This week the world says farewell to perhaps the greatest human being of our time. Nelson Mandela, known affectionately in South Africa as Tata Madiba, died peacefully on 5th December at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg. Madiba has a special relationship with the IGU since he opened the Durban Regional Conference in 2002 and was [...]
The dawn of the new year is upon us. It is an important year for Geographers as it will be one in which the IGU hosts its 32nd International Geographical Congress in Cologne from 26th to 30th August. Registrations have been flooding in and the congress promises to be the most well attended for many [...]
The United Nations says the deal that has been signed after climate talks in Durban is historic. Nearly 200 countries have signed the deal that will for the first time see all countries work towards a legal agreement on the climate by 2015. The agreement will come into force from 2020. The next commitment period [...]
The IGU Regional Geographic Conference concluded in Santiago on Friday 18th November and was declared a success. The Local Organising Committee and its associated organisations worked tirelessly to ensure that the programme of scientific sessions, technical visits, field trips and social events all went off smoothly. There are many photograps available from the conference website [...]
Information on the IGU's IYGU initiative is now available as downloadable pdf files both as a summary flyer and as a more detailed brochure. The International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) addresses the ways in which we inhabit an increasingly globalized world. How do we transform nature? How will we build new social and political [...]
The call for nominations for positions on the International Geographical Union Executive Committee is now open The need for nominations and for the election that will be held at the 2012 IGU General Assembly in Cologne arises as a result of the completion of terms of office by several current members. The status of the [...]
Worldwide, 2010 was one of the two warmest years on record, according to the 2010 State of the Climate report, which NOAA has just released. The peer-reviewed report, issued in coordination with the American Meteorological Society, was compiled by 368 scientists from 45 countries. It provides a detailed, yearly update on global climate indicators, notable [...]
On the weekend of 12-14 May 2011, the Steering Committee, the Scientific Committee and the Outreach Committee held a meeting chaired by the Executive Director Benno Werlen in Jena, the City of Science. In his welcome address Christoph Matschie, the State’s Minister of Education, Science and Culture, welcomed the scientists who hailed from all five [...]
Planning for the 2012 IGU Conference in Cologne (www.igc2012.org) is now well and truly underway. The first meeting of the international Scientific Committee was held from 12th to 15th May at the University. The objectives were to discuss the state-of-the-art in the scientific fields of the selected key topics, to finalise the session selection for [...]
Established in 1991 the Vautrin Lud International Geography Prize is the highest award that can be gained in the field of Geography. The award is modelled on the Nobel Prize and is called the “Nobel Prize for Geography”. It is named after the 16th century French scholar, Vautrin Lud, who is credited with naming the [...]
