Successful hosting of the PLATIAL'23 symposium
Our lab hosted the 4th International Symposium on Platial Information Science (PLATIAL'23), which took place at the Dortmunder U from 19 to 21 September. The symposium is a forum for exchange on the current state of place research at the interface of geography, information science, and related fields. Twelve papers were presented, organised in four thematic sessions entitled 'Place and Narratives', 'Conceptualisation and Representation of Place', 'Place and Planning' and 'Place and Movement'. We also welcomed two renowned keynote speakers: Agnieszka Leszczynski (Western University, Canada) and Juliane Czierpka (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany). Agnieszka Leszczynski's keynote addressed the role of platform urbanisation and the presence of the 'virtual' in the process of placemaking. Juliane Czierpka gave a historical impulse in her presentation, which dealt with the necessary inclusion of women (and other marginalised groups) in narratives about places, whose views are often not sufficiently taken into account, as shown by the example of the Ruhr. Another component of the symposium were two workshops: Liudmila Slivinskaya and Víctor Cobs-Muñoz (both from our lab) introduced delegates to the so-called Place Standard Tool, an instrument for evaluating places. This workshop involved fieldwork in the form of an exploration of Dortmund Central Station, a place currently undergoing transformation due to its reconstruction. A second workshop was held by Jose Mauricio Velazco-Londono (TU Dortmund University), who facilitated a discussion on the role of data and analysis in understanding places. Two excursions rounded off the programme: one took us to the Zollern colliery, where we enjoyed a guided tour focusing on the representation of the Ruhr region in narratives. The second excursion took the form of a walk through Nordstadt. Our keynote speaker Juliane Czierpka led this tour and introduced participants to the profound changes this area has undergone over the past 150 years.
Please find the full programme including links to all papers here: http://platial23.platialscience.net/programme/