What is the IGU?

What does the IGU do?

The International Geographical Union (IGU) is an international, non-governmental, professional organization devoted to the development of the discipline of Geography.

The purposes of the IGU are primarily to promote Geography through initiating and coordinating geographical research and teaching in all countries of the world. Its work is conducted through the instruments of its National Committees, Commissions and Task Forces.

The IGU hosts the International Geographical Congress every four years and also promotes regional conferences and other meetings that further of the objectives of the Union. The IGU also facilitates the participation of geographers in the global community of scientists through its formal affiliation as a Member Union within the International Science Council (ISC) and the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH).

Membership of the IGU

Membership in the International Geographical Union is by country, with each member country represented in the IGU General Assembly (which consists of all IGU country members in good standing) by the chairperson of the National Committee for the IGU of the that country or her or his designate. For this purpose a “country” shall be a territory wherein scientific matters are organized independently. Admission of a country to membership of the Union does not constitute recognition of its political but only of its scientific status. Where a distinct geographical community exists within an area that is not generally recognized internationally as a country, that community may be recognized by the IGU with membership without reference to the political territory in which it resides. The National Committee for the IGU (or similar country member) should be fully representative of the country’s or area’s representative of geographers.

Note that there is no individual or personal membership of the IGU (but see below under “How to join the IGU community”). Member countries are classified as ‘Full Members’ when they are represented by an IGU National Committee which facilitates the regular payment of annual membership dues. ‘Associate Member’ status may be accepted in cases where the number of geographers is insufficient to make possible the formation of a formal national committee for the IGU; in practice, Associate Member status also denotes situations where the national committee is unable to arrange for payment of annual membership dues. ‘Observer Member’ status in practice refers to member countries for which membership dues are not kept up to date. Only Full Member countries may vote in the General Assembly.  For further details of IGU National Committees, please click on:  https://igu-online.org/about-us/national-committees/

How can I join the IGU?

Although formal membership of the IGU is by country, individual affiliation is possible via one of its many Commissions and Task Forces. Joining them is actually very easy; it is free and it is without any commitment. The IGU now has more than 40 ‘Commissions’ (and three Task Forces) – these are groupings of geographers who are interested in particular aspects of the discipline. IGU Commissions and Task Forces cover the whole range of themes that constitute the discipline of Geography. Each of these has a Chair and a Steering Committee and organises conferences and workshops (often around major IGU events), distributes newsletters containing information related to the topic including of course the news of any upcoming meetings, and publishes books and special issues of journals etc. related to the topic. To join a Commission or Task Force simply write an email to the chair and let them know you would like to be put on their list of corresponding members.

You can find a full list of all the IGU Commissions and Task Forces with details of contact persons and website addresses at: https://igu-online.org/organization/commissions/#