PyGyRG is an active interdisciplinary network of postgraduate researchers and early career scholars working across participatory, creative, and qualitative geographical research. The group supports academic exchange, methodological experimentation, peer support, and collaborative research development across institutions and disciplines.

Our activities include:

• Monthly online committee meetings focused on events planning, publications, communications, and discussing members’ research. 
• Organising conferences, workshops, away days, and public-facing events that bring together academics, policymakers, practitioners, artists, and community partners.
• Hosting methodological training sessions and skills-based workshops for postgraduate researchers, including a highly attended walking methods workshop at the 2025 RGS-IBG Annual International Conference in Birmingham.
• Convening and sponsoring up to 12 sessions annually at the RGS-IBG conference on participatory, creative, and qualitative methods and approaches.
• Developing collaborative publications, including co-authored papers, book chapters, and conference outputs. 
• Co-writing blog posts and methodological reflections for Geography Directions and related platforms.
• Supporting interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration through online conferences, hybrid events, and ongoing research exchange.

Recent activities include the sold-out event Place-based systems change: re-situating participatory practice through power, people, and place, hosted at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in South Kensington, London. The event brought together policymakers, practitioners, artists, and academics to explore themes of temporality, participation as relational practice, and power. The event sold out within three days, and the event itself hosted vibrant, cross-sectoral interdisciplinary dialogue around participatory and place-based research.

You can follow our activities and upcoming events via our LinkedIn and Instagram pages.