Discussing Intersectional Perspectives on Spatial Transformation – Workshop of the IIG Gender and Spatial Transformation in Hannover
On April 4th and 5th, the members of the international Information and Initiative Group (IIG) “Gender and Spatial Transformation” met in Hannover to discuss intersectional perspectives in terms of justice in spatial transformations.
On the first day of our workshop, we were looking inward focussing on the work culture in our group and the respective objectives, expectations, and contributions of the individual members. We were discussing our values, boundaries and conflict resolution strategies which are going to be set out in a code of conduct.
The second day was dedicated to looking outward: after working in sub-working groups on the main concepts of the IIG – gender and intersectionality, transformation, and space – during the last year, we were finally able to discuss, revise, and integrate our preliminary work on site in order to define a common ground as a basis for our further cooperation. An important insight from the workshop was that we will not come up with a single definition for each concept, but rather emphasise our heterogeneity as a group by developing a spectrum of understandings. As a result of the workshop, we are developing a mission statement of the IIG that documents the first phase of our work, illustrating a range of our understandings of gender/intersectionality, transformation and space and systematically highlighting the connections between these concepts. The mission statement is intended to provide information about our work in order to engage with scholars and practitioners outside of the IIG and to give orientation for future activities of our group in terms of content as well as a common normative basis.
Furthermore, we discussed and prepared our future activities, e.g. the pre-organized session “It’s just about gender. Socio-ecological transformation from gender and intersectional perspectives” on the AESOP 2024 annual congress in Paris which the IIG organizes together with the ARL international working group “Gender and Climate Just Cities and Regions”.
Our next meeting will be held online on September 19th, 2024.
