global scale. We would also like to highlight strategies of private households with regard to local/regional prerequisites.

The impacts of global economic processes are marked in the case of agricultural production and food which are increasingly regulated by international bodies. At the same time, alternative forms of food production, including organic farming, are assuming growing importance both locally and in the international market. Papers are invited on themes surrounding sustainability in the context of agriculture and food production under the following headings:
- Agriculture in a global environmental change
- Alternative forms of food production, consumer demand and quality of food
- New functions of rural areas for environmental services in the global green economy
- Agricultural policies and rural policies in sustainable development
- Natural resource management in rural areas
- Climatic change impact in rural areas

Land use involves productive roles, a wide range of conservation and recreational activities, as well as service functions such as water supply and waste disposal. In such contexts, sustainability evokes values that are not just economic but social and cultural also. At a local level, tensions between competing land uses are issues of particular concern in many countries. Some rural areas are characterised by growth in population and settlement and diversification of their social structures through immigration of both new residents and return migrants. Others are experiencing a cycle of decline. Again, these rural demographic changes affect on social restructuring processes and land use systems as well. Papers are invited on themes tackling land use systems and rural demographic changes under the following headings:
- Competing land uses, multi-functionality and dynamism of rural areas
- Geographic mobility and its impact on rural community structure
- Depopulation, ageing and rural decline
- Rural tourism and agriculture

Globalization offers both opportunities and challenges to rural societies. The opportunities include improved access to information and the creation of employment based on new technologies at greater distances from major centers of economic activity. The physical isolation of many rural areas is also now offset by improved transport systems. The promotion of places and their products is facilitated by information and communication technologies and in the process new markets are accessed. A new agribusiness and international trade on local agricultural systems would be one of these opportunities. Papers are invited on themes dealing with opportunities and challenges in the context of new agribusiness on local agricultural systems and people under the following headings:
- Agribusiness, commodity markets and challenges for rural sustainability
- Agriculture devoted to industry and energy competing with food production
- Consumer markets, quality products, aggregated value and rural sustainability

Increased attention is given internationally to finding more appropriate forms of governance in order to promote the social and economic well being of residents in rural settings. Internationally, a wide range of new networks and alliances between governmental and non-governmental organizations, actors and leaderships are emerging. This session is intended to provide an opportunity for the sharing of experiences of local governance and the role of social capital in promoting rural development from a wide range of international perspectives. Papers are invited on themes surrounding sustainability in the context of rural governance and localities:
- Governance in rural development: theoretical perspectives
- Social capital and rural development
- Rural-urban interaction and social networks
- Role of local actors and institutions in rural governance processes

Many rural areas all over the world in the South as well as in the North are by the definition remote, disadvantaged with population struggling for survival at the edge of the system (economic as well as social). Inventive survival strategies that have a potential to evolve into developmental actions and may be of a fundamental meaning for designing appropriate developmental policy are of special interest when we have to deal with marginal rural areas. Therefore we expect contributions that will present examples of good practice, analytical studies that reveal the dynamics of economic rise or decay of the above described areas as well as case studies with synthetic overview of social, economic and environmental characteristics of marginal rural areas with special regard on the effects of developmental policy or its absence.

Place names are not only the most widely used reference framework for indicating location, they are also a reflection of cognition, culture and history. Thus they provide a rich material for geographical research. We would like to invite insightful papers on all aspects of research in the field of place names, including, but not limited to topics regarding; functions of place names on maps, rendering of place names on maps, names placement on maps, elaborating principles for creating new place names, place names as expression of time- or space-related identity, place name/feature relations, motives for place naming, place names and administration, place names and transportation, place names in the cyber world, social dimensions of place names, uses of toponyms for school education.

Chair: Frauke Kraas, Germany
E-mail: f.kraas [at] uni-koeln.de

Session proposal:

1. Social transformation processes in megacities
Frauke Kraas, f.kraas [at] uni-koeln.de
Lee Boon Thong, boonthong.lee [at] gmail.com

2. Economic transformation processes in megacities
Frauke Kraas, f.kraas [at] uni-koeln.de
TBD

The development of transport has great impact on urban and regional changes. In this session, we discuss the relationships between them both quantitatively and qualitatively. Furthermore we invite the discussion on how the transport mobility and accessibility can bring about changes in the socio-economic spatial structure of a region through the analysis of flows and networks.

The development of transport has great impact on urban and regional changes. In this session, we discuss the relationships between them both quantitatively and qualitatively. Furthermore we discuss the role of transport on the development of tourism through sea, surface and air transportation.

Transport systems in Asia and Australasia are quite different from those in the western world. We encourage discussing the characteristics of transport pattern and process in Asia and Australasia. Empirical studies are welcomed.

Here we focus on East Asia including Japan, Korea, and China and discuss transport infrastructure, network structure, human and commodity movement, traffic modes and means, the role of transportation in the society and so forth. Empirical studies are welcomed.

Urban systems have seen radical changes in the last decades and will continue to do so. How are the various national, continental and global urban systems changing - in such features as city size, economic specialization, migration, interactions through social, economic, communication and transport networks and control functions? What processes and differential development paths are involved and how have different government policies affected these changes? Previous urban commissions have produced a large body of work on the urban systems of individual countries. This work will be extended to incorporate updated national and international comparisons and the accelerated growth of a limited number of global command centres in the highly connected world of electronic communications, finance, trade, and rapid travel. In addition, we must seek solutions for those cities that are left behind by these changes.

Urban economies are evolving quickly, with the growth of the service sectors and new activities in science, technology, communication, media, design and art. How do these activities specialize within some cities and how do these new clusters integrate within urban economic, social and environmental development? Can we quantify smart cities or specific urban creative activities? Can one identify life cycles of cities in these economic trends? Does this growth benefit the entire city or does it increase polarisation and fragmentation in the development of urban areas? Does it alter the shape and structures of urban areas and does it lead to new forms of urban societies?

The increasingly multi-layered social and ethnic character of cities has led to more intricate life spaces within cities, and potential conflicts among the various groups. Since many multinational communities, either diasporas or cosmopolitans, combine transnational links and strong intra-community cohesion, they may threaten other communities. How can we measure these new patterns and changes and make effective international comparisons? Where and when do conflicts emerge? How can differences between the various actors in these spaces be reconciled, ensuring that local communities are themselves empowered, rather than simply passive recipients of change from forces beyond their control, and that all groups are able to live in tolerance with one another?

Can sustainability be tackled at the urban scale? What progress is being made by cities around the world in the development of new programmes and policies to create more environmentally and socially sustainable areas? How can these solutions be evaluated at various spatial scales? What are the emerging best practices in cities, from smart growth to green solutions etc., and what are the problems that restrict progress in implementing these more effective policies?

A serious new problem has emerged in some cities of the developed world. The declining birth rate of industrialized countries is creating many settlements with increasingly aging populations. What are the effects of this trend upon the functions and character of these cities, especially their infrastructures and levels of social provision? What policies are emerging in cities around the world affected by this problem to cope with these changes? How can the so-called shrinking cities manage their future?

In the past, cities survived because of their ability to create secure environments for their citizens. In many contemporary cities crime rates, anti-social behaviour and ethnic conflict threaten to make them less liveable, despite higher levels of surveillance, and apparent solutions such as gated communities, which create more private spaces and segregation. Part of the explanation for these trends may be unequal income distributions in which the lower income groups struggle to survive or maintain their position and the wealthy create exclusive areas. Several key problems emerge from these changes. How we can best conceptualize and measure these new forms of insecurity and more compartmentalised spaces? How do we make international and national comparisons of the increasing inequalities within cities and the levels of insecurities? Can we apply the best practices of cities that have successfully overcome these problems to other cities and societies, as well as linking these problems to our understanding of the new forms of urban social spaces?

The distinctive identity of many cities and societies depends upon their historical heritage, as expressed in their built fabric. How can these identities be understood and interpreted? What are the policies that support the preservation of these heritages, yet still provide liveable and affordable spaces in these areas, instead of allowing historic areas and city centres to be overwhelmed by homogenised tourism?

It is an unfortunate, but undeniable, fact that most large urban agglomerations are not permitted to govern themselves. Control over revenues and investments is shared with other levels of government and/or fragmented among dozens of small municipal units within the metropolitan area. Inevitably these political arrangements affect the spatial structure of infrastructure and public services, including planning. We must explore the spatial issues that detract from urban governance, and investigate the utility of emerging administrative solutions seen in many countries, such as the new regionalism that seeks to provide a new spatial solution to the provision of services.

Global warming has been linked to changes in hydrological cycle, including intensity and extremes of precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff patterns. Precipitation variability is expected to increase the risk of flood and drought. These consequences are projected to affect water environment and water availability. In this session, the recent climate change effects and the future climate change projections on water resources are discussed.