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Abstract

Several EU policy papers have called for an improved dialogue between security policymakers, social science researchers and science and technology researchers working on security (Pullinger, 2006). To increase the understanding of gender dimensions in security, the traditional technological response can be complemented by socio-political knowledge. Gender inequities in the socio-economic and political spheres can be analysed by such a comprehensive socio-political and technological approach. In the field of geo-spatial security research, Hyndman (2004) proposes to bridge a gap between gender studies and geographical analysis of security. In this paper, a workshop is used to illustrate both the potential and the difficulties of such a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach. The workshop aim was to define a geographical and spatial analysis of gender dimensions in security. This paper discusses the gender dimensions in geo-spatial analysis, as well as the pros and cons of an interdisciplinary approach. Integrating the overall complexity of gender dimensions as a spatial component in security monitoring is a promising challenge, but is still to be achieved by the technological community. This paper explains the epistemological and methodological issues and opportunities of this dialogue.

Author Biography

Clementine Ewokolo Burnley is a computational linguist and policy analyst in the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizens (IPSC) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC), in Italy. After studies of English/Audiovisual Studies at Strathclyde University and Computational Linguistics (M.Sc.) at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, she worked on research projects at two British universities before joining the JRC. Her current research projects include Conflict Event Data Analysis, Security/ Conflict Risk Assessment, Security Policy Analysis, and Gender and Security.

Nathalie Stephenne is a geographer from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), Belgium. In 1995, she completed a Masters in Development Studies in Economical Sciences. Her PhD thesis is entitled Dynamic simulation model to understand land-use change processes in the Sudano-sahelian region (SALU – Sahelian Land Use). In 2000 sh became a prizewinning Laureate of the Académie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer (ARSOM). This foundation published her PhD thesis in 2003. She collaborated with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, United Kingdom, to integrate SALU results in Global Circulation Model simulations of climate changes. She worked at University of Brussels, on a Belgian Science Policy funded project. Engaged in the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizens (IPSC) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) in 2005, she is involved in institutional research activity related to modelling of EU Border Permeability and EU Neighbourhood Stability.

Mercè Agüera Cabo has a degree in Geography from the University of Girona, Spain, and a Postgraduate degree in Cooperation Projects for Local Development from the same university. She then worked as a researcher at the Institute for the Environment of the University of Girona, with a specialization on gender studies on the environment. She has been a researcher in the Knowledge Methodologies Sector (KAM) of the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizens (IPSC) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC), in Italy. The main scope of her research was to investigate how theoretical contributions from feminist and gender studies on the environment can be applied to environmental decision-making in the context of inclusive participatory processes. Her field research consists on the gender analysis of grassroots organisations for environmental conflicts in Catalonia, Spain. Mercè was also involved in the coordination and management of the Worldwide Network Interfaces: Between Science and Society. Currently, she is professor in Human Geography at the University of Girona, where she is also involved in formulating the Gender Equity Plan for the institution

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