Regional Studies Association - Winter Conference - 27th November - London, UK

Regional Studies Association
WINTER CONFERENCE 2009
Global Recession: Regional Impacts on Housing, Jobs, Health and Wellbeing
Friday 27th November 2009
London Voluntary Sector Resource Centre
356 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PA
 
Key note presentations include:
 

• Spatial Patterns of Health, Housing and Jobs
  Professor Danny Dorling, University of Sheffield, UK
• Work and Wellbeing; Regional Impacts of a Global Recession
  Dr Michelle Mahdon, The Work Foundation, UK
• On a Journey from Housing to Health: Conceptual Developments and Challenges
  Dr Emma Baker, Flinders University, Australia
• Regions and the Challenges of Sustainability and Regionalisation
  Christer Larsson, Malmö City Planning Office, Sweden
• The Geography of Subjective Happiness and Wellbeing
  Dr Dimitris Ballas, University of Sheffield, UK
• Placing the Run on Northern Rock
  Professor Andy Pike, University of Newcastle, UK

 
Workshop papers will be presented under the following topics:
 
Health and welfare at the local and regional scale
      * Happiness and wellbeing: definitions and indicators
      * Poverty, exclusion and wellbeing
      * Jobs, employment and wellbeing
      * Social impacts of housing
      * The personal, social and financial costs of housing
      * Funding public health, housing and care
      * Social justice, quality of life and standards of living
      * Healthy lifestyles and healthy living
 
In recent years, issues of health and wellbeing have come to the fore in much public debate and policymaking. These related topics appear across a number of agendas and are significant elements in employment, housing, social inclusion, and social policy fields as well as under their own strategic and delivery areas. Not only do health, health service delivery, deprivation, happiness, incomes and wealth vary across countries and national boundaries, but also there are often strong regional and indeed local and neighbourhood differences. Although there is an established and well developed research landscape in these areas, they are often bound within particular disciplines so that other related interests are unaware of their existence and relevance to their own needs.
 
There is a clear benefit, therefore, for the research in this area to be disseminated, for the spatial aspects to be identified and analysed more fully, and for links across disciplines and policy areas to be nurtured. This is all the more important following the last Winter Conference on 'Working Regions' as the global recession has started to impact on health and wellbeing directly, adding to the ongoing interests in these key policy areas. As the global economy has entered a period of prolonged recession and uncertainty, it is timely to ask questions about the implications for people's lives and livelihoods. The Regional Studies Association Winter Conference 2009 on Health, Housing, Jobs and Wellbeing presents an opportunity to discuss and debate these issues, to establish the research requirements and to address the concerns of practitioners and policymakers.
 
The conference is keen to attract papers and sessions which address a broad active research and policy agenda, including contributions from any discipline which can offer insights at local and regional levels. Papers which are collaborative, international or multi-disciplinary are especially welcome. We plan to prompt important questions about effectiveness and social impact of the delivery and consumption of health and health services, including care and caring, but also to cover studies on their production. As concerns of exclusion and patterns of inequality are often place specific, we also want to recognise the interactions between these issues and housing and jobs - embracing the quality of working lives.
 
To register your attendance, click here