The XIII Congress of the International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA) was held in Lisbon, Portugal July 29-August 4.

More than 1000 participants were presenting 1450 papers in 71 working groups, and this congress was one with the best turnout ever. One of the most burning issues discussed at this IRSA congress was world food security, addressed among others by plenary speakers Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and José Graziano da Silva, General Director of FAO. It is reason to congratulate Professor Manuel Moreira and his team with an excellent congress.
At the General Assembly, Reidar Almås stepped down after four years as president and Professor Geoffrey Lawrence, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia took over as the new president of International Rural Sociology Association for the period 2012-2016.
The next congress of IRSA will be held in Toronto, Canada, August 2016.
Photo by Odd Roger Langørgen | Centre for Rural Research, Norway: From the left, Reidar Almås and Geoffrey Lawrence.