CALL FOR BIDS
European Summer School of Rural Sociology 2010
The European Society for Rural Sociology hereby invites members and their Departments and
Universities to give bids for holding the European Summer School of Rural Sociology in the year
2010. To be considered, bids must be received before March 31, 2009.
BACKGROUND
Every second year, the European Society for Rural Sociology organizes a Summer School. In 2000,
the school was held in Siuntio, Finland and was organized by the Swedish School for Social Science
at Helsinki University. The theme was ‘Building alternative futures in the European countryside’. In
2004, the School was held in Avignon, France and organized by the Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique. Then the theme was ‘New paths for rural development in the enlarged Europe’. In 2006, the School was organised in Gorizia by the Institute of International Sociology of Gorizia (ISIG) under
the theme ‘the empire of the new rurles and the ethics of social networks, the challenges for the rural institutions and the agri-food markets’. In 2008 the Summer School was organised by Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Sociology and Communication and held in
Nagykanizsa Campus of the Pannon University, Veszprém. The theme was ‘Urban-rural co-operation
for the future’.
The Summer School recruits young scholars of Rural Sociology and rural studies in general, from whole Europe. The aim is to introduce the participants to the field of rural sociology. Teachers are leading specialists within the field, recruited both internationally and from the organizing country. Participants are expected to contribute a paper. Much of the School proceedings centre around these papers and
on lectures given by the tutors and specially invited guests. The duration of the School is usually one week, and participants are lodged together, for example in a conference centre. Excursions and study tours are usually part of the programme.
The arranging institution decides the content of the Summer School and an organizing theme. The
latter should reflect the central concerns of rural sociology, be broad enough to reflect the concerns
of the Society, and attractive to young scholars, opting for a career within the field.
Previous Summer Schools have been fully financed by the arranging institutions and countries, and participants have only paid their travel costs to reach the school, while the arranging institutions have covered board, lodging etc. Tutors similarly get their travel costs reimbursed, and receive free board
and lodging. ESRS has not generally contributed to the financing of summer schools. The contribution
of the Society mainly consists of publicity, and in lending its name to the School. A member of the Executive Council may visit the organizing institution to discuss the arrangements, before the School
is held, or before a bid is accepted.
Interested members backed up by their institutions are asked to give their bids along the above-mentioned guidelines and submit them to the Secretary of the Society before March, 31 2009. As well
as outlining the Summer School theme, programme and details of the organisers and host institution, bids should include a break down of costs and the sources of funding.
The Executive Committee will scrutinize bids. In choosing between the bids, consideration will be given
to the quality of the theme and programme proposed, as well as to economic and other aspects of the organization. Questions in this matter can be directed to the President, Prof Jo Little at the University
of Exeter (j.k.little@exeter.ac.uk).
Bids for running the summer school should be sent to
Minna Lehtola, secretary of ESRS
Swedish School of Social Sciences
University of Helsinki
PO box 16
00014 Helsinki
Finland
Email: minna.lehtola AT helsinki.fi
Jo Little, on behalf of the Society, September 2008