open call for workshop leaders – erc 2024
Set in Mariánské Lázně, a spa town inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list as part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe, we will be studying the nature of human mobility, and how it has changed in recent years. Would you like to continue your already started research and connect it with the congress’s program? Or perhaps to introduce a problem which is relevant to the theme of Mobility shifts and guide a workshop group towards a solution, alternatively, to inspire fellow EGEAns? Become a workshop (co-) leader!
Reach out to us at » erc2024@egea.eu « or get in touch with Kryštof Richter, our scientific coordinator. The deadline for sending your application (one page document) is November 30th, 2023
Important GALA Information
- 3 workshop sessions during the week (one session 170 minutes with a 30-minute break)
- Some workshops will expand on the topics presented at lectures from professionals
- Apply by sending a document with your idea for workshop, the tools you need and goals you would like to achieve with a group of 12-20 EGEAns
Why lead a GALA workshop?
- Be an active part of the congress
- Promote and develop your scientific interest
- Improve your soft skills, gain valuable experiences
- Have a fixed place at the congress
- Get accommodated in a modern apartment for the duration of the ERC 2024
GALA Topics to choose from:
- How Covid-19 changed mobility
This workshop can approach the theme of mobility shifts from a variety of perspectives. It could focus on investigating the changes to modern urban mobility, expanding on a lecture of a mobility expert and a researcher. This could include the rise of popularity of delivery services, shifts in commuting and remote work, preferences of modes of transport, places of residence and others. Another possible areas of focus are changes in mobility of individuals – change in daily patterns and behaviors, barriers in movement, mental mapping and behavioral geography. The workshop’s aim should be to discover and compare a “pre-pandemic mobility norm” to a “post-pandemic mobility norm”.
- Internationalism in the pre-internet era
This workshop seamlessly weaves together our location and the congress theme. For over a century, the venues of Mariánské Lázně have served as meeting places of royal families and the aristocracy, important global political negotiations, for scientific gatherings, and as a place of inspiration for high-art. This proposed workshop would look at the way people gathered in the past, what communication looked like in the age before the internet. With geography merging with history, participants would explore the role the city had throughout past centuries for people coming together. Workshop’s aim should be to dive deep into geographical aspects of evolution of in-person meetings. Knowledge of Mariánské Lázně is not required.
- Satellite GALA …I mean data
In cooperation with professionals from ESA, this advanced GIS workshop expands on their lecture and explores the ways of detecting mobility shifts by remote sensing. Unique satellite images might be available to us for the workshop purposes. Programme used would be ESA’s Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP), which is free to download. Details of the workshop will depend on upcoming meetings with the scientists.
- Spas and mineral springs
The most site-specific workshop topic. Mariánské Lázně is a spa town with over 35 publicly accessible natural mineral spring sources of water, offering opportunities for EGEAns to explore. They may be sampled and checked for quality/composition or studied from a variety of different perspective, including discussions with locals and professionals. Impact of climate change on water sources and their changes could be implemented into the workshop as well.
- Noise pollution
In Mariánské Lázně, the issue of noise pollution has recently become fairly pressing due to history of three decades of suburbanization, and, therefore increased automobile density within the town center. Our congress would like to give something back to the town that is hosting us, this workshop would be devoted to measuring, analyzing, and presenting levels of noise pollution throughout few locations of the town. We would love to have an output of this workshop a noise (heat) map. If you have some experiences with collecting noise data, this is a perfect workshop for you. Alternatively, it is also a good fit for you if you know of a better way to measure noise and engage people for this topic.
One of the interiors of Chopin’s house where workshops will take place (above)
- Species migration and habitat displacement
The natural world is always on the move. We call on the physical geography enthusiasts to lead a workshop on how animals move through space and what barriers they might encounter. The effect of climate change on ecosystem boundaries, movement of plant species, the shifting of habitats and changes to animal migration may also be considered.
- The dilemma of travel
In Europe, tourist numbers are nearing pre-pandemic levels, prompting questions about our commitment to sustainability. It seems that everyone who has the means to travel, travels frequently – also applying to the demographic of our group. What are our the priorities of (young) people? Discovery or ecology?
The rise of fast- and mass- tourism, fueled by social media, forces us to confront our values. Most of us want sustainable options, but few are willing to commit to them. Are we greenwashing ourselves? How much comfort and opportunity are we willing to forego? How can we rationalize our choices? Broader scope of this workshop may also include following questions: what aspects of tourism have changed since the pandemic? What kinds of geographic data can be collected in this field and how? What is their practical application? Workshop may collaborate with team developing and maintaining travel guide app, which also collects geodata from its users – SmartGuide.
- GALA Training
Our fancy setting is the perfect opportunity to elevate our standards and manners. The training session should show egeans some of the less-known codes of etiquette and how to behave in a professional way.
- Your GALA topic!
We also encourage you to suggest a new topic you are passionate about. Best case scenario, it will be connected to the theme and/or the location of ERC 2024.
What are you waiting for? Send us an email to » erc2024@egea.eu « to realize your idea at GALA ERC 2024. We are here to give you a helping hand to make your workshop successful.
Looking forward to seeing you precisely in Mar. Lázně, central Europe
–your ERC 2024 orgateam
