Session at New Zealand Geographical Society/Institute of Australian Geographers conference
University of Auckland, July 11-14 2018

Session Title: Fresh/Salt: social and cultural geographies of water

Key words: consumption, household, technology, material culture, transition

Session convenors: Carrie Wilkinson, Leah Gibbs, Gordon Waitt (University of Wollongong)
(this session is sponsored by the IAG Cultural Geography Group)

Water is vital to life. Freshwater is becoming scarcer in many parts of the world; in others increasing climatic variability and extreme events are seeing higher than average rainfall and flooding. Human practices and interactions with freshwater are undergoing significant concomitant change, and people and societies are required to adapt governance and everyday practices to new regimes. Concurrently, oceans are undergoing the extreme pressures of warming, acidification, pollution and over-fishing. Such changes are shifting social interactions that are mediated by the ocean, such as fishing, transport, and tourism, and more-than-human relations with oceans, including recreation, and caring for Country. To date, salt and fresh water have received distinct treatment by the discipline of geography. The aim of this session is for geographers to share ideas on the past, present and futures of water, regardless of how they are categorised. Theoretical and methodological approaches of social and cultural geography are crucial for better understanding the challenges surrounding water. This session seeks to provide a forum in which to explore research frameworks, concepts, methodological innovation, and policy-relevant research to facilitate this understanding. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical research papers on water—fresh, salt and brackish.

Please submit abstracts (200 words) to Carrie Wilkinson by 26 March 2018. For further information about the session, please contact Carrie.

This session complements “Saltwater Country: Difference and Co-belonging in a New Climatic Regime” convened by Michele Lobo and colleagues.

Image: LA River by Jakob Owens on Unsplash