PGR-ECR Symposium “Community Action and Intersecting Global Crises”

When? 23 June 2026, 9.15am-5.30pm

Where? Great Hall, Sutherland Building, Northumbria University City Campus, NE1 8ST, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (In-person only, free registration and lunch provided) 

Links to key documents:

• One-page programme overview
• Full programme, including details of all the presentations
• Booklet with presentation abstracts and presenter bios

Post-event update: Over the day, we had 24 paper presentations, 15 posters and 3 Pecha-Kuchas, with almost 70 attendees from 28 different countries. Importantly, we also had an unquantifiable amount of joy and hope in the room! Thanks to everyone for engaging with the symposium and making this such an inspiring and energising day for all involved. 

Across the world, intersecting crises, conflicts and rapidly evolving geopolitical priorities are accompanied by growing inequalities and political polarisation. The dismantling of structures of development cooperation has been accompanied by significantly reduced budgets for development aid and humanitarian response. Academics, practitioners and policymakers have also seen a renewed questioning of the Development paradigm, especially in light of the pressing need to localise the agenda and decolonise Development thinking and practice.

Since the founding of Northumbria University’s Centre for Global Development (CGD) in 2011, understanding the role of community action, grassroots activism, and civil society has been central to our conceptualisation of Development. We recognise that civic action and engagement are fundamental to inclusive, decolonising, bottom-up Development – from volunteer action addressing the climate crisis in the Indian Sundarbans, to the labour of refugee volunteers in Uganda, and grassroots women’s resistance to large-scale extractivism in the Peruvian Andes. In the face of deep global uncertainties and shifting geopolitics, diverse types of activism and community action, that have existed largely outside institutionalised frameworks, can provide openings for change and spaces of solidarity for marginalised communities in both the global South and North. Despite their complexities, transnational solidarities and equitable partnerships within and between the global South and North are also critically important.

This one-day interdisciplinary symposium marked 15 years of Northumbria’s CGD. It brought together an engaged group of postgraduate researchers (PGR) and early-career researchers (ECR), to explore the vital role of community action in addressing intersecting global crises and envisioning more sustainable and equitable global futures at this critical moment. Contributions explored the following key questions:

• How can community action in the global North and South thrive in times of crises?
• What new opportunities and challenges do digital technologies and virtual spaces bring for civic action and solidarities?
• Does the decline of established aid and development architectures open up opportunities or risks for civil society in imagining more equitable futures, and if so what do these look like?
• What risks does the current moment present for community activism, activists and volunteers and how can we respond to these?
• How can we do research in solidarity with communities in the global South and North in ethical ways that respond to the contexts of crises, conflict and uncertainty that we all face?

The symposium provided a supportive, inclusive, collegial and low-pressure space to enable postgraduate and early career researchers to share their research. It included three types of contribution from presenters:

1. Paper presentation (15-minute presentation, with or without slides & Q&A)
   Presentations reflecting work at any stage, from preliminary ideas and work-in-progress to completed research. Panel sessions were grouped thematically to enable discussion and dialogue across different contexts and disciplines, including the following sessions: Climate & Community Action; Community-Led Responses; Health & Wellbeing; and Education & Decolonising Knowledges. 
   
   
2. Pecha-Kucha (7-minute presentation, 20 slides of 20 seconds each)
   Pecha-Kucha means ‘chit-chatʼ in Japanese. This format enabled presenters to share research findings and ideas through a concise and visually stimulating presentation. Slides were set to auto-advance after 20 seconds as the presenter is speaking.
   
   
3. Poster (A1 size, 594mm × 841mm, portrait or landscape)
   Posters presenting work at any stage from initial ideas to completed research, including a clear title, key research questions or objectives, main findings or arguments, relevant visuals, and brief conclusions. Posters were displayed throughout the day at the Great Hall, with opportunities for informal, one-to-one conversations beyond the poster walk-along session.

For any questions or more information, please contact: katy.jenkins@northumbria.ac.uk

CGD Organising Committee: Matt Baillie Smith, Inge Boudewijn, Bianca Fadel, Katy Jenkins, Sarah Peck and Aneeta Shajan.