It is with great sadness that we report the passing of well-known Geographer and former United Nations University Rector Johannes Auguste (Hans) van Ginkel. Born in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, on 22 June 1940. Professor van Ginkel passed away on 27 July 2023 at the age of 83. He was a citizen of the Netherlands. Hans [...]
The IGU Thematic Conference on “Islands in Relations: Conflicts, Sustainability, and Peace” was held at the University Media Center of Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU, Osaka, Japan) on April 4-6, 2023, followed by the post-conference field trip to Okinawa Island on April 7-9, 2023 (see https://polgeog.jp/igu-tc2023/). The Conference’s Chief Organizer was Takashi Yamazaki, a Geography Professor [...]
It is with great regret and deep respect that the international geographical community has to mourn the death of Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Walther Manshard, former Secretary General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (IGU). He passed away peacefully on March 23rd, 2023 in the 100th year of his life. Walther Manshard, born November [...]
The IGU Commission Excellence Awards Committee has unanimously proposed that the IGU Commission Excellence Award for 2022 should be conferred on the IGU Commission on Gender and Geography and that, at a recent meeting of the IGU Executive Committee, the recommendation was ratified. Read more about the activities of the Commission here The citation for [...]
The IGU has a stand in the Exhibition Hall of the 2023 AAG annual conference currently taking place in Denver. Several members of the Executive Committee, along with members of the Local Organizing Committee of the Dubling IGC 2024 are present to promote the IGU and its activities. The stand has been visited by countless [...]
Chair of the IGU Water Sustainability Commission, Professor Frank Winde represented the International Science Council at the United Nations Conference on Water for Sustainability that wound up yesterday at the UN headquarters in New York. Professor Winde was given a 3-minute slot in the Dialogue to present the International Science Council Policy Brief (see the [...]
The International Geographical Union is distressed to hear of the abduction of the Ukrainian geographer, Professor Vladimir Vorovka at the hands of the invasive forces and supports the following statement issued by the Ukrainian Geographical Society. Before the start of this full-scale war, which the Russian Federation started on February 24, 2022 on the territory [...]
OBITUARY Professor Akin L. MABOGUNJE (18 October 1931 to 4 August 2022) It is with great sadness that IGU announces the death of one its greatest sons, former IGU President Professor Akin Mabogunje. Professor Akinlawon (Akin) Mabogunje died on Thursday, 4 August 2022 at the age of 90 years. Akin Mabogunje was the first African [...]
The Parvati Foundation, an international non-profit is leading the creation of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) to protect one of the most important global life support systems, the Arctic Ocean. As the Arctic ice recedes year by year, global consequences multiply. While there is still a window of opportunity to avert total catastrophe, an [...]
In April 2022, dozens of geographers from across the globe participated in an online meeting of the world's geographical societies ahead of COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming. An initiative of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, in collaboration with the International Geographical Union, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and the Royal [...]
