Our Keynote Speakers

Our three keynote speakers will challenge how we think about rural and regional futures in times of profound change. By bringing together leading research, critical reflection, and bold ideas, they will encourage us to question taken-for-granted assumptions about sustainability, development, and the role of rural places in a changing world. Their perspectives span over various disciplines and experiences, inviting us to engage with the challenges, and possibilities shaping the rurals today.

Important conversations begin at Ruralities and Regions in Transition - conversations you will not want to miss

Ruth McAreavey

Ruth McAreavey is a Professor at Newcastle University

She focuses on migration, governance and ethics. She is interested in the inequalities that migrants face in the labour market and in other areas of everyday life. She has published extensively on rural governance and regeneration, international migration, and research ethics and methods. Learn more about her keynote speech

Jennifer Gabrys

Jennifer Gabrys is a Professor at the University of Cambridge

She focuses on the relationship between environment, technology and society, with a particular interest in how digital technologies, sensors and citizen science shape environmental knowledge, governance and societal transformations. She leads the Planetary Praxis research group and is the principal investigator of the ERC-funded project Smart Forests: Transforming Environments into Social-Political Technologies. She also leads the ERC-funded projects Citizen Sense and AirKit. Learn more about her keynote speech

Kennedy Mbeva

Kennedy Mbeva is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge

He focuses on global disaster risk management, geoeconomics, and catastrophic climate change. He has contributed to several UN climate reports and participated in international climate negotiations. He has contributed to several of the UN's climate reports and participated in international climate negotiations, with a particular focus on equitable development opportunities in a climate-limited world. Learn more about his keynote speech