World Congress finally meets in Cairns

    After two years of postponement; restricted international borders, COVID-19 regulations and airline schedule disruptions, delegates converged onto Cairns for the XV World Congress of Rural Sociology 19-22 July at the Pullman Cairns International Hotel.
    Congress was opened with Gudgugudgu Fourmile welcoming all delegates, followed by a video message from the IRSA President; Koichi Ikegami as he was unable to travel from Japan. Keynote addresses by Dr Emma Lee, Prof Nora McKeon and Dr Monica White (live-streaming from Wisconsin, USA) were well-received. Of the delegates, 52% flew in from overseas and 48% were already in Australia.

    Some feedback received:
    “The IRSA conference was a great opportunity to see rural sociologist from around the globe converge to share their perspectives and work
    on wide array of matters. The diversity of topics made the conference interesting and exiting to be at. Participating gave me the unique
    opportunity to engage with so many people from the international community, which was an absolute pleaser!” Sara M., Australia.

    “Thanks again for organizing such an amazing conference. It was such a breath of fresh air.” Emily H., USA.

    “Just a quick ‘thank you’ to you, Stewart and the team for a wonderful Congress. In spite of the unavoidable Covid disruptions, it was a huge success”. Geoff L., Australia

    “Many thanks to yourself and the conference team for an amazing event” Holly R-M. Australia.

    “Thank you for your organization”. Tomoko I., Japan.

    “This was my first experience with an in-person academic conference and the experience was definitely positive. Many of the presentations were directly applicable to my proposed research, while others gave me much-needed background on rural sociology and inspired new ways of thinking. Overall, two things stood out to me: First, the keynote speakers were all women. This seemed to be a deliberate choice on the part of the organisers, and it was a welcome one. Secondly, I was glad to see the representation of different racial and ethnic backgrounds amongst the keynotes, an Indigenous Australian (Dr. Emma Lee) and a Black American (Dr. Monica White). As a Black Caribbean woman who is relatively new to academia, I don’t take for granted the opportunity to observe historically underrepresented groups in this space. The content of their talks was equally valuable, and I see many ways that I can integrate what I learnt into my doctoral research.“ Dani.N, Cairns North, Australia.

    “My experience of IRSA was an eye-opener. As an upcoming researcher, IRSA helped me to connect with other like-minded researchers from different parts of the world. It gave me the opportunity as a researcher from the field of education to witness a variety of presentations from other discipline within the field of sociology.” Dom O., Palm Cove, Australia.

    “The international community was epitomised in a session in which we had a speaker present in Spanish which was translated by an audience member with no connection to the presentation. This was followed by a speaker who presented a fellow colleague’s work who couldn’t make it due to travel difficulties. The original presenter was however able to facetime into the session and answer questions - so good!
    The field trips and time after each day to socialise with IRSA members really made for an atmosphere in which I really got to know people and their research. However, the keynote speakers and panel discussions at this year’s conference has to be some of the best I have seen at any conference in a long time.” John B., Cairns, Australia.

    More images can be found on here

    Back to List


    More News


    Industry Expert Series

    Industry Expert Series

    The Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub (TNQDRIH) has engaged with two leading industry experts Professor Roger Stone and Bob Shepherd to build a series of v...

    Read More

    Waiting with no time to wait

    Waiting with no time to wait

    Young people are frequently relegated to a state of waiting; expected to passively absorb and learn an adult culture that actively damages the earth. Governments persist in relying on h...

    Read More

    Western Capes Futures Symposium

    Western Capes Futures Symposium

    The TNQ Drought Hub, Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program are pleased to partner with the Western Cape Chamber of Commerce, Aurukun Shire Counci...

    Read More

    Falling From The Sky

    Falling From The Sky

    James Cook University Associate Professor and The Cairns Institute Fellow Robyn Glade-Wright is passionate about climate change and seeks to communicate with the greater public about en...

    Read More

    Our islands: protection and conservation

    Our islands: protection and conservation

    The Oceania region has an incredible array of ecosystems and biocultural diversity along with many threats to those. Safeguarding and effectively managing such ecosystems and the liveli...

    Read More

    Tyá Dynevor joins CoTS

    Tyá Dynevor joins CoTS

    Tyá Dynevor is a proud Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander mixed-race woman; born on Dharawal Country, Campbelltown, Greater Western Sydney but had grown up between Darwin, Larrakia&nb...

    Read More

    Ellie embarks on a PhD

    Ellie embarks on a PhD

    Ellie Bock has been awarded a Masters degree after completing her Master of Philosophy (Society and Culture). Ellie’s primary advisor was Professor Allan Dale and her secondary advisor...

    Read More

    SATSIE 2022 Highlights

    SATSIE 2022 Highlights

    Allan Dale heads the TNQ Drought Hub team that sits within The Cairns Institute and delivers the Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program. The SATSIE&nbs...

    Read More

    Top

    © 2023 The Cairns Institute | Site Map | Site by OracleStudio | Design by LeoSchoepflin