About the Society
Need to know
The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is the UK’s learned society for geography and professional body for geographers. We are also a membership organisation and a registered charity.
The Society was founded in 1830 to advance geographical science and this remains our core purpose. We achieve this through supporting geographical research, education, and fieldwork and expeditions, as well as by advocating on behalf of the discipline and promoting geography to public audiences.
We value our independence as well as the breadth of our activities that support the understanding of the world’s people, places and environments. Everyone with an enthusiasm for geography, travel and exploration is welcome to join.
A message
From the President
Welcome to our summer programme and update.
Firstly, thank you to everyone receiving this Bulletin for renewing their membership and welcome to those joining the Society.
Your support as individuals, schools, corporate sponsors, and benefactors is key to what we can achieve in ‘supporting geography and geographers across the world’.
We also rely on our community to contribute to the good governance of the Society – starting with elections to the Council of Trustees. As you may recall, changes in the composition of the Council start to take effect this year. For the first time we are introducing elected posts representing our membership, and also our members using geography in their professional lives. Nominations close on 23 March and voting will occur prior to the AGM on 5 June. Fellows can expect more information about the election in due course.
I am pleased to say that we are currently investing in important pieces of our infrastructure – our database for the Society and membership, as well as the technology underpinning our website. This will allow more, better and different forms of communication with current and prospective Society members than we can now deliver. Despite the tough budgeting and financial situation, the Finance Committee and Council felt that this is a necessary investment in the long-term health of the Society and I hope you will see the fruits of this when it goes live.
Image credit: Ray Amoah Photography
Society medallists celebrated
A recent publication, Exploring the World by Alexander Maitland FRGS, celebrates the Society’s gold medal recipients, portraying fascinating lives driven by curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. Members receive a 10% discount when purchasing the book through Stanfords.
Earth Photo 2023
Entries for this year’s Earth Photo competition are now open. The competition, now in its sixth year, showcases spectacular and challenging images which aim to further our understanding of the world around us. The deadline to submit entries is 2 May, and shortlisted works will be displayed in our Pavilion and at Forestry England venues later in the year.
New membership card image
This year’s membership card features Earth Photo category winner Daniel Franc’s Surfing the Spring, which celebrates the vast green expanses of the South Moravian region. About the photograph Franc said, “The rolling hills of the agricultural counties of South Moravia, Czech Republic (sometimes called Czech Tuscany) promise an endless stream of surprises from every angle”.
Image credit: Daniel Franc
Congratulations
Congratulations to Fellow Sir David Hempleman-Adams, who has received a second clasp to his Polar Medal, becoming the first person to be awarded Polar Medals by two monarchs for his expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.
Council election nominations
The Society is now accepting nominations from Fellows for the Council positions of Honorary Treasurer, Vice President (Expeditions and Fieldwork), Councillor (Research and Higher Education), Vice President (Membership), Vice President (Professional).
We seek nominees with an understanding of our activities and experience relevant to the position. The nomination deadline is 9.00am on 23 March with the election taking place in June.
Corporate Partners contracts renewed
The Society is very grateful for the long-standing support received from our corporate supporters. We are delighted that Esri UK, Rolex, Silversea and Trailfinders have all renewed their support for a further three years. Our partners contribute extensively to many Society projects including our Geography Ambassador programme and the training of teachers in the classroom use of GIS (Esri UK); the support of our picture library and conservation of our Collections (Rolex); sharing stories from our Collections (Silversea); and our public engagement work (Trailfinders).
One year of Associate Fellowship
Introduced as a new membership category last year, Associate Fellowship offers a wide range of benefits tailored to support the needs and development of geography postgraduates and those within five years of graduating from their first degree. This membership category provides affordable access to online and in-person resources that develop skills and prospects while aiding a smooth transition through education and into a chosen career.
If you are a Student Member graduating this year, Associate Fellowship (Early Career) is the next step in pursuing your goals. You will continue to access our events programme, regular updates and online resources with the addition of networking events and our Professional insights webinar series. Each webinar offers expert advice and guidance, with topics including putting together a personal development plan, reflecting on your skills and competencies, and support when starting a new role.
If you are embarking upon further study, renewing as an Associate Fellow (Postgraduate) will keep you well connected with the geographical research community with access to Research Groups and discounted rates on our Annual International Conference. Join the Postgraduate Forum and attend the mid-term conference which will be held on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April. The conference spotlights important research by postgraduate geographers. The Society now also hosts free Postgraduate insights webinars.
New trainee teachers can look forward to regular member-only teaching resources and discounts on teacher CPD as Associate Fellows (Postgraduate).
Image credit: Nando Machado
Online resources on fieldwork
The Society has updated its series of online resources to support high quality field research, teaching, and learning in geography. These include: guidance and best practice for safe, responsible and ethical fieldwork; resources for virtual fieldwork; and materials to accompany the Council of Heads of Geography in UK Higher Education Institutions’ (CHGHEI) principles for planning and delivering undergraduate fieldwork.
Fieldwork Apprentices go into the field
Two of the most recent Fieldwork Apprentices, Alice Jardine and Christopher Edmunds (University of Oxford) successfully completed their apprenticeships with the DRY-CAB project in Zambia, led by Professor Richard Washington, in October last year.
The project, a collaboration between the University of Oxford and Zambian Meteorology Department, measures atmospheric conditions during the transition from the dry to wet seasons in northern Zambia, to determine whether current climate models match observational data and enable reliable future weather predictions.
Reflecting on her experience, Alice said “This was an incredible project and it gave me the opportunity to experience a large fieldwork campaign and all of the logistics that go along with it. After we returned we continued to support the project from the UK by looking at the climate models daily and this combined with my time in the field has greatly enriched my understanding of the climatology of this region”.
Image credit: Richard Washington
National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards Scheme
We are working in a DfE-funded partnership led by the Natural History Museum, in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Society, to establish a National Education Nature Park and climate action awards scheme. The project aims to make sure every young person in England has opportunities to develop a meaningful connection to nature, understand the concepts of climate change and biodiversity loss, and feels able to do something about it. The partnership will be working with Esri UK to provide free geospatial mapping tools so children and young people can track biodiversity gains in their area.
Latest resources for schools
School Members, Student Members and Associate Fellows (Postgraduate) can check out the latest member-only learning resources, including topical case studies. We are also adding new free resources every month which are available to all, such as new podcasts discussing the decolonisation of Victorian exploration, and marine plastic.
Image credit: Gilbert White House Museum
Competition winners 2022
Congratulations to the School Essay Competition winner Pip Booth. The competition, in partnership with the Financial Times, was open to A Level geography students and rewarded essays with well-evidenced and clear conclusions. Congratulations are also due to Aryan Shekar, Tomohiro Oxborrow, Esther Morris and Boe Kilshaw, age category winners in the Young Geographer of the Year 2022 competition, which asked students to visually present where they might want to travel to, why and how would they get there.
Geography for all update
Our Geography for all project is proving to be extremely successful, with 420 teachers signed up to the network so far. CPD events have included an in-person fieldwork training day in East London, as well as online sessions on fair representation of place, inclusive teaching using oral geographies, and improving the teaching of Africa. Geography Mentors have also started working with our pilot schools. Sign up to join the network today.
Becoming a School Member
If your school is not yet a member, join quickly and easily online today. You will gain access to our resources, School Member lectures and discounts for teachers who wish to become individual Fellows or apply for Chartered Geographer (Teacher).
YGOTY winners. Image credit: RGS-IBG
Annual International Conference 2023
There is still time to make your submissions for the conference programme (organised sessions, papers and posters) before the deadline of 24 March. This year’s conference theme is Climate changed geographies. It will focus on how climate change is, and is not, changing our discipline – our ways of knowing, exploring, understanding and acting geographically – and with what consequences. We’ve compiled a virtual issue of recent publications which speak to this theme.
The conference will take place in London and online, from Tuesday 29 August to Friday 1 September, with new ways to engage with the conference through regional hubs. We expect to publish a draft programme for the conference in late May. Registration opens in April – book before 9 June to receive our early bird discount, in addition to your membership discount for the conference.
Wiley contract renewed
We are delighted to announce that we have renewed our contract to publish our academic journals with Wiley for another five years. The contract runs until the end of 2028 and will allow us to continue publishing cutting edge geographical research from around the world.
Unfortunately, as part of the new contract we have decided that the paper publication of our journals will cease at the end of 2023 and they will be available to read online-only. Fellows, Associate Fellows and Student Members already have online access to our journals included in their core subscription and this will continue.
Image credit: Nando Machado
Professional
News
REF case studies
The wide range of case studies submitted to the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) highlight the impacts of geographical research to wide ranging audiences, providing a platform to inspire approaches and methods to achieve impactful research.
The case studies show impacts across the breadth of geographical research produced for (and often co-produced with) all manner of private, public, voluntary, activist, advocacy and other agencies, shaping policy and/or practice and addressing local, national and global challenges, including sustainable futures, social equality and environmental restoration. Some involved research that created a distinctive product – hardware or software, online platform or tool – used by third parties (companies, NGOs, campaigners, citizens) to generate tangible impacts in/for given people and places. Others demonstrated innovative advancements in Earth observation and climate and hazard forecasting.
Independent research by the Rotterdam School of Management has mapped the impacts against Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There were impact case studies relevant to each SDG and, compared to 2014, the proportion of impacts linked to Peace Justice and Strong Institutions, Life on Land and Climate Action increased substantially.
The Society is summarising, collating, and publishing the case studies to draw out cross-cutting themes, beneficiaries, partners, funders, and to learn more about the enablers of research with impact across the breadth of geography.
Event highlights
This summer’s Monday night lecture programme will bring you another stellar line up of speakers to share their knowledge and stories from all corners of the world and discipline of geography. If you would like to attend the lectures in person, please do book in advance to secure your seat. Each week we will also live stream the lectures on our website so you will be able to watch them wherever you are. And if you’re not free at 6.30pm on a Monday, each lecture will be available in the Talks on demand section of the website soon afterwards.
You will also find a number of fascinating talks and exiting excursions organised across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by our regional committees, focused on a wide range of topics.
We look forward to welcoming you to the next Society geographical late, an immersive evening with interactive activities, performances and talks linked to our understanding of, and relationship with, mountains.
Please note which of our upcoming events require advance booking and bring your tickets and membership card with you when you attend.
Image credit: Ewan Harvey
Last year the Society gratefully received a bequest of photography, film and archive material belonging to John Hare OBE FRGS (1934-2022), from his travels in Central Asia and Northern Nigeria. In 1997 John Hare set out to save and protect the wild camel by co-founding the Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF) alongside international environmental lawyer and conservationist, Kathryn Rae.
Having developed a passion for camels while working at The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, it was John’s expeditions into the Chinese Gobi Desert with the eminent zoologist Professor Yuan Guoying, and his son Dr Yuan Lei, that laid the foundation for the establishment of the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve, to protect the remaining wild camel population in China.
Photo credit: WCPF
John’s first encounter with wild camels had been while on a scientific expedition with the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Mongolian Gobi Desert, where they studied wild camel, the takhi horse and the saiga antelope. He later met Professor Yuan Guoying at a conference in Mongolia and was invited by him to Xinjiang, China. During four expeditions in the 1990s they mapped the area which became the 375,000km² Reserve. John was the first foreigner to enter the remote area of Lop Nur in Xinjiang for 45 years.
The wild camel, living in three separated habitats in China and Mongolia, was listed as critically endangered in 2002, and shown to be a new and separate species by Dr Pamela Burger in 2008. The hardiness of the animal and its ability to live in harsh environments such as the waterless Lop Nur, which was a former nuclear test site, fascinated John greatly.
Image credit: Ngourti Market by John Hare
Prior to this, he was the last District Officer to be recruited into the British Colonial Administration in Northern Nigeria in 1957. He served in the very remotest parts of the country and captured irreplaceable photographic footage of the landscape at that time.
Having seen first-hand many destructive pressures on the natural world, John was passionate about documenting change and inspiring young people. He frequently visited schools to speak with students about the WCPF, whose achievements include environmental educational awareness-raising campaigns, fundraising and liaising with zoos and international government bodies to support the Foundation’s mission.
John’s explorations in extremely hazardous environments and services to saving the wild camel from extinction lead to him being presented with the Ness Award by the Society, The Lawrence of Arabia Medal by the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Nairamdal Medal by the Mongolian Government, the Lowell Thomas Medal by the Explorers’ Club of America and an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Society is in the process of digitising these important records to inform a new understanding of John Hare’s life, travels and conservation work for the next generation.
The Society is governed by Council, our board of trustees, which is made up of elected and co-opted Fellows whose expertise, knowledge and interests guide our activities.
Council has a series of committees and advisory groups to help oversee areas of the Society’s work and consider matters of strategy and implementation.
We met with Honorary Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee, Carol Lawson, to discuss her career, her role at the Society and the importance of the Finance Committee.
What is your background?
I’ve worked in the investment industry, so finance for many decades. I now have a portfolio career and work for the Investment Association and another firm as a consultant, and as a board member for a third organisation, as well as two voluntary roles including Honorary Treasurer for the Society.
What has helped you succeed in the finance industry?
It’s a willingness to learn and speak up. If somebody says something you’re not sure about or you don’t understand, just say. Most people want to help you, but they don’t know how, so take the initiative and ask more senior people. And then know that you too can add, as your perspective may be different but is still valid.
What drew you to volunteering with the Society?
I first got involved with the Society at the start of this millennium when I was asked by Alan Tritton to sit on the Investment Subcommittee. Investment is my background so that’s what I find easy. Eventually I became Chair of that committee and during the COVID-19 pandemic stood to be Honorary Treasurer, I’m one for stepping up when it’s needed. The Society is a complicated organisation, it’s not a simple model and there’s not one type of geographer and it is very interesting. I haven’t got a geography degree, I’m one of those amateur geographers who just love it.
What does the Finance Committee do?
Overall, the Finance Committee keeps an eye on the money of the Society, we look at budgets, reports and accounts, and a lot of work from a governance perspective, giving independent advice to the Society on its finances. The Committee meets four times a year and reporting into it is the Investment Subcommittee, which looks at the invested assets we’ve got and checks they’re managed in a way that is appropriate, and the Enterprises Board which looks after the Society’s income generating activities, such as venue hire and image licensing.
What do you do in your role as Honourary Treasurer?
I support the Society’s staff on financial matters and chair the Finance Committee and then report to the Council from the Finance Committee, presenting vast amounts of figures and drawing their attention to things that matter and where the risks are, alongside the particular responsibilities of being the Honorary Treasurer there is the responsibility of being a Trustee as well.
What has your work with the Society given you?
It has given back to me more than I have given it. I find the Society fascinating and it is a unique chance to give my experience and time to a cause I feel great fondness for. It is very rewarding knowing you can give your particular knowledge to a charity that enables them to fulfil their purpose. Overseeing and knowing when to step back is a learning process, when I got to the level of my professional career when I was chairing important meetings, I had the confidence because I had already gained so much experience at the Society.
What are you looking forward to most in 2023?
I’m looking forward to focusing on sustainability in my professional work and seeing the proposed regulation come into place which will encourage people towards sustainable investment. UK investment regulation is moving steadily to actively encourage sustainable investment by ensuring there is clarity in investment management, this will lead to people being able to choose themselves how they invest their money whether it is their savings or pensions.
Latin American Geographies
Research Groups at the Society
The Society’s Research Groups, of which there are currently 31, seek to bring together active researchers and those with a professional interest in a particular aspect of geography and related disciplines. Several of these groups recently celebrated 50 years since they were formed.
We asked Dr Sam Halvorsen, chair of our newest Research Group, the Latin American Geographies Research Group (LAGRG), to share the mission of the group and how it seeks to support and promote this area of geography.
“Latin America is at first sight familiar to us geographers. From its immense rainforests and mountain ranges through to its expansive urbanisation and attempts to build regional identity, its geographies appear well represented in the UK. Yet Latin American geographical ideas and practices remain marginal in scholarly research and education.
Anglophone geographers rarely take the time to seriously engage the geographies being produced in the region: from theoretical debates over land and territory to innovative ecological practices and political strategies. This is not only a hindrance for those seeking to better understand the region. It is a missed opportunity for all of us who think and act geographically in the world today.
The Latin American Geographies Research Group (LAGRG) was formed out of an emerging network of researchers across the UK and Latin American in 2018, based on a commitment to breaking down the linguistic and epistemic barriers between Anglophone and Latin American geographies. Its rapid growth and eventual consolidation into a Research Group in 2022 in part reflects a gradual turn towards decolonising knowledge and embracing multi-lingualism in Anglophone geography.
Far more than a case study, Latin American geographies represent an urgent set of debates and provocations to think and do things differently. From the extraction of primary commodities to widespread deforestation, and from the land rights of indigenous and afro-descendent communities to struggles to remake cities and neighbourhoods around values such as dignity, we all need Latin America as part of our geographical imaginaries.
LAGRG has developed several key initiatives. It has sponsored writing workshops with early career researchers based in the region. A lively blog page is managed by an international editorial team, producing cutting-edge content in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Our monthly ‘PhD Café’ meetings bring together early career researchers from Latin America and the UK to engage contemporary debates. The meetings are informal, trilingual, and provide an opportunity for researchers to exchange views, extend their networks and share experiences on methodology, funding, and other matters.
We also run an annual award to recognise the work of undergraduate students engaging with Latin America in their dissertation projects. The prize is supported by Routledge and increases the visibility of Latin American geography research.
Finally, LAGRG’s growing presence in academic conferences and on the pages of journals aims to give more voice to Latin American colleagues.”
Image credit: LAGRG
With a unique mix of modern facilities and historical charm, our Grade II* listed building could be the perfect space to make your significant social gatherings in 2023 extra special and personal to you.
Fellows and Members benefit from exclusive discounted rates for venue hire and can make use of our iconic rooms and exceptional catering service to host a wide range of personal events, including drinks receptions, intimate dinners and weddings.
The impressive Main Hall is the original reception room to Lowther Lodge, built by William Lowther in 1874 and designed by the famous architect Norman Shaw. From the ceramic fireplace tiles painted by Alice Lowther to the minstrel’s gallery above, the Hall still showcases many of its original features today.
The charming Map Room with its beautiful bay windows is a spacious area to welcome your guests and host a celebratory drinks reception.
Visit our website to find out how we could create phenomenal memories for you with tailored packages in the impressive Main Hall, Map Room or many other spaces suitable for a wide range of events.