Professor Vide Adedayo represented GDAR at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Geography (CAG), hosted by Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada between 20th to 23rd May, 2025. The theme of the conference was ‘Confluence”, a metaphor for the intersections and interconnections that underpin geography as disciplines.
GDAR participation included a presentation from Vide Adedayo, Taibat Lawanson, Victor. Onifade, Olabode Orelaja & Damilola Odekunle, of the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos, Lagos Nigeria. The title of the presentation was ‘Tackling Syndemic in Diet and Activity Behaviour in Climate Change Hazards Policies in Lagos, Nigeria’. The presentation highlighted the weakness in existing urban policy actions on climate change hazards events, that respond to climate events, and influence diet and physical activity behaviours among youth, children and women in Lagos. And hence, emphasized the need for a multi-sectoral and integrated urban interventional policy and actions that promotes socio-economic equity and urban inclusiveness, for viable climate change/urban resilience/urban health policy.
This work forms part of a wider exploration of policies in GDAR across Lagos, Belo Horizonte, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Yaoundé.
GDAR further engaged in discussions, in respect to how geographers can foster new connections, collaborations, and insights that illuminate complex issues, including climate change with social, economic, and political dimensions, and human health problems that are often intertwined with other disciplines, requiring collaborative approaches and need for interdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation.
In addition, Vide Adedayo transversed the beautiful and historic city of Ottawa, visiting the Canada Agriculture and food Museum, Canadian Agriculture and Agri-food Center for Tropical Green House, and the Canadian Organic Grower Demonstration Garden, where different innovations present a variety of educational and enriching experiences on the history of food production, the diversity of food systems, organic practices, and farming techniques that enhance understanding of sustainable agri-food practices.
Generally, the 2025 CAG annual meeting represents the convergence of global forces that shape the understanding of place, space, culture, identity and sustainable development. The CAG meeting was marked jointly with the 50th Annual Conference and General meeting of the Canadian Cartographic Association (CCA), enabling CAG and CCA to come together to share ideas, knowledge and experiences in geography and cartography. The conference featured more than 500 paper presentations on various contemporary topics relating to natural, art, technological, and social sciences; geographic information system (GIS) and earth observation among other related fields, thereby enhancing opportunities for networking for professionals, researchers and Early Career Researchers (ERCs) to connect.
The final highlight about the Ottawa meeting resonates a deeper meaning of the word CONFLUENCE, which represents bringing different perspectives together and creating new possibilities for understanding and addressing complex geographical issues, which GDAR aligns with.