Travel, Movement and (Im)Mobilities
An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Conference

Saturday 13th April 2019 – Sunday 14th April 2019
Bruges, Belgium

Travel, the daily movements of people (and animals), our mobility and ability to traverse spaces and places is the cornerstone of life in the 21st Century. We take it for granted, we presume it to be a feature of daily life and assume it to be a right which belongs to all of us. But whilst ‘travel’ appears to be initially straightforward, even a cursory glance quickly reveals an intricate, nuanced and multi-layered phenomenon which, even now, we struggle to fully understand or appreciate.

What exactly does it mean to travel? Who travels where and why? Undoubtedly tourism plays a major role: brands, rituals, routes, locations and attractions along with their links to culture, race, gender, identity, age and occupation. In this respect travel is connected to privilege, to heritage, to technology, business, economics and the environment. What ties does travel have to industry or education or health? But travel can also be involuntary; forced by acts of war, displaced through genocide, repatriated or removed by political dictators and governmental decree.

This inclusive interdisciplinary conference aims to map the broad boundaries of what is involved when we begin to grapple with travel and explore all the various interfaces which are created when people move, for whatever reasons, from place to place. We will be creating spaces where personal experiences and storytelling are available alongside perspectives from industry and travel professionals, insights from policy makers, viewpoints from indigenous cultures and local contexts, the activities of bloggers and vloggers and many, many more.

We will explore travel as a cultural phenomenon, identify areas, issues and problems where reform is needed and consider potential pathways to the future with a view to forming a publication to engender further research, practice, collaboration and discussions.

Key themes may include but are not limited to:

Economics and Policy
~ Trends and issues in the tourism industry
~ Business models that support travel (e.g. Air BnB and other DIY tourism models)
~ Tourism as engine for economic development in locations
~ Travel and the workforce (fly-in-fly-out occupations and their effect on individuals and communities, changes to human resource planning and policy, regulation of work-related travel)
~ Tourism policy (provisions for national/state parklands, historical landmarks, & other travel destinations; promotion and regulation of travel industry)

Eco-tourism
~ Travel bans and their implications
~ Safety rules and regulations for travel generally
~ Customs and immigration policy
~ Consular/Embassy interactions with travellers
~ Approaches to designing tourism destinations

Education
~ Travel and learning
~ Travel and education curriculum development
~ Case studies in tourism and hospitality courses/training

Travel Patterns
~ Historical and contemporary cultural attitudes toward travel
~ Emerging trends; the rise of the travel as an ‘experience’
~ Predicting the future of travel

Travel and Philosophy
~ Ethical and moral considerations in tourism (issues of exploitation, dark tourism, commodification of cultures, boycotts, etc.)
~ Impact of travel on the development of moral and ethical theories
~ Environmental impact, justice and sustainability
~ Journeys as enlightenment/pilgrimages

Travel, Medicine and Health
~ Therapeutic benefits of travel
~ Medical tourism; the rise of the spa
~ Role of travel in spreading/curing diseases
~ Differently-abled travel
~ Phobias related to travel: causes and approaches to treatment
~ Medical emergencies during travel: issues around insurance, approaches for accessible treatment
~ Those who cannot travel

Travel and Technology
~Profiles of key innovations and innovators
~ Virtual travel and the technologies the enable it
~ Innovation to enhance speed and comfort of travel
~ The future technologies of travel
~ Space and deep-sea exploration

Travel as Creative Inspiration
~ Travelogues, tv series about travel, travel writing, travel cookery and cuisine
~ Art, music, poetry, literature inspired by travel (or which inspires travel)

Travel and Identity
~ Examinations of how class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, occupation and sexual orientation impact travellers and experiences with travelling
~ Specialised sectors in the travel industry to cater for groups (LGBTIA, singles, retirees, backbackers, etc.)
~ Anthropological/sociological studies of nomadic (sub) cultures and indigenous peoples
~ Motivations and barriers to travel

What to Send
The aim of this interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event is to bring people together and encourage creative conversations in the context of a variety of formats: papers, seminars, workshops, storytelling, performances, poster presentations, panels, q&a’s, roundtables etc.

300 word proposals, presentations, abstracts and other forms of contribution and participation should be submitted by Friday 9th November 2018. Other forms of participation should be discussed in advance with the Organising Chair.

All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Development Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.

You will be notified of the panel’s decision by Friday 23rd November 2018.

If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 1st March 2019.

Abstracts and proposals may be in Word, PDF, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.

E-mails should be entitled: Travel Submission

Where to Send
Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator:

Dr Petra Rehling: petrarehling@gmx.de
Project Administrator: brugestravel@progressiveconnexions.net

What’s so Special About Progressive Connexions Events?
A fresh, friendly, dynamic format – at Progressive Connexions we are dedicated to breaking away from the stuffy, old-fashion conference formats, where endless presentations are read aloud off PowerPoints. We work to bring you an interactive format, where exchange of experience and information is alternated with captivating workshops, engaging debates and round tables, time set aside for getting to know each other and for discussing common future projects and initiatives, all in a warm, relaxed, egalitarian atmosphere.

A chance to network with international professionals – the beauty of our interdisciplinary events is that they bring together professionals from all over the world and from various fields of activity, all joined together by a shared passion. Not only will the exchange of experience, knowledge and stories be extremely valuable in itself, but we seek to create lasting, ever-growing communities around our projects, which will become a valuable resource for those belonging to them.

A chance to be part of constructing change – There is only one thing we love as much as promoting knowledge: promoting real, lasting social change by encouraging our participants to take collective action, under whichever form is most suited to their needs and expertise (policy proposals, measuring instruments, research projects, educational materials, etc.) We will support all such actions in the aftermath of the event as well, providing a platform for further discussions, advice from the experts on our Project Advisory Team and various other tools and intellectual resources, as needed.

An opportunity to discuss things that matter to you – Our events are not only about discussing how things work in the respective field, but also about how people work in that field – what are the struggles, problems and solutions professionals have found in their line of work, what are the areas where better communication among specialists is needed and how the interdisciplinary approach can help bridge those gaps and help provide answers to questions from specific areas of activity.

An unforgettable experience – When participating in a Progressive Connexions event, there is a good chance you will make some long-time friends. Our group sizes are intimate, our venues are comfortable and relaxing and our event locations are suited to the history and culture of the event.

Ethos
Progressive Connexions believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract or proposal for presentation.

Please note: Progressive Connexions is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence, nor can we offer discounts off published rates and fees.

Please send all enquiries to: brugestravel@progressiveconnexions.net

For further details and information please visit the conference web page: http://www.progressiveconnexions.net/interdisciplinary-projects/global-transformations/travel/conferences/

Sponsored by Progressive Connexions