WOW - Women of the world!

WOW - Women of the World is holding their annual celebration of womanhood, in all it's diversity, from March 7-12, 2017. This festival celebrates the achievements of women and girls everywhere and examining the obstacles that keep them from fulfilling their potential. Hear influential and challenging speakers, take part in mentoring sessions and workshops, and see some of the best female comedians, musicians, performers and writers around.  Past speakers have included Malala Yousafzai, Julie Walters, Shami Chakrabarti, Gordon Brown MP, Salma Hayek, Annie Lennox and Vivienne Westwood.

For 2017, a range of events are planned in London and around the world, including a London session hosted by the comedian Sandi Toksvig, (Chancellor for the University of Portsmouth).

Women in geography: is there a disciplinary glass ceiling?

An upcoming session at the Nordic Geographers Meeting is focusing on this question.  Abstracts close next week (15th December).  This should set the stage for an intersting debate about culture within geography by geographers themselves.  The resultant proceedings will no doubt be quite thought provoking - and will hopefully not only raise some issues but potentially offer solutions to overcoming this, and similar issues.  At the very least, it will make for some interesting reading for all those interested in equality within the field that we have all chosen.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Today, December 3rd, is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. According the UN, "observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life."

In this spirit, I want to share this vidoe "Steep Rain" which one of UK entries into the 2015 ENABLE film festival.  To see other previous entries, head to this page (and scroll halfway down).The 2016 selections will be announced this afternoon at the UN headquarters.  

The lead up to today has included a number of events and forums, such as discussions on how to make "Accessible Cities for All", and  "Building Capacity for Inclusive Development in Africa".  These themes clearly reflect the capacity and further potential for the field of Geography to contribute to making the world a place for all. It might be a utopian ideal, but perhaps one day there will no longer be the need to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities - or even for blogs like this.  In the mean-time, if you are interested in seeing what other activities are taking place today, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, check out #adayforall or the associated Facebook page.