IGU Vice-President Dieter Soyez of the University of Cologne was recently awarded the Johan August Wahlberg medal in gold by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography at a ceremony in Stockholm. This is a singular distinction and is awarded to Professor Soyez for his meritorious contributions to research and teaching, in particular in the overlapping fields of nature [...]
A major five-day Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development will be held on 11-15 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the days just prior to the Rio+20 Conference. Visit the website for more information. The Forum will bring together leading international scientists and policy-makers to explore the key role of interdisciplinary science [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Dear colleagues, Natural hazard of this magnitude may only happen once in a thousand year in a place, but can happen time to time around the globe. Tohoku Geographical Association based in Sendai, at the heart of the Japan Earthquake, have launched a website to relay our experiences to geographers, administrators, hazard mitigation managers and [...]
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 [...]
Dear All, Yesterday was 1st April, i.e. three weeks from that gigantic earthquake. The Government decided to call the earthquake “East Japan Earthquake”. A new fiscal/academic year started yesterday in Japan, and there were entrance ceremonies at government offices and companies everywhere. Prime Minister Kan and the other ministers started wearing suits, as if to [...]