Managing Space: Making Places - Strategic Planning for Cohesion and Diversity (Dublin, 27-28 October 2005)

An International Conference hosted by NIRSA/ICLRD in collaboration with the Southside Partnership, Dublin. The conference was addressed by both international and local spatial planning experts and project partners and had an audience of over 130. 

More information about this event


Exploring the Economic and Social Implications of the National Spatial Strategy (Athlone, 15 April 2005)

The seminar was organised jointly by the Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM). The objective was to present and discuss spatial strategies from European, national, regional and local perspectives, with particular reference to economic and social aspects.


Strategic Environmental Assessments (Newry, 15 March 2005)

EU Directive 2001/42/EC is concerned with assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment within all EU Member States. The conference is a first is a series of assessment and training activities that will provide an opportunity to learn about the mandatory legislative requirements specified under the SEA regulations for Northern Ireland. Practitioners with a vested interest in the environmental assessment of plans and programmes, will have the opportunity to put forward ideas and suggestions for rolling-out the SEA process within the local context. The conference will help to outline an agenda for future educational, research and up-skilling needs of key stakeholder groups.

The Directive and Regulations also apply to plans and programmes that have a trans-boundary effect in relation to the Republic of Ireland. Monitoring, reporting and review of plans and programmes, both within and between Member States, is a core feature of the Directive. Future phases will focus on the cross-border dimension of SEA. Future courses for practitioners will draw upon all island experiences as well as other relevant international examples.


Mapping the 2002 Census (Maynooth, 27 January 2005)

The unprecedented rate of economic growth in the Republic of Ireland in the 1990s was associated with very significant adjustments to the demographic and socio-economic profiles. Locational factors have been influential in the establishment of new geographical patterns in respect of key demographic and socio-economic indicators. This workshop provided the first opportunity for a comprehensive overview of the geography of the demographic structure and socio-economic profile of the population in 2002 and of the changes that occurred in the 1990s.

Drawing on outputs from research projects supported by the Departments of Agriculture and Food, and Environment, Heritage and Local Government, as well as Teagasc an extensive range of maps based on the CSO Small Area Population Statistics were produced for a broad range of themes. Samples of the output, including maps based on variables that were not previously measured, were presented along with summary spatial typologies.

For a list of speakers and the programme please see:

http://www.nuim.ie/nirsa/census2002/


Citizenship, Mobility and Immigration (Maynooth, 3 November 2004)

This interdisciplinary one day workshop addressed the growing interest in issues of citizenship within Ireland. Its focus was on the development of a spatial understanding of citizenship in the Irish context, and on the ways in which concepts such as belonging, ownership, access, mobility and immigration are understood in relation to ideas of territory and the nation state. The conference was organised around three themes:

• Citizenship and governance;
• Citizenship, mobility and access; and
• Contested notions of Irish citizenship.

For a list of speakers please see:

http://www.nuim.ie/nirsa/citizenshipconf/


Regional and Local Development Strategies on the Island of Ireland: Addressing Key Issues and Building Capacity (Athlone, 27 May 2004)

The event was opened by the Irish Minister for Education and Science, Mr Noel Dempsey TD, and was attended by 160 senior figures from central and local government, higher education institutions and the private sector in both jurisdictions. There was agreement that many planning and development issues, North and South, were similar and the overall feedback from participants strongly favoured the establishment of the Centre.