IGU Representation at the 4th Asian Young Geographers Workshop in Yuxi, China
29th November-02 December 2024
The 4th Workshop of Asian Young Geographers was held in Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, China from November 29th – December 2nd, 2024. The workshop was jointly organized by Young Geographers Working Group of Asian Geographical Association (AGA-YGWG), International Geographical Union Commission for Young and Early Career Geographers (IGU-YECG) and Working Committee for Young Geographers of Geographical Society of China (GSC-WCYG) and hosted by Yuxi Normal University, Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China. The workshop theme was- “Geography of Asia under Global Change”.
IGU was represented in the workshop by Prof. Michael Meadows, Past President, Prof Maria Paradiso, Vice President and Dr. Gaurav Sikka, Chair, IGU Commission for Young and Early Career Geographers. Prof Michael Meadows in his welcome speech highlighted that global climate change and environmental challenges become increasingly severe in Asia. He stressed the need for such workshops that gather young scholars from various fields of geography to share research outcomes and experiences, providing scientific references and policy support for Asia and the world to explore coping strategies and sustainable development paths to address global change challenges. Prof Maria Paradiso in her keynote talk on “Are You a Geographer? Find Your Place in Geography!” invoked the inspirational thoughts of Immanuel Kant, Leonardo, Anne Buttimer, Yi-Fu Tuan, Vidal de la Blache and Yves Lacoste. She highlighted that the awareness of values in geography is beyond the numbers and models to unravel mankind relationship to nature. She called for planetary justice in the Anthropocene and reoriented human practices to justice, inequality and sustainability. Dr. Gaurav Sikka in his keynote talk on “Youth for Sustainable Action in Bihar: Synergising-IGU-YECG and AGA-YGWG” highlighted the importance of engaging with youth to achieve sustainable development milestones. He mentioned the IGU’s support to The Jena Declaration and called upon all the young geographers to sign the Declaration. He showcased two case studies from Bihar-Jeevika, young women-led self-help groups achieving rural sustainability and Environmental Warriors, a student’s initiative to protect small birds like House Sparrows. He presented the existing and future collaboration activities of IGU-YECG and AGA-YGWG. The workshop witnessed 07 keynote talks, 12 technical sessions, 01 editors session, more than 150 young geographers participating.
