This year’s Conference of Irish Geographers will be hosted by University College Cork, Department of Geography with the theme ‘Connected Environments: Integration and Resilience’, on the 6th – 8th May 2026: https://www.conferenceofirishgeographers.ie 

The DataStories team is organising a session entitled: Arts-based and experimental methods in geographical investigation 

Within academia there has been an increase in and acceptance of projects that propose using arts-based and experimental methods to respond to global challenges that require reimagining, reinventing and reorganising approaches to research. In this session we seek to uncover the diverse forms of arts-based and experimental methods used in geographical investigation. We are looking for researchers who are currently engaged in research projects that adopt creative methods. Collectively, we aim to theorise the transformative potential of such methodologies for addressing pressing social, economic and environmental concerns. Beyond considering the benefits of creative methodologies, we are also interested in comprehending the challenges which emerge when incorporating creative methods into research inquiry and the ways we might mitigate or soften possible obstacles to such engagements. 

We invite discussions on the use of arts-based and experimental methods including, but not limited to: 

• The new and hybrid methods emerging in geography (and cognate disciplines)
• How different cultural and geographical contexts influence selected methods
• How specifically arts-based and experimental methods generate new ways of seeing,  understanding and acting
• Limitations and challenges of using arts-based and experimental methods
• How creative methods can be used to co-create with stakeholders outside of the discipline and sector
• Misuse of and ethics around arts-based and experimental methods 

Session organisers: Juliette Davret, Oliver Dawkins, Carla Maria Kayanan, Rob Kitchin and Samuel Mutter
Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute/Department of Geography, Maynooth University 

Please submit abstracts (no more than 250 words) for this special session to Carla Maria Kayanan (carla.kayanan@mu.ie) by 15 March. We will alert you on the outcome of your abstract by 20 March to give you sufficient time to upload your abstract to the CIG portal before it closes on 27 March. 

For a copy of the CFP flyer for this session, click here: PDF

To view the other session we are organising, click here: Call For Papers (1/2): Geographers in the policy arena: Building bridges between academia and evidence-based policymaking, CIG 2026

This year’s Conference of Irish Geographers will be hosted by University College Cork, Department of Geography with the theme ‘Connected Environments: Integration and Resilience’, on the 6th – 8th May 2026: https://www.conferenceofirishgeographers.ie 

The DataStories team is organising a session entitled: Geographers in the policy arena: Building bridges between academia and evidence-based policymaking 

Geographic knowledge is essential for addressing contemporary policy challenges, from climate adaptation and spatial justice to urban resilience and resource management. Yet, significant gaps often exist between the production of geographic research and its effective uptake in policy processes. This session examines how geographers navigate the complex landscape of evidence-based decision-making and explores strategies for strengthening the science-policy interface.  

We invite contributions that critically examine the relationship between policymaking (in both public and private sectors) and the use of geographical knowledge. Of particular interest are perspectives that interrogate power dynamics in knowledge production and the politics of “evidence” itself.  

Topics may include, but are not limited to:  

• institutional barriers and facilitators to evidence uptake in policymaking
• increased role of consultants in policymaking
• the evolution of GIS from data visualisation tools to strategic policy design instruments
• challenges around what does and does not qualify as evidence for policymaking
• participatory approaches to geographic knowledge production
• the use of emerging technologies (e.g. AI-enhanced spatial analytics) in reshaping the evidence base available to policymakers.  

This session aims to share lessons learned from geographers working at the science-policy interface and to build practical frameworks for research-to-policy translation.  

Session organisers: Juliette Davret, Oliver Dawkins, Carla Maria Kayanan, Rob Kitchin and Samuel Mutter
Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute/Department of Geography, Maynooth University  

Please submit abstracts (no more than 250 words) for this session to Juliette Davret (juliette.davret@mu.ie) by 15 March. We will alert you on the outcome of your abstract by 20 March to give you sufficient time to upload your abstract to the CIG portal before it closes on 27th March. 

For a copy of the CFP flyer, click here: PDF

To view the other session we are organising, click here: Call For Papers (2/2): Arts-based and experimental methods in geographical investigation, CIG 2026

On February 19 and 20, 2026, Juliette Davret participated in a workshop on Boundaries & boundary concepts in/as datafication organised by Yana Boeva, Louis Ravn and Sarah Davies at the University of Amsterdam. This workshop explored how boundary concepts, particularly boundary objects and boundary infrastructures from Science and Technology Studies (STS), need to be reconceptualised in the age of datafication.  

The workshop brought together researchers to examine how the concepts of boundary work, infrastructure and objects are being transformed by contemporary datafication processes. The gathering created space for sustained engagement with both theoretical frameworks and empirical case studies that illuminate these transformations.  

The workshop unfolded across multiple thematic sessions over two days. The first session, titled “Boundaries, Environment and the Urban”, featured two presentations grounded in case studies of digital tools deployed in urban contexts. These presentations examined how digital technologies reconfigure urban governance and spatial boundaries.    

The second session turned attention to “Boundary Concepts, Professional & Science Practice, AI”, presenting three papers that investigated how AI, synthetic data and datafication reshape professional knowledge practices and scientific boundary work. This session examined the changing nature of expertise and authority in data-intensive environments.  

The third session of the opening day focused on “Boundary Work and the State”, featuring two presentations that explored how state institutions mobilise and are transformed by boundary-making practices in datafied governance contexts.  

The second day opened with a session on “Borders and Identities”, which included three presentations. Among these, Juliette presented her research on data intermediaries and the reconstruct ion of boundaries through labour, territorial and epistemic reconfigurations. Her case study examined planning data flows in Ireland, demonstrating how data intermediaries actively reshape the boundaries between different domains of governance and knowledge.  

The workshop concluded with a final session on “Boundary Objects and Infrastructures” featuring three presentations that examined how boundary objects scale up into infrastructures and what analytical and political implications follow from this transformation.  

Throughout the two days, the workshop structure allowed extensive time for engaging with each paper presented, as well as for collective theoretical reflection on boundary concepts. The workshop participants identified the need to collectively determine which aspects of boundary concepts in datafication contexts warrant further development.