RGS-IBG CONFERENCE 2022
Dr Sarah Mills giving her presentation during the 2022 RGS-IBG Conference
In 2022, the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) took place in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (with in-person, online, and hybrid ways to participate), between 30 August and 2 September. The overall RSG-IBG Conference theme was ‘Geographies beyond recovery’ and the RYVU project was presented by team members in two different panels.
On the 30th August, as part of the panel ‘Refugee youth, Resilience and Recovery’, Prof Matt Baillie Smith and Dr Bianca Fadel presented the paper “Volunteering, resilience and refugee lives: the experiences of young refugees in Uganda”, co-authored also by team members Dr Sarah Mills, Dr Frank Ahimbisibwe and Dr Robert Turyamureeba. This paper has particularly focused on how young refugees work and re-work ideas and practices of volunteering to build their resilience and agency, challenging traditional ideas of volunteering as ‘service-delivery’ for refugee communities. By analysing the relationship between refugee volunteering and ‘work’ and the roles of volunteering in young refugees’ navigation of the spaces and places of displacement, the paper suggested that we need to address the simultaneous potential of volunteering for increasing resilience and entanglement with experiences of vulnerability in young refugees’ lives.
The day after, on the 31st of August, Dr Sarah Mills led the presentation of the paper “Young refugees in Uganda: volunteering in the context of Covid-19”, co-authored also by team members Dr Cuthbert Tukundane, Dr Moses Okech, Prof Matt Baillie Smith and Dr Bianca Fadel. As part of the panel ‘Geographies of volunteering through and beyond crisis and recovery’, this paper discussed key findings from the RYVU project on the institutional agendas surrounding refugee youth volunteering activities in Uganda and how these ideas have been understood in relation to the Covid-19 crisis. The paper provided a counterpoint to celebrations of volunteering during Covid-19, exploring how voluntary labour by young refugees during the pandemic articulated with refugee status, the spaces and places of displacement, and the inequalities refugees experience.
Both panels were well attended and included not only the paper presentations but also time for active discussion with participants. This conference engagement allowed team members to disseminate findings from the RYVU project academic audiences and at the same time connect with peers doing research in related fields.
