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Almeria (Spain) Greenhouses sustainable water security

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Almeria (Spain) Greenhouses sustainable water security

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Public policies for sustainability and water security

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Why do buildings fall in earthquakes? - Vicki V. May

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Why The Philippines Is So VULNERABLE To Natural Disasters

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How does carbon dioxide shape our world? - The Climate Question podcast, BBC World Service

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The dockland redevelopment: Mumbai’s last big chance?

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Reviving the port lands could be this congested island city’s best bet for affordable housing, transport links and public space. But chances like this have been squandered in the past

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Brick Lane documentary that goes through the different flows of disapora to enter Brick lane

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Salt Beef & Rye - A History Of Brick Lane | Full Documentary Movie | The Dock

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Podcast episode

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Cottonbro studio/Pexels

Environmental degradation of our land, water and air is not just an ecological but an economic issue which in turn has an impact on development.

The World Bank has recently released a report into the connection between the economy and the environment. The report titled 'Reboot Development - The Economics of a Livable Planet' explores the issues around a declining environment, its connection to the economy as well as how futures could be managed to improve both areas for everyone.

This episode of Ask the Geographer speaks to Richard Damania - the Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group for the World Bank who explores these issues as well as how geographers can use the findings from the report.

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World Bank: Environment and Development | RGS

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The RGS-IBG Ask a Geographer podcast speaks to Richard Damania, the Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group for the World Bank.

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Stephen Dowling, Isabelle Gerretsen, Richard Gray, Katherine Latham and Jocelyn Timperley

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Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with the strongest windspeeds the Caribbean nation has ever experienced. Here’s how it compares to other record-breaking storms.

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The Crescents in Hulme Manchester

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'Hulme was a failed utopian dream on a council estate," says the DJ Luke Una. "A city within a city. Like nowhere else I've ever seen."

Una lived in Manchester's Hulme Crescents in the late 80s and early 90s. Constructed in 1972, the vast brutalist estate was the largest public housing development in Europe and could house up to 13,000 people. Intended as a futuristic blueprint for social housing, design and safety flaws became apparent within two years. In 1974, a child died falling from one of the easily climbable balconies. Cockroaches were plentiful, the heating system unaffordable, and residents were soon petitioning to be re-housed.

By the mid-1980s, the council wanted to demolish it but couldn't afford to, so they stopped charging rent. It became a magnet for a disparate crew of squatters - students, travellers, punks, ravers, anarchists, artists and drug addicts all living in chaotic harmony - and a dilapidated incubator for Manchester's future musical talents.

"It was a creative epicentre," says Martin Moscrop of the post-punk funk outfit A Certain Ratio, who lived there. X Republic vocalist and resident Lily Laina Munster concurs: "It was a bringing together of minds through rebellion and music." A Guy Called Gerald, the Smiths' Mike Joyce, Ian Brown, Mick Hucknall and countless others also lived there, as did the film critic Mark Kermode and even Nico from the Velvet Underground. "Although I think she stayed for the cheap heroin," says Una.

Richard Davis, host of a forthcoming talk and photography exhibition on Hulme and Manchester culture, arrived as a 22-year-old photography student in 1988 and built a studio and darkroom in his flat. Davis was shooting bands and the emerging comedy scene, photographing Steve Coogan and Caroline Aherne in there. Coogan wasn't as enthralled by Hulme though. "Steve was breaking through so he already had his first big sports car," recalls Davis. "He'd say, 'I'm not parking my car near your flat.' I'd have to meet him on the edge of Hulme and walk him through."

Hulme Crescents, with its notorious graffiti. Photograph: Richard Davis

Davis wasn't the only person utilising space. The poet and musician Edward Barton knocked two flats together and built a giant throne in the middle; there were multiple recording studios, DIY gig venues and Dogs of Heaven - a performance collective using the entire estate as a pyrotechnic playground. All the while, fires burned, stray dogs roamed, graffiti was sprayed and sound systems boomed endlessly around the estate. "We put speakers on our balcony and people used to knock on our door with a blank tape asking for a mix," recalls Moscrop.

"You could do what you wanted," says ex-resident and DJ Kath McDermott. "You were free to pursue your dreams. We didn't have to get jobs. We could live on our wits, hustling for a bit of money here and there." One hustle was for another on-site business - an all-female taxi company offering safe cabs for women. "I used to be the taxi operator," she recalls. "Although we used to get a lot of heavy breathing men ringing up, so we had this PE teacher's whistle that we'd blow really loudly down the phone." When not deafening creeps, McDermott was part of "a massive queer enclave in Hulme" where a gay community was growing around politics and partying (plus a lesbian-run fruit and veg shop).

Jamie Nicholson was also doing some home remodelling, knocking through walls to join two four-bedroom flats together and opening a recording studio called the Kitchen in 1986. He recorded the likes of Frank Sidebottom, Dub Sex, Marcel King, New Fads, and the Ruthless Rap Assassins. It was the first studio A Guy Called Gerald ever set foot in, where he keenly watched how a sampler was being used.

Ticket to a Kitchen party, 1990. Photograph: MDMArchive

"The demo we recorded in the Kitchen got us on Radio 1 and a record deal," says Mark Hoyle of Dub Sex, a post-punk band whose sound mirrored their raw industrial surroundings. "It changed my life."

Meanwhile a young promoter had other ideas for the Kitchen. "I was 17 but a hustler," says Tim Williams. "I said to Jamie: 'you've got this space but you're not using it properly; let's do some business together'."

Late night blues parties had been run locally by the Black community for years, but by 1987, ecstasy and the burgeoning dance music scene brought an appetite for a different kind of early-hours do. So the Kitchen as a late night club was born.

Scrawled graffiti on the walls in the estate provided directions for party-goers to reach the top floor of Charles Barry Crescent, where a sound system pumped out funk, hip-hop and imported house and techno. "On the first night there were 500 people," says Williams. "It was crazy." Nicholson remembers "a jam room upstairs for musicians and then DJs downstairs." Williams recalls the room functioning for other activities. "People used to do a lot of fucking up there," he laughs.

Chris Jam and Tomlyn of the Jam MCs were brought in as in-house DJs. "The first time we walked in to Hulme it was like a scene from Mad Max," recalls Jam. "It was lawless."

In the Kitchen you could buy beer, spirits, weed, Es and a very potent strain of acid. "One guy thought he was a gymnast and was balancing on the top floor veranda," recalls Williams. "He fell off but was OK. He's a very famous photographer now, so he must have gotten some creativity from bumping his head."

Williams promoted the club with Paul Pryce, with the aim of forging a distinct identity. "We didn't want to be seen as an extension of the Hacienda," he says. "We created our own music scene. We played a lot of very deep underground house, taking our lead from Chicago and Detroit and lowering the bpms." Jam recalls tracks by Mickey & the Soul Generation, Art of Noise, Renegade Soundwave, and Ten City all being big hitters.

Warning graffiti on a staircase in Hulme Crescents. Photograph: Don McPhee/the Guardian

Members of the Happy Mondays, New Order or the Stone Roses would be there, while "Public Enemy came down and hung out until the sun came up," says Jam. A host of Hacienda DJs, both residents and guests, played, including Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Sasha, Robert Owens, Mike Pickering and Graeme Park. It was gaining a serious reputation. "I knew people going to Amsterdam and Berlin who found it boring because Hulme was such a bonkers place," recalls Una.

But the Kitchen was not glamorous. "It was a dive," says Jam. "A very basic derelict concrete room with nothing in there. Manchester is rainy, so sometimes the floors would be wet from the rain coming in from the balconies, along with the sweat dripping off the walls." Parties would often run until noon the following day without interruption, with the estate being described by many who lived there as "a no-go zone" for police. "Pigs get the fuck outta here," read one piece of prominent graffiti. "If the authorities came around people used to throw flour and eggs at them over the balcony," recalls Munster.

However, this free-for-all had its drawbacks. Burglaries were so frequent that Hucknall slept with an axe by his bed, while Kermode got robbed so many times he had a security door fitted - only for that to be taken off its hinges and stolen. "There was bad shit too," says Una. "Violence, muggings, poverty." Munster remembers Joyce's flat being "so full of cockroaches you couldn't sit on the floor."

By 1989, the Kitchen had built up such a reputation, the team got offered their own club and left to run Konspiracy. The final party there ran for seven days and nights straight. "I still meet people today who tell me what a special part of their life the Kitchen was," says Jam. "It's mad how we got away with it."

In the 1990s, Manchester got darker, druggier, and more violent during a period of increased gang activity and Hulme was not immune. "There were more muggings and I had a knife at my throat once," says Davis. The Kitchen continued as a studio and occasional party space but wrapped up around 1992. "I hung on as long as I could," says Nicholson. "The studio got burgled and then burgled again and that was the end."

Flyer for a 1989 event at The Kitchen. Photograph: MDMArchive

By 1993 demolition began. However, even in its final, decrepit, crumbling, dying hours, Hulme managed one last party courtesy of Dogs in Heaven. "It was like some post-apocalyptic Blade Runner meets Berlin rave scene," Una says of the wild send-off, which involved cars being dropped off the crescent roofs.

Despite being deemed a staggering failure - "Europe's worst housing stock," said Architect's Journal - with families let down and displaced, Hulme Crescents was indescribably formative for those who clung on to its crumbling foundations. "I've never seen such community," says Una. "I don't think anything has been more profound in affecting the cultural sphere and journey of Manchester than Hulme."

This rent-free creative mecca for young people who shaped the future of Manchester sits in stark contrast to the city today, one which trades heavily off its own musical and cultural legacy but with a housing crisis that makes living there simply unattainable for many. "One of the reasons you get such incredible art, effervescent culture and creativity is because of a low or no rent situation," Una says. "Rent is biblically expensive in Manchester and there are no areas where counterculture can be allowed to grow naturally and develop. Hulme was a haven for that."

McDermott echoes this: "Creative people in the city are being completely carved out. To just explore creatively, it now feels like you've got to come from a rich family. I feel privileged to have experienced that."

"I feel I owe Hulme," says Davis. "It was like a social experiment that shows what people can do when left to their own devices and allowed to develop at their own pace. It was the best time of my life. It was fucking madness but in a really creative way. It was life shaping."

Hulme History and Manchester Culture is at the Salutation pub, Hulme, on 28 September.

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'It was like Blade Runner meets Berlin rave': the Manchester sink estate with the UK's wildest nightclub

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Hulme Crescents was Europe's biggest housing estate, and soon deemed its worst. But a vibrant squatter community moved in - along with Mick Hucknall - to make a countercultural mecca

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Harness the power of maps to tell stories that matter. ArcGIS StoryMaps has everything you need to create remarkable stories that give your maps meaning.

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Deserts/GSAGG link

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Chile's Atacama Desert has become a fast fashion dumping ground

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Some of the developed world's favorite brands lie in discarded heaps in Chile's Atacama desert. How they got there tells the story of modern fast fashion.

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The impact of urbanisation in Africa, explained  - BBC Africa

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A look at how animals survive in the extreme environment of the Sahara Desert.

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Britain is used to crises now. But this widespread hopelessness is new – and frightening | John Harris

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In market towns and suburbs, people are expressing the fear and exhaustion once associated with post-industrial neglect, writes John Harris

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Cities are home to 45 per cent of the global population, with megacities continuing to grow, UN report finds

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Cities are home to 45 per cent of the global population, with megacities continuing to grow, UN report finds

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Fleeing the shifting sands of the Sahara desert, due to climate change - BBC News

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How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change | Allan Savory

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As climate changes, sand storms wreak havoc on desert communities

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The powerful tempests are becoming increasingly common as climate change and land degradation turn once-productive landscapes into desert.

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BBC panorama documentary about manufacturing apple products in China

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Apple is the most valuable brand on the planet, making products that everyone wants - but how are its workers treated when the world isn’t looking? Panorama goes undercover in China to show what life is like for the workers making the iPhone 6. And it’s not just the factories. Reporter Richard Bilton travels to Indonesia to find children working in some of the most dangerous mines in the world. But is the tin they dig out by hand finding its way into Apple’s products?

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UN General Assembly: 8 moments in history

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As the 78th session of the UN General Assembly gets underway in New York, we look back at key moments in its history.

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BBC World Service - Africa Daily, Does foreign aid create a culture of dependence?

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Burundi’s most vulnerable households are being given cash grants by the World Bank

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Economic leakage example

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To say that tourism can be a powerful force for good is a statement as blunt, blatant and truthful as the fact that, as a whole, the industry currently falls far short of fulfilling that positive role.

When implemented responsibly and ethically, tourism helps to add value to, and thus protect, our natural places, and the biodiversity within it. A 2016 study by the National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas project, for example, found that marine-based tourism in the Galápagos brought in over $178 million per year, and supported more than a third of all jobs on the islands. Each shark in the Galápagos was given an estimated worth of $5.4 million over its lifetime as a result - a stark contrast to the $200 a dead shark would be worth to a fishermen.

Forests have a habit of going unchopped and rivers undammed when there are circular, green economies that exist around them, and these tourism networks also bring jobs and funding (for infrastructure, conservation and training programmes) into rural communities where such opportunities, and the chance to diversify away from farming or fishing, have historically been scarce.

Locals who would otherwise be forced to leave their homes and migrate to find work are given the option to stay, and cultures can be preserved as a result.

The only problem is that for these positive impacts to be felt, the money from tourism needs to actually reach local people and circulate in these destinations - and unfortunately, this happens a whole lot less than you might think.

'Tourism Leakage' is not a term often heard in coffee shop discussions about sustainable travel, but it is a common topic of research in travel academia, and alongside the carbon impact of travel, it is perhaps the single biggest issue in the tourism industry today. The phrase is used to describe the money that is spent by a tourist in any given destination which, rather than staying in and spreading through the destination where the money is spent, leaks out to other economies.

In 2019, the last full pre-pandemic year of travel, the global tourism sector was responsible for employing over 333 million people (providing one in 10 jobs globally) and contributed a staggering $9,630 billion to global GDP. That's a big old number - and a big problem if it's not reaching the people on the ground.

The approximate levels of tourism leakage are "up to 40% in India, 70% in Thailand and 80% in Caribbean countries...

A 2014 report from UNWTO cites UNEP stats which state that the approximate levels of tourism leakage are "up to 40% in India, 70% in Thailand and 80% in Caribbean countries due to factors such as foreign-owned operators, airlines, hotels and imported food and products."

Now, the suggestion here is not that any one country should be able to secure 100% of their value chain, something unlikely in any industry, but that there is an array of unnecessary leakages in tourism, many of which are easily avoided.

Dr. Lynn Minnaert is Professor and Head of Subject, Tourism and Languages at Edinburgh Napier University. Along with co-author Clare Inkson, she (quite literally) wrote the book on Tourism Management.

"Leakage is basically any money that is spent at the destination level that doesn't stay there, and doesn't circulate within the destination. It leaks out," says Dr. Minnaert. "Only a fraction of money spent by tourists stays with local communities - so often, the people who provide your service, and who welcome you into their home, are not actually benefiting much from your being there."

An unequal problem

Picture this. You fly to the Maldives with British Airways. That money goes back to the UK. You then stay in an American-owned resort, the side-businesses of which sort out your SCUBA trips, whale-watching safaris and rent you a bicycle. You're served Australian wine, Indonesian tuna and Costa Rican bananas by seasonal, international staff. So who benefits from your money?

You might feel like your spending is benefiting local life, but the money could be working a whole lot harder for that host community.

Tourism leakage tends to be worst in the global south, where locals didn't have the spending power to set up their own tourism infrastructure before global capital arrived. Local businesses can then set up shop when the tourist infrastructure is in place, but they often struggle to compete with corporate giants, who have a tendency to set up supply chains that favour the profitable and recognised, excluding the local - think Egyptian cotton sheets, Norwegian salmon, Coca-Cola.

Leakage isn't just widespread in tourism; it's very much the norm.

"It's incredibly common in tourism," says Dr. Minnaert. "Leakage happens everywhere. It doesn't just have to be an island. It happens in Europe as well. The money doesn't always go where you think. If your businesses are locally owned, then leakages are a lot less, because the money circulates within the community, but in a lot of destinations in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean - it's often foreign-owned businesses, from the tours to the hotels to the taxis."

In 2012, while writing about tourism's potential for poverty-reduction, Dr. Dorothea Meyer discussed how those who decided the supply chain also decided the "barriers of entry, the measurement of income and profitability, locality dimensions of the tourism value chain distribution, the make-up of recipients by class, gender, ethnicity" and which small, medium or micro-businesses are integrated into it. In essence, they decide the cast and what role they play.

In 2022, Elcia Grandcourt, Director of the UNWTO Regional Department for Africa, outlined the issue. While talking about how tourism has the biggest potential to improve livelihoods in the least-developed countries, she lamented the fact that these countries faced the biggest difficulties in getting started. "Among the reasons for this," she said, "are large-scale transfer of tourism revenues out of the host country and exclusion of local businesses and products.

"There is growing evidence that most of the tourism receipts in developing countries have no impact on local economies because they are spent on imports or earned by foreign workers [...] Leakages in tourism deeply affect African countries' economies across the continent, with severe and negative impacts on local communities' livelihoods, by fostering inequalities and producing cultural erosion."

When exclusionary supply chains are established by external companies, it becomes harder for local entrepreneurs to access tourists, and so, harder for their companies to succeed. This means it's tougher for locals to attain higher-paid positions in the tourism industry, which can limit locals to service jobs with, as Jeyacheya and Hampton wrote in 2020, "precarious work conditions and low pay [which] may limit opportunities for poverty alleviation."

The UNWTO estimates that four to ten family members benefit from each tourist wage.

This sort of entry-level tourism work is also vulnerable to external shocks, as was demonstrated by the pandemic. If tourist money leaves for another economy when tourism stops, who supports those workers? And with what cash?

When money is retained and circulated in a community, destinations are able to diversify and so better prepare for external shocks. Caroline Ashley's research found that in Namibia, for example, "new skills gained from being employed in tourism could be transferred to other livelihood activities, that earnings from tourism were being invested in livestock and/or the development of SMME s, and that tourism contributed greatly to non-financial benefits be it access to infrastructure (e.g. roads, telecommunication, water) or access to information."

Support networks and resilience will always be stronger in areas where money is retained, and circulates in an economy. The benefits from tourism don't stop with the employee. The UNWTO estimates that four to ten family members benefit from each tourist wage on average - before factoring in wages spent on local goods. The less gatekeeping of tourists, the higher that number rises.

"The worst culprits to me would be cruise tourism and all-inclusive resorts, because they keep you trapped in a sense," says Dr. Minnaert. "Because you spend your money with them, and any interaction you have with the outside destination is carefully moderated through them. They organise the excursions, carefully moderate everything for you - and take a big cut in doing so.

"In cruise tourism, your food is on the ship, you're sleeping on the ship, so you're only buying maybe a coffee and a souvenir - and in return, for that minor spending, the destination for six hours has thousands of people and a lot of pressure on it. The cruise fees that the destinations get doesn't really make up for that. You're causing a lot of hassle, unfortunately, for relatively little gain - but it is definitely possible to visit island nations and reduce your leakage."

Imports aren't all evil. They can be essential to provide certain goods for tourism which you can't get in a destination, and they can also open up links to other economies, creating trade partnerships. But big chances are being missed.

Meyer wrote that "livelihood diversification via intersectoral linkages between tourism and agriculture offer tremendous opportunities that are frequently not tapped into - they not only provide income to local farmers but they can also considerably cut the import costs for tourism businesses, while providing a more authentic experience."

Indeed, the more local goods used, the more authentic the traveller experience - and the traveller of today values authenticity above almost all else.

The key to minimising leakages is creating linkages with the local community. This can be as simple as encouraging hotels to train and employ local residents and serve local, seasonal food from local suppliers, rather than importing food.

Backwards linkages connect tourism businesses to suppliers. Forward linkages connect them with businesses in other sectors in the community, enabling them to grow and make the tourist dollar go further as tourist volumes increase. Examples of this would be connecting with local guides, campsites, indigenous communities, handicraft sellers - or indeed, combining all into one itinerary.

As Inkson and Dr. Minnaert's 2022 'Tourism Management' states: "In too many destinations, the economic benefits of tourism are allocated to a happy few, whereas a great number of local people have to bear the costs in terms of congestion, environmental and cultural degradation, or inflation."

Linkages help to mend local relationships with tourism, and they also come with a collective power, which can hopefully give locals a louder voice and can extend to involvement in development (to avoid displacement), to wages and so on.

The overarching message is simple and familiar. It's simply 'shop local' and 'shop seasonal', as you travel.

We must strive for this community-based, regenerative tourism. Global leakage is murky and hard to measure, and the solutions in any given destination will always be location-specific, but the overarching message is simple and familiar. It's simply 'shop local' and 'shop seasonal', as you travel the world.

As consumers, we can put in the extra effort to choose local companies, or responsible tour operators, who link these small local businesses to consumers who may otherwise never find them, while ensuring fair payment.

Long-distance hiking trails are excellent at taking visitors to rural areas and accommodation far from the tourist hot spots, wildlife-watching trips can be a crucial source of income for conservation projects, and multi-activity adventures are fantastic at getting an array of local businesses involved in one itinerary.

"If you're a bigger tourism business, working with smaller businesses can be a challenge," says Dr. Minnaert. "They may need to be paid more often, or have other specific needs, so it's more complicated - but you have to make this special effort to put these linkages in place. You're almost training and capacity-building as you're working with them - particularly in developing countries. But the traveller wants this now, so more businesses are putting in that extra effort."

Everyone's an Influencer

Ultimately, corporate change comes only with consumer demand. As more travellers demand vegetarian, or plastic-free options, these become available.

Similarly, as consumers demand proof that the money they spend is kept in the local communities they visit - that the food is sourced locally, the staff paid properly and that a fair cut of profits goes to the people on the ground, this will begin to happen. There are sections of the travel industry - notably within adventure travel - where it happens already. The travel industry is not a democracy, but vote with your money and change will soon follow.

"As long as people want this, it encourages companies to put in the extra effort," says Dr. Minnaert. "That's it. Just like with environmental sustainability."

When we talk about sustainable travel, it is useful to think about what this phrase implies. Are we really going to set our goals so low as to strive for tourism which can simply be 'sustained', settling for a certain level of overcrowding and a model which leaves corporate powers counting their money while locals see minimal benefit? Perhaps a better question is, who is this model actually sustainable for?

Tourism is rightly viewed at a local, national and global level as a route to growth in developing countries - and included in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers of more than 80% of low income countries. It's often one of the only viable sources of growth, but this growth is only possible if the money is retained and distributed around these countries - which needs to happen on a bigger scale.

Overseas travel is always a privilege, but for economies around the world; for rural livelihoods and for crucial conservation projects, it is also an economic necessity. If we ignore this for our own convenience, travel transforms from a privilege to a self-indulgence - hurting these global cultures and communities around the world which make travel so rich, when it could be benefiting them.

Sustainable travel cannot simply mean arriving at a destination by train, bringing a bamboo toothbrush and drinking out of a keep cup when you get there. It must mean regenerative - actively benefiting the people who live in these cities and the wild places that we visit, and who make these destinations so special, from the volcanoes of Guatemala to the hills of Romania to the waters of the Maldives.
The Tourism Leakage Series will run monthly during 2023 on our magazine, and will feature case studies focused on making tourism work - for good.

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It's Time to Talk About Tourism's Dirty Secret

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Why tourism leakage is the biggest hurdle you've never heard of in sustainable travel, and why linkages are the answer...

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A Global sense of Place - by Doreen Massey

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A Global sense of Place - by Doreen Massey

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The Secret Behind Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy

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The 2008 Financial Crisis in 12 Minutes (Casual Economics)

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The Effects of the 2008 global financial crisis on developing countries

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The Effects of the 2008 global financial crisis on developing countries

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The Inside Story of the Ship That Broke Global Trade

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Why Some Countries Are Thriving Amid Globalization's Decline

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Lets Talk About Globalization! | Charles Beem | TEDxUNCPembroke

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Mike O'Sullivan: The end of globalization (and the beginning of something new) | TED

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The evidence on gentrification impacts: Lessons for the urban renaissance?

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The evidence on gentrification impacts: Lessons for the urban renaissance?

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Understanding Cultural Geography Jon Anderson - book available in 4F014

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Understanding Cultural Geography Jon Anderson - book available in 4F014

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This book outlines how the theoretical ideas, empirical foci, and methodological techniques of cultural geography make sense of the 'culture wars' that define our time. It is on the battleground of culture that our opportunities, rights, and futures are determined and Understanding Cultural Geography showcases how this discipline can be used to understand these battles and how we can engage in them. Through doing so, the book not only introduces the reader to the rich and complex history of cultural geography, but also the key terms on which the discipline is built. From these insights, the text approaches place as an 'ongoing composition of traces', highlighting the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the world around us, and what our role can be in transforming it for the better.

The third edition has been fully revised and updated to incorporate recent literature and reflect the changing cultural context of its time. Retaining its exciting and innovative structure, the third edition will expand its focus into new areas, including updated chapters on ethnicity and race, and new chapters on gender and the body. This new edition captures not only recent changes in the cultural world, but also the discipline itself, offering the most up-to-date text to understand and engage with the cultural battlegrounds which constitute our lives.

Understanding Cultural Geography is the ideal text for students being introduced to the discipline through either undergraduate or postgraduate degree courses. The third edition is an important update to a highly successful text that incorporates a vast foundation of knowledge; it is an invaluable book for lecturers and students.

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Understanding Cultural Geography | Places and Traces | Jon Anderson |

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This book outlines how the theoretical ideas, empirical foci, and methodological techniques of cultural geography make sense of the 'culture wars' that define

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The Concept of Place has Changed Forever - David Houle at TEDxSarasota

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20 years on from Hurricane Katrina Katrina: Come Hell and High Water review – Spike Lee gets straight to the defiant, joyous soul of New Orleans | Television & radio | The Guardian

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In a desperate bid to save their family ranch, two brothers stage a series of clever bank robberies with a pair of Texas Rangers in hot pursuit.

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Doreen Massey: Space, Place and Politics Recorded Lecture

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Doreen Massey: Space, Place and Politics Recorded Lecture

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Doreen Massey: Space, Place and Politics

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Why does geography matter? Open University Professor Doreen Massey has devoted her life to the subject, speaking passionately about the significance of geography and the 'politics of place' in a ...

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The dark history of bananas - John Soluri

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Some background information to multiple natural disasters

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Learn more about the causes and effects of natural disasters.

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Useful background information for hazards

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US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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El El Nino and La Nina are complex weather patterns resulting from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific.

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Sir Ron Cooke, an eminent physical geographer and former President of the Society, has kindly supported a new award for A Level students.

The award recognises students' work towards the independent investigation, also known as the NEA. The first Ron Cooke Award was presented to a student who completed an NEA for the 2018 examinations, at our medals and awards ceremony in 2019.

Ron Cooke Award 2024

Student's outstanding NEAs can be submitted in the below format and we want to celebrate students' work which had engaged them with new ideas, provided opportunities for innovation and/or demonstrates their personal interest in geography.

Entries must be a fully marked NEA, though we will take account of accommodations that may have had to be made in regard to the COVID-19 restrictions over previous years.

We are delighted that the examination boards are supportive of this award and will also be encouraging their centres to submit outstanding scripts for consideration.

Teachers can submit their students' work by emailing an electronic copy of their scripts and your student's proposal/planning form to competitions@rgs.org. More than one submission can be made by a school. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday 15 March 2024.

Please write Ron Cooke Award in the email subject box and include the following details:

Teacher and school contact details

Student name and final marks for the NEA

A short supporting statement from the teacher explaining why the script(s) have been submitted and any relevant information about the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the student's work.

The winner will be invited to attend our annual Medals and Awards Ceremony in 2024.

Ron Cooke Award 2023

The 2023 Ron Cooke Award has been awarded to Elysia Sanders, Lady Eleanor Holles School for her A Level project titled 'How have glacial and physical post-glacial processes caused variation in the landscape of the Troutbeck Valley'.

Ron Cooke Award 2022

The 2022 Ron Cooke Award has been awarded to Joelle D'Mello from Trinity School for her A Level Independent Investigation titled "Through economic status, the environment, accessibility, and regeneration, how does quality of living vary between a rural and urban area?"

Ron Cooke Award 2021

The 2021 Ron Cooke Award has been awarded to Hollie Daw from Queen Mary's College for her A Level Independent Investigation "An examination of the factors affecting infiltration rate at Ashford Hill National Nature Reserve."

Find out more about our medals and awards.

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Sir Ron Cooke, an eminent physical geographer and former President of the Society, has kindly supported a new award for A Level students. The award recognises students' work towards the independent investigation, also known as the NEA. The first Ron Cooke Award was presented to a student who completed an NEA for the 2018 examinations, at our medals and awards ceremony in 2019.

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Lecture Series from Royal Holloway University

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Lecture Series from Royal Holloway University

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Contemporary urban environments include changing city spaces, contesting place, gentrification, governance and community.

This fits with in the following A Level Syllabus: AQA - Contemporary urban environments, Changing places, Globalisation and global systems. OCR - Changing Spaces; Making Places, Global Connections.
Summary Sheet Activity

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Contemporary urban environments include changing city spaces, contesting place, gentrification, governance and community.

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In July 2018, the Ministry of Public Health and Epidemiology reported that the Los Pinos Health Center (La Descubierta, municipality) saw an increase in the number of patients with acute diarrhoeal diseases from surrounding communities, which were suspected to be cases of cholera. In August 2018,...

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In July 2018, the Ministry of Public Health and Epidemiology reported that the Los Pinos Health Center (La Descubierta, municipality) saw an increase in the number of patients with acute diarrhoeal diseases from surrounding communities, which were suspected to be cases of cholera. In August 2018,...

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Multiple news articles from 2005 and beyond on the BBC website.

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BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Hurricane Katrina

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Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives. Also entertainment, business, science, technology and health news.

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Article How did Japan's earthquake compare to others across the world?

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Article How did Japan's earthquake compare to others across the world?

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Useful for comparing to our local-scale hazard case study of the Turkey-Syria Earthquake of 2023

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The death toll from the latest major earthquake to hit Japan is expected to rise even though fears of a 2004-style mega tsunami or 2011 Fukushima meltdown are receding.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the Noto region, on the western side of Japan's main island of Honshu, was hit by a rapid series of quakes - about 20 in total - just after 4pm local time on Monday, with the largest registering 7.6 in magnitude.

So far, 48 people have been confirmed dead, with dozens more injured, as Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said rescuers face a "race against time" to save more survivors trapped beneath the rubble.

What the papers said

Japan's location on the massive Pacific Plate, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, makes it one of the most seismically active places on Earth. But Monday's earthquake was "different" to previous quakes, said The Times. "It did not occur at a plate boundary. Instead, forces that had built up away from a boundary, probably over many centuries, were suddenly released."

It meant the earthquake was shallower but also relatively small compared to the 9.1-magnitude one that caused the devastating Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, which America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated led to around 230,000 deaths, the displacement of 1.7 million people and roughly $13 billion in economic losses. "That makes it the deadliest tsunami on record but other earthquakes have claimed even more lives," said the paper.

A giant quake that struck the Mediterranean in 1202 is estimated to have killed more than a million people, while one that hit China in 1556 killed around 800,000. More than 300,000 people are thought to have died following the Port-au-Prince earthquake in 2010, though this number is disputed, while the death toll from the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria last year, which was of a similar size to Monday's quake, neared 60,000.

"In Japan, quakes quickly become a part of life. You get used to them, up to a point," said Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, former BBC Tokyo correspondent, on the BBC.

But some live long in the memory and leave "a deep collective trauma", he said. It has been 13 years since the devastating 2011 earthquake that struck Japan's east coast, causing a 40-metre high tsunami that claimed the lives of nearly 20,000 people, displaced 200,000 and sparked the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

What next?

"You only have to look back to the Tohoku earthquake in 2011 to understand why Japan takes no chances when it comes to the risk of tsunamis," said Sky News' science and technology editor Tom Clarke.

Japanese authorities immediately called for the evacuation of coastal areas and the JMA has warned that more major earthquakes could hit the area over the next week, especially in the next two or three days. Tsunami warnings were also issued for Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido and for parts of North Korea and Russia.

"Tsunami waves can bounce around, reflected off surrounding coasts and islands, sometimes leading to larger waves than that caused by the initial quake," said Clarke. But the fact that this earthquake released 250 times less energy than the one in 2011 "means disruption beyond the east coast of Japan is unlikely".

Roads have been ruptured, bridges destroyed and hundreds of buildings have collapsed, said Wingfield-Hayes, but despite the extensive damage, Monday's earthquake is "also a remarkable story of Japan's success at mitigating such disasters".

"Each time the country has been hit by a large quake, the damage has been studied and the regulations updated," he said, adding that it is "hard to think of any other country on Earth that could have experienced Monday's quake without being hit a lot worse".

The relatively low death toll is ultimately not a question of luck but rather of preparedness, agreed James Jackson, professor of active tectonics at the University of Cambridge, on BBC Radio 4's "PM" programme.

"Japan is really respected and admired around the world for being so good at preparing for these things, preparing the population and teaching children and the public what to do and how important it is.

"Yes it's a tragedy," he concluded, but when compared to earthquakes of a similar size, which regularly kill tens of thousands of people, it is also a "triumph".

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How did Japan's earthquake compare to others across the world?

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The latest Todays Big Question,/todays-big-questions,,todays-big-questions, breaking news, comment, reviews and features from the experts at The Week

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TED Talk by James Kunstler: How bad architecture wrecked cities. A 21-minute Video that explains how the quality of architecture directly influences the way that people view and experience places. Useful for CUE and CP

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James Kunstler: How bad architecture wrecked cities

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TED Talk by Kent Larson: Brilliant designs to fit more people in every city. The first 4 minutes are particularly useful on the urbanisation and the difference between settlements built around pedestrians and around cars.

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Kent Larson: Brilliant designs to fit more people in every city

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Boston public schools recently announced that they will shift to using world maps based on the Peters projection, reportedly the first time a US public school district has done so. Why? Because the Peters projection accurately shows different countries' relative sizes. Although it distorts countries' shapes, this way of drawing a world map avoids exaggerating the size of developed nations in Europe and North America and reducing the size of less developed countries in Asia, Africa and South America.

This is what happens with the more commonly used Mercator projection, which exaggerates the size of the Earth around the poles and shrinks it around the equator. So the developed "global North" appears bigger than reality, and equatorial regions, which tend to be less developed, appear smaller. It's especially problematic given that the first world maps based on the Mercator projection were produced by European colonialists.

Why does this problem occur? Simply put, the world is round and a map is flat. Imagine drawing a world map on an orange, peeling the skin to leave a single piece and then flattening it. It would, of course, rip. But imagine you could stretch it. As you did so, the map drawn on its surface would distort.

The distortions this introduces are massive. And different projections distort maps in different ways. The Mercator projection depicts Greenland as larger than Africa. But, in reality, Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. It alters the way you see the size - and, some people argue, the way you see the importance - of different parts of the world. So this isn't just a cartographer's dilemma - it's a political problem.

The Renaissance cartographer Gerardus Mercator did this to preserve the shapes of countries, so the map could be used to accurately calculate compass bearings. Accurate compass bearings are very important if you are a 16th century seafarer. But if you want a better idea of the relative size of the world's landmasses, you need a map that distorts shape but preserves area, like the Peters projection does.

The difference between the Peters and Mercator projections shows how significant changing the way a map is drawn can be. Here are four other map styles that each come with their own political implications.

South-up

North is up, right? Only by convention. There's no scientific reason why north is any more up than south. Equally, we could do east-up, west-up or any other compass bearing. Purposefully reversing the typical way world maps are drawn has a similar political effect to using the Peters projection, putting more developing countries in the generally poorer southern hemisphere at the top of the map and so giving them greater significance.

But some of the first known world maps put south at the top as a matter of course. For example, in 1154 Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi drew a south-up map of Europe, Asia and northern Africa for his book the Tabula Rogeriana. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen in the centre of the map but, of course, pointing upwards rather than the more familiar downwards.

Pacific-centred

Another convention of world maps is that they are centred on the prime meridian, or zero degrees longitude (east-west). But this is scientifically arbitrary, deriving from the location of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. The result is that Europe (although also Africa) is in the centre of the conventional world map - a rather colonial perspective.

The familiar meridian-centred map conveniently places the map edges down the middle of the Pacific Ocean so no continent is chopped in two. But maps centred on the Pacific Ocean also work well because the edges of the map conveniently run down the middle of the Atlantic. This places east Asia in a more prominent position and pushes Europe to the edge. Much of Oceania and Asia uses Pacific-centred maps. (American-centred maps are also in use, but these have the unfortunate consequence of partitioning Asia to either side of the map.)

Our meridian-centred view of the world shapes how we refer to world regions. "Far East", for example, implies far from Greenwich, London. Seeing Europe on the left of a map and the Americas on the right can seem counter-intuitive, but it is just as correct as any other arbitrary chop point. The world is, after all, round.

Azimuthal polar projection

All the projections we've discussed so far tend to put one continent in the middle of the map, giving it greater prominence over the others. An alternative is to place the North Pole in the centre. It is strangely disorienting to gaze on the world from a polar perspective. The lower hemisphere should be hidden from view by the curve of the Earth because you can only see half a sphere at a time.

But on the azimuthal polar projection from the north, the southern hemisphere has been pulled into view on the page, with the consequence that Antarctica centrifuges into a doughnut around the edge of the circular map. This highlights the disadvantage of the projection as it distorts both the area and shape of landmasses, but distances from the North Pole are accurate in all directions, with those further from the centre becoming more enlarged on their east-west axis.

This "azimuthal" polar projection is depicted on the United Nations flag. North America was prominent on the initial 1945 UN flag (which had the longitude line 90 degrees west pointing upwards). The following year, the map on the flag was reoriented to be more neutral by having the international date line (180 degrees east, lying in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) pointing upwards. The map stops at latitude 60 degrees south, meaning Antarctica does not appear.

Cartograms

Another way of representing the world is to display countries' sizes in proportion to key indicators of interest to geographers today, such as population, environment and development. Predictably, the world map of GDP is dominated by North America and Europe, while Africa almost disappears. The population cartogram gives greater prominence to India and China, and makes Indonesia far bigger than neighbouring Australia. But perhaps more surprising is the map of voter turnout, where emerging economies are bigger - and North America smaller - than many people might suppose.

Now more than ever, we need to be able to see the world from different perspectives. Any one perspective is not any more correct than another - just different.

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Five maps that will change how you see the world

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An article that explains the how public and private partnerships have been forged to regenerate Folkestone, Kent using art and culture.

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Take a walk around the Old Town of Folkestone and, if you look closely, just over the road from the buddleia-strewn bombsite that is still left over from World War I, you will find what appears to be a tiny pink baby's sock lying on the pavement as if dropped from a passing pushchair. It is actually a diminutive Tracey Emin bronze sculpture, painted to look like the real thing. The antithesis of monumental art, it is part of the legacy of the first Folkestone Triennial of contemporary art, held in 2008. Look up, past Stirling Prizewinner Alison Brooks' Quarterhouse arts centre and you will see Nathan Coley's fairground lights on a scaffold spelling out 'Heaven is a Place Where Nothing Ever Happens'. Across the way, sprawling up the side of the valley, innovative architecture/art practice has carried out an almost miraculous reimagining of the formerly derelict escarpment as an urban park crammed with interest, wit and fun. And at the top of the hill Banksy made his own uninvited contribution to the just completed 2014 Triennial and to a creative regeneration project that is attracting international attention.

It is through the proliferation of small-scale, local activity that the project has sunk deep roots, spread branches and flourished

The Folkestone Triennial is just one component of an ambitious joined-up approach to arts-led regeneration that has been unfolding in this deprived Kent coastal town since 2001. Other elements include far-reaching educational reforms, the establishment of a sustainable creative quarter where 90 buildings have been renovated and placed in the hands of an arts charity, university research into the links between arts and health, support for the creative industries, and large-scale infrastructure projects including decommissioning an old railway line and redeveloping the historic harbour. The overall programme sets out to engage the whole town in creativity, and it is through the proliferation of small-scale, local activity that the project has sunk deep roots, spread branches and flourished.

Yoko Ono was one of the star turns of an al fresco art show that pushed determinedly beyond the confines of the conventional white cube gallery. Now the grande dame of peace activism and contemporary art has fallen in love with the town and its people. She says: "Folkestone is a town that wants the world to know that it likes art, that it is sensitive to art. I thought I was coming to a sleepy little town, but I found this amazing energy - so much activity - a kind of spiritual rising. I went there to give energy and it was the other way round. Visit Folkestone - it could cleanse your spirit."

It is a tough job to square spiritual cleansing with more traditional metrics of regeneration, such as economic growth or the numbers of jobs created and dilapidated properties renovated. But a few months ago, the BBC's Economics Editor Robert Peston told an assembled audience at a 'provocation' event for the Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value that trying to measure the impact of the arts on the economy is a "category error", that "engagement in the arts is pretty shallow" and that subsidising white middle-class people to attend arts events is "in a fundamental sense regressive". As the squeeze on public finances grows ever tighter, the need for new forms of evidence of impact for public spending on culture is becoming pressing - and the case for a paradigm shift in funding priorities is growing.

Architect and urbanist Sir Terry Farrell recently published the Government's national review of architecture and the built environment. Visiting Folkestone during the Triennial for a conference on art and regeneration entitled Imagined Cities, he told me: "In the 1960s and 1970s the city was seen as a bad place. Cities were run down on purpose - there was a sense you had to start again. Now there's been a rethink about valuing what we've got. It all began with Covent Garden when local residents, architects and artists argued for it to be kept. Credit for remaking towns should flow like film titles because there are so many hands involved. Art is increasingly very broadly interpreted. A clever masterplan is an artistic activity. Architecture used to be conjoined with art. Now artists are taking over again."

In the heyday of the capital arts lottery in the 1990s, culture-led regeneration sometimes became confused with the idea of glitzy starchitect-designed cultural palaces popping up in forlorn city centres. It is easy to understand why. Farrell believes: "There's a certain fraud in politicians - we all know that, we all laugh at it, but we shouldn't feed it. They opened new galleries in rundown places but you could tell they didn't want it to be in the town - they wanted it to be somewhere else."

Also at the Imagined Cities conference was Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre and founder and Chair of Metal. For Kelly, "Buildings aren't regeneration. I believe in the power of place more than the power of buildings. Regeneration comes when we make a commitment to change. Nobody should work in the area of regeneration unless they're on a journey of spirit and humility. Do you think other humans have an equal right to health, education and opportunity? If you do, commit to regeneration."

Kelly told me: "Culture doesn't sit in a bubble - it's related to education, health and regeneration. But arts councils can't fund everything - they're doing more all the time and getting more confident about positioning the arts in a social context, without the arts just being used as a tool."

The Folkestone model shows how art can play a critically important role in regenerating places if strong local and regional partnerships strike the right balance between artistic excellence and community engagement. On the last day of the Triennial, the Banksy was cut out of the wall it had been stencilled on to. This was so it could be sold at auction, sparking a furious reaction from residents and a front page 'Save our Banksy' campaign in the local press. Meanwhile, the bronze sock quietly pays tribute to Folkestone's unusually high proportion of teenage mothers and, at the same time, acts as a wistful reflection on Tracey Emin's own adolescence in nearby Margate. This is the art of regeneration, combining personal truth with social insight to tell us a powerful new story about a place we thought we knew.

Nick Ewbank is Director of Nick Ewbank Associates.
www.nickewbank.co.uk

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The culture-led regeneration of Folkestone has carefully balanced community engagement with artistic excellence, helped by the Folkestone Triennial of contemporary art, it's a model other can learn from, says Nick Ewbank.

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BBC News: Will Damian Hirst’s Verity regenerate Ilfracombe?

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BBC News: Will Damian Hirst’s Verity regenerate Ilfracombe?

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A BBC article and video explaining how the enormous, yet controversial, bronze statue in Ilfracombe Harbour has been used as a hope to regenerate the coastal town.

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"We first reported on it eight months ago and we've had letters every single week. I haven't known any subject to have such a long-running interest. Even now Verity's arrived we are still getting protest letters, so people are clearly riled.

"There are people who think it's going to make money for the town and boost tourism, but then there are those who think it doesn't reflect what Ilfracombe's about, and are quite offended by it."

Ms Hubbard thinks Verity may attract a different type of tourist to the seaside resort.

"Ilfracombe is not the most affluent area and anything that can bring money into the area has got to be viewed as a positive thing."

She adds: "Certain parts of the media have massively hammed this story up, saying that the locals are out with their pitchforks and don't want this in the town. That isn't what's happening."

Before North Devon Council passed the planning application this summer, it had received 100 letters of objection and 177 letters of support of Verity.

Among those objectors was Sue Dale, owner of Ilfracombe's Darnley Hotel, who has now had the chance to see the statue for real.

Her opinion has not been swayed. "I think it's more hideous than I did before, and it isn't suitable for a Victorian seaside town," she says.

"I think it's disappointing that the money and the ideas couldn't have been spent on a proper attraction to encourage people to come to Ilfracombe 52 weeks of the year.

"I've not said we shouldn't have anything there, but I think the statue might be a two-minute wonder. It's not for me and I don't think it's suitable for our harbour."

Mrs Dale is relieved that her hotel does not have a view of he statue. "I feel very sorry for people who may have to look at it every day."

She adds: "I think we'll have to live with it and hope it doesn't become an eyesore with pigeon and seagull droppings and vandalism."

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Will Damien Hirst's bronze statue Verity regenerate Ilfracombe?

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The artistic merit of Damien Hirst's giant bronze statue of a pregnant woman has split opinions, but what role does public art have in regenerating a town?

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WACC and GSAGG Cross specification link 

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WACC and GSAGG Cross specification link 

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Panorama - Big Brands' Green Claims Uncovered

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Investigation of green projects claiming to help brands cancel out their carbon emissions.

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A 2021 update to the 2003 original documentary. There is a definite left leaning bias in the documentary but worth a watch to understand more about corporations (with American HQs)

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Unlike many natural disasters, most wildfires are caused by people-and can be prevented by people, too. Meteorologists are not yet able to forecast wildfire outbreaks, so people in fire-prone areas should plan ahead and prepare to evacuate with little notice. Here are some tips on how to prevent wildfires and what to do if you're caught in the middle of one.

How to prevent a wildfire

Contact 911, your local fire department, or the park service if you notice an unattended or out-of-control fire.

Never leave a fire unattended. Completely extinguish the fire-by dousing it with water and stirring the ashes until cold-before sleeping or leaving the campsite.

Always take care when using and fueling lanterns, stoves, and heaters. Make sure lighting and heating devices are cool before refueling. Avoid spilling flammable liquids and store fuel away from appliances.

Do not discard cigarettes, matches, and smoking materials from moving vehicles, or anywhere on park grounds. Be certain to completely extinguish cigarettes before disposing of them.

Follow local ordinances when burning yard waste. Avoid backyard burning in windy conditions, and keep a shovel, water, and fire retardant nearby to keep fires in check. Remove all flammables from the yard when burning.

Evacuation tips

If advised to evacuate, do so immediately.

Know your evacuation route ahead of time and prepare an evacuation checklist and emergency supplies.

Wear protective clothing and footwear to reduce harm from flying sparks and ashes. (Get more wildfire safety information.)

Before you leave, prepare your home

Remove combustibles, including firewood, yard waste, barbecue grills, and fuel cans, from your yard.

Close all windows, vents, and doors to prevent a draft.

Shut off natural gas, propane, or fuel oil supplies.

Fill any large vessels-pools, hot tubs, garbage cans, or tubs-with water to slow or discourage fire.

<p>Firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California, on November 12, 2018. That blaze burned nearly 97,000 acres in Southern California, killing three people and damaging an estimated $6 billion in property.</p>

If caught in a wildfire

Don't try to outrun the blaze. Instead, look for a body of water such as a pond or river to crouch in.

If there is no water nearby, find a depressed, cleared area with little vegetation, lie low to the ground, and cover your body with wet clothing, a blanket, or soil. Stay low and covered until the fire passes.

Protect your lungs by breathing air closest to the ground, through a mask or moist cloth, if possible, to reduce smoke inhalation.

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Wildfire safety tips, facts, and information

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Unlike many natural disasters, most wildfires are caused by people-and can be prevented by people, too. Meteorologists are not yet able to forecast wildfire outbreaks, so people in fire-prone areas should plan ahead and prepare to evacuate with little notice.

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Survey 123
Mapping data with Arc GIS

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Royal Geographical Society - Resources for schools

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Browse our catalogue of award-winning resources to enhance geographical learning.

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Visit our online shop and support conservation in Antarctica! From scarves to games, t-shirts to prints, we’ve got something for everyone this Christmas. Every purchase made supports our charity and enables us to continue our essential conservation work in Antarctica.

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Get an article published in a professional journal

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Get an article published in a professional journal

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Young Geographer of the Year Competition

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Young Geographer of the Year Competition

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The Young Geographer of the Year is the Society's annual competition which recognises the outstanding work of the next generation of geographers. With its age ranges spanning the primary years to A Level, the competition encourages thoughtful and creative answers to the competition's theme which is set each year.

The Society encourages schools to run their own in-house competition and then send their top 10 entries into the international competition. The Young Geographer competition has been running for over 20 years and in 2020 over 10,000 young people took part.

2023 competition

The theme for the Young Geographer of the Year competition 2023 is:

A blueprint for the future

The Society invites you to create your own blueprint for the future. We are looking for innovative ideas to address problems in areas such as food production and supply, energy and sustainability, water security, resources, population growth, economic crisis, transport, travel, urbanisation, risk management, trade, environmental management, biodiversity and more.
Find out more
Where, how and why

For last year's Young Geographer of the Year competition we asked young people where might they want to travel to, how would they get there and why there.
View the 2022 finalists

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young geographer of the year competition

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A national competition run by the Society to encourage pupils to engage with geographical issues.

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The uninhabitable earth by David Wallace-Wells (book)

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The uninhabitable earth by David Wallace-Wells (book)

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Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall (Book)

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Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall (Book)

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The world's deserts force animals to come up with ingenious ways of coping with hostile conditions, giving rise to the most incredible survival stories on earth.

The world's deserts are lands of extremes that force animals to come up with ingenious ways of coping with hostile conditions, giving rise to the most incredible survival stories on earth.

A pride of desert lions are so hungry they risk hunting a giraffe several times their size, while male sandgrouse fly 120 miles each day to the nearest waterhole and dice with death to collect water for their chicks.

Filmed for the first time, a tiny bat does battle with one of the world's deadliest scorpions, and in Madagascar, a locust swarm of biblical proportions is seen as never before.

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The incredible ways in which animals cope with living in the planet's deserts.

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Home - Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Vital Signs of the Planet: Global Climate Change and Global Warming. Current news and data streams about global warming and climate change from NASA.

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Our Planet | From Deserts to Grasslands | FULL EPISODE | Netflix

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Listen to TILclimate on Spotify. Climate change is confusing. This award-winning MIT podcast breaks down the science, technologies, and policies behind climate change, how it's impacting us, and what our society can do about it. Each quick episode gives you the what, why, and how on climate change - from real scientists - to help us all make informed decisions for our future.

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The Green Planet - Series 1: 4. Desert Worlds

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Desert plants thrive using weapons, camouflage and strange alliances with animals.

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Our final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas

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Our final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas

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Welcome to Topophilia, a podcast about places, the people who care for them, and the things we love to do in them.

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A Little Louder
Texas Housers
A Little Louder is a podcast from Texas Housers—hosted by John Henneberger and Christina Rosales—that focses on fair housing, community development, and community efforts to work toward just cities and inclusive neighborhoods.

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Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake 

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Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake 

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Watch Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake | Netflix Official Site

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Survivors' firsthand accounts and actual footage fuel this emotional docuseries about the deadly 2015 earthquake that shook Nepal. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Brick Lane by Monica Ali - a fiction book

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Brick Lane by Monica Ali - a fiction book

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The Power of Place by Harm De Blij (book)

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The Power of Place by Harm De Blij (book)

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Also useful for GSAGG

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Meet the 108 ordinary Brits who Sir David Attenborough says we should listen to. This warm and honest documentary reveals how everyday people feel about the climate crisis.

Britain has made big promises about reducing our impact on the planet, but getting there means huge changes to our everyday lives. In this surprising and funny documentary, we follow members of the UK's first ever Citizen's Assembly on Climate Change, where 108 ordinary Brits are tasked with deciding what we should do to meet our climate change goals.

Organised by Parliament, this historic event sees members of the public grapple with big questions about our future. As the assembly members learn the science of climate change from experts and hear Sir David Attenborough thank them for giving up their time for this task, they begin to realise the huge significance of the decisions they must make.

The film follows seven assembly members from all over the UK, who each bring their own perspective to the climate change debate. Sue, an ex-fishmonger from Bath, is shocked to learn the science of climate change, and when floods hit the UK - and the south west in particular - she begins to understand how close to home these issues can be and resolves to make personal changes.

British Gas employee Marc from Newcastle is enthusiastic about taking part in the assembly, but is worried about losing his job in the transition to green energy, while 27-year-old postal worker Amy is unsettled when she learns the environmental impact of the coal fire she heats her home with. We also meet retired printer Richard, who is sceptical about climate change and reluctant to accept many of the proposals put forward in the assembly. But when his own health deteriorates, he is forced to re-examine the impact of dirty air on all our lives.

Through this cast of warm, funny Brits, we understand the challenge we all face in the effort to reduce climate change and start to see what the future might look like in a greener world.

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Meet the ordinary Brits who will help decide how Britain solves the climate crisis.

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Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth (2006) and An Inconvenient Sequel (2017)

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Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth (2006) and An Inconvenient Sequel (2017)

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This World - The Coffee Trail with Simon Reeve

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Simon Reeve heads to Vietnam to uncover the stories behind the morning pick-me-up.