Commons Conference call for papers and early registration

The End of Tradition?
Aspects of Commons and Cultural Severance in the Landscape
Call for Papers, Support and Sponsorship for this 3-day International Conference. Sheffield Hallam University, 15th-17th September 2010.

Dr Ian D. Rotherham and colleagues are organising a major event on the theme of ‘Aspects of Commons and Cultural Severance in the Landscape’. The event will address topics fundamental to the conservation of these wonderful and iconic landscapes. We will cover the lessons of history and landscape change, of cultural change and abandonment. The conference will be international in flavour and cover issues from ecology and archaeology to modern-day management, and relating to history and cultural resonances. In particular, we wish to raise critically important issues of cultural severance and abandonment of tradition in terms of sustainability, landscape quality and diversity.

There will be a specific day devoted to abandonment of traditional management of commons. This will be in collaboration with the International Association for the Study of Commons.

We welcome papers on archaeology, historical management and on nature conservation matters, as well as on community involvement and educational issues. We are open to suggestions for presentations and sub-themes and for offers of partnerships and sponsorship. This will be a significant event and we will pre-publish the proceedings to be ‘out on the day’.

The event is organised by the Tourism and Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University, in partnership with the Biodiversity and Landscape History Research Institute. The following are among those who have already expressed their interest and support: Graham Bathe (Natural England), Sue Clifford (Common Ground), Professor Mauro Agnoletti (University of Florence), Professor Kenneth Olwig (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Susan Buck (IASC), Kate Ashbrook (Open Spaces Society), Owain Jones (University ofGloucester), Ted Green (Ancient Tree forum), and Jill Butler (Woodland Trust).