It is with great regret that we have taken the difficult decision to postpone our final workshop in York and our soundscapes conference in Liverpool. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we feel that we must prioritise the health and wellbeing of our delegates and their families.

In addition to these postponements, we are exploring the possibility of a streamlined virtual platform to enable people who cannot commit to the new dates to present their papers at the time the workshop and the conference were due to take place. We decided not to move everything online because, while virtual platforms present all sorts of possibilities in terms of wider access, not everyone has equal access to online facilities. Many of us also appreciate the serendipitous conversations and the collegiality of face to face meetings and these cannot be replicated with ease online.

The conference will now take place from July 6-8 2021. The rescheduled workshop will take place in October or January, depending upon how the situation develops and progresses.

We do understand that postponing these events does not affect everyone equally, and our colleagues who are on precarious contracts and/or ECRs or independent scholars in particular are likely to be most affected by this. We sincerely hope that as many of you as possible will still be able to join us for our workshop and conference. Every paper still remains accepted, but we anticipate having to revisit and revise the programme in light of the change of dates. To enable new colleagues to join us and present their work, we might also re-open the call for papers.

We hope that you and your families remain safe and healthy during this challenging time.

With thanks and best wishes,
Rachel and Emilie