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Birkbeck forges links with Indian HEI to explore social and cultural geographies

GEDS signs Memorandum of Understanding with the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi

Birkbeck’s Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies (GEDS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) in New Delhi.

The institutions share strong research and academic track records in exploring the social and cultural geographies of cities and urban inequalities. The MoU, which was signed recently, is an important step on the way to Birkbeck and SPA forming frameworks for academic and research collaboration.

The following areas of collaboration have been proposed in the agreement:

  • The exchange of faculty, scholars and graduate research students
  • Collaborative teaching including undergraduate and postgraduate field trips and joint supervision of PhD students
  • Cooperative seminars, conferences and workshops
  • The development of joint research funding, conducting joint research and publication of collaborative work

The signing of the MoU emerges from conversations between Dr Melissa Butcher, reader in Social and Cultural Geography within GEDS, and Dr Arunava Dasgupta, head of the Department of Urban Design at SPA. The academics have worked together in the past on projects exploring urban change in India.

After meeting students from SPA a couple of years ago, Drs Butcher and Dasgupta began to identify ways in which mutual exchange between GEDS and SPA could benefit both institution’s students and research.

Dr Butcher said: “this is a very exciting opportunity for both HE institutions and their respective academic and research communities. Given that GEDS has a strong focus on the social and cultural geographies of cities and urban inequalities, as well as regional expertise in South Asia, Latin America and the UK, and SPA has expertise in planning, urban design and architecture within South Asian contexts, we firmly believe that formal collaboration will bring our strengths together.”

Dr Dasgupta added: “The MoU opens great prospects of combined engagement and learning on contemporary urban issues from both physical and social perspectives. We believe this collaboration would strongly contribute to the co-development of knowledge systems and applied research on the unfolding scenarios of global change. SPA looks forward to a sustained association with GEDS and acknowledges its excellent record of academic inquiry on cities all around the world.”

GEDS and SPA are already working on the specific details of the collaborative activities, such as a proposed field trip of Birkbeck students to Delhi in 2017-18. Also, SPA Urban Design has recently initiated Urban Form Labs for inter-disciplinary engagement with a specific inquiry track on social urbanism that offers a platform for collaborative work between the two institutions. 

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