Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

This year's Annual Conference begins today! 👋 We're looking forward to welcoming delegates to the Society and virtually connecting with others as we begin an action-packed few days of talks, papers, panel discussions, and conversations focused on the theme of mapping. 🗺️ The conference will kick off this evening with the opening plenary conversation, 'Mapping geography,' chaired by Professor Stephen Legg. This will feature speakers Professor James Cheshire and Annelys de Vet who will discuss two very different forms of mapping to explore ways to engage and create public geographies of understanding. If you're in attendance this week, whether in-person or virtually, share your conference highlights with us using the hashtag #RGSIBG24 Be sure to check out our channels this week for updates, news, and highlights. 👉 To learn more about this year's programme, head here: https://lnkd.in/eZivVsph

🌊 The average annual cost of flooding in the UK is £1.3 billion, which rose to £1.6 billion in relation to the winter 2016/2017 floods. 🏞️ Blue-green infrastructure (BGI), which combines green spaces with water management strategies, is essential for addressing urban and climate challenges. 🔎 Research from Middlesex University has played a key role in recognising sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) as fundamental elements of BGI and providers of various ecosystem services in urban environments. ✍️ Through field and desk-based (modelling), the research contributed to the development of National Best Practice guidelines to support consistent interpretation and implementation of the requirement to use SuDS in all new and re-developments, used by all 343 local authorities in England and surface water management practitioners. Find out more here 👉 https://ow.ly/t2Er50T34TV

💻 Have you ever planned a move within the UK and wondered if your new location would have fast enough broadband to support your work-from-home setup or other online needs? 📱 In our latest geovisualisation, Oliver O'Brien, Senior Research Associate at University College London (UCL), discusses the Broadband Speed and Ultrafast Availability data shown on the ESRC Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) interactive mapping website. 🌐 The interactive map highlights the differences in access to high-speed broadband for both residential and business premises across the UK. It also shows the changes in average speeds and ultrafast access over the past few years. 1️⃣ In the first example below, the map displays the average wired broadband download speeds for residential and business addresses in Bournemouth and its surrounding areas for 2022. The map uses a gradient from dark pink to dark green, where dark pink indicates speeds below 10 Mbps, and dark green represents speeds over 150 Mbps. 2️⃣ In the second example, the map shows the estimated proportion of residential and business addresses in New Milton, Hampshire, with access to ultrafast broadband in 2022. It highlights significant differences within the area, with some regions fully covered while others lack any ultrafast service. 👉 To learn more about the interactive map and its impact on academic research and other CDRC-produced data products, read the full write-up here: https://lnkd.in/eXnznGTK #Geovisualisation #Mapping

👏 Congratulations to everyone receiving their GCSE geography results today! 🌎 The continued growth in the number of students choosing geography highlights how young people increasingly recognise its importance in providing the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to tackle global challenges like climate change. 🗣️ In marking the day, our Vice President for Education, Alan Parkinson, commented on the importance of including climate change in the geography curriculum at all levels, and its role in fostering climate awareness in young people. Read his quote below. To read the full article, click here: https://lnkd.in/eu94tS-Q

What’s your style? 👚👟Fast fashion and micro-trends can damage our self-esteem and the planet, but are also an exciting exploration of artistic and personal expression. So how do you make choices about what you wear? Our 2024 School Essay Competition, organised in partnership with the Financial Times, invites students to consider these kinds of complex decisions when answering the following question: ⭐Drawing on information from your daily life, what sustainability action points would you prioritise? Judges are looking for submissions in the form of a 1,000-word essay or ArcGIS StoryMap that references sources of information and data. Learn more about the competition and enter before 5 October: https://lnkd.in/e4wAaxAD

Our 2024 Annual Conference begins next week! 💻 We have a busy programme planned and will be sharing daily highlights across our social media channels. 📹 In the meantime, you can watch the video below featuring this year's Chair, Professor Stephen Legg, discussing his anticipated highlights. Look out for more across our channels next week! #RGSIBG24

Congratulations to all students receiving A Level geography results today! It's promising to see the overall trends in these results, reflecting the enduring importance of geography. Our Director, Professor Joe Smith, offered his congratulations, highlighting the intellectual benefits and real-world impact of studying geography for those who have continued the subject from A level through to university, saying: 🗣️ "I encourage these students to continue their geography studies at university. Not only is geography as an undergraduate subject enduringly relevant and intellectually rewarding, graduate geographers work in a huge range of fields and their skills make them sought-after employees." Find out more 👉 https://lnkd.in/gWhw-7Ef

📸🌏 A blue plaque has been unveiled to commemorate photographer, writer and geographer, John Thomson FRGS. This is the 1,112th blue plaque in London, but the first to include the word ‘geographer’. John Thomson had significant links to the Society, having been elected a Fellow in 1866, appointed an Instructor in Photography in 1886, and elected a Society Life Fellow in 1917. English Heritage has installed the blue plaque at 15 Effra Road in Brixton, marking the house where Thomson lived during the 1870s following his return from Asia. Thomson is recognised for having created a far broader panorama of Eastern culture than had previously been seen in the West, in work such as 'Illustrations of China and its People (1873-4)'. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eTUEFe9P 📷 Image credit: English Heritage, Michael Pritchard.

🗺️ Whether you have ten years of experience planning expeditions or are looking for inspiration for your first, the RGS-IBG Explore weekend will set you up for success (and the person with the most valuable advice might be sitting across the room from you!) 👋 📹 In this video, International Mountain Leader, Spike Reid, shares his highlights from the Explore symposium—the community the event creates being one of them! Having attended numerous Explore symposiums over the past 15 years, Spike has seen the growth of this inclusive community—from familiar faces returning to push boundaries to newcomers seeking guidance to transform their goals and ideas into reality. 👥 We think that the community built at Explore is one of the event's greatest strengths. It's a place to connect, find the missing piece of information you need, discover a new expedition partner, or learn how to push yourself to new challenges —safely and feasibly—all with the support of the people you'll meet over the two days. Will we see you this November? Book now 👉 https://lnkd.in/ek44u92c 🎟️ Purchase your ticket before the end of August and get access to a 10% early bird discount! #RGSExplore2024

There are so many careers that use geography. Geographers work in a huge number of sectors, using their skills and knowledge to make the planet a better place. Choosing geography for study at school or university opens up a world of opportunities. This year, for our Young Geographer of the Year competition, we are seeking informative and creative posters on the theme of ‘Choose Geography’. Students aged 7-18 can use their posters to: 🏫explain why geography is a great subject to study 🧑💻explore career opportunities 💕showcase how geographers make a difference Find out more about Young Geographer of the Year 2024: https://lnkd.in/g3AqHuZU