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
Slightly to my astonishment I find myself writing my final note to you as President – a natural point to reflect on the progress we’ve made, the challenges still before us, and, perhaps most importantly, your Council’s plans to meet those challenges.
Significantly, it is very pleasing that our Society now has a Council and Bye Laws that reflect good charity practice. Council membership is now more representative of our community, and Council members will be in post for a little longer, so that they can truly bring their expertise to bear. This, and investment in infrastructure – broadcasting, the building and in membership and web technology – will serve us well.
Like most charities, we face economic challenges but we are also fortunate to have many opportunities. I am happy to report that the Council has worked hard with Joe and team to face into our challenges and to seize the many opportunities we have. As a result, we have a set of bold plans to make significant differences to our finances, building, profile and reinforce our position as a central advocate for geography – at a time when the geographical mindset is needed more than ever.
These plans will be handed to your new President to continue progress. I will also offer them my very best wishes for their time in this wonderful role.
Finally, I thank you all for the many kindnesses and support you have given me as President. It has been my honour to serve you and the Society.
Image credit: Ray Amoah
Society
News
Council elections
We are inviting nominations for a number of Council positions to be elected in June 2024. The following positions are open for nominations: President (nominations from Fellows and Members), Vice President Education, Councillor Professional, Councillor Membership (nominations from Fellows only).
Read the full criteria online and submit your nominations by 5.00pm on Monday 15 January.
Royal Commission grant
The Society has received a Special Award from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to significantly enhance our visitor experience both digitally and in person. Many members have already benefitted from both the enhanced broadcasting capabilities in our meeting rooms as we live stream events, and the improved exhibition display system in our Pavilion. We have also recently received conservation-grade display cases which will allow us to showcase a programme of globally unique historical and contemporary geographical exhibition content across the building.
Fundraising Regulator approval
As a registered charity in the UK, we have recently registered with the Fundraising Regulator. This demonstrates our longstanding commitment to ethical fundraising and ensures that, in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice, we are legal, open, honest and respectful in all our fundraising activities, including membership subscriptions, gifts in wills, applications to trusts and foundations, and donations from individual and corporate supporters.
Give membership for Christmas
Give the people you care about a gift that will offer them inspiration, new discoveries and access to expertise all year. Gift a membership and open the door for your friends or family to join you in this special community of passionate individuals.
Whether giving Membership or Student Membership, the Society will nurture their enthusiasm for our world, and their understanding of geographical perspectives through events, exhibitions, lectures and resources.
Gift memberships purchased by 11 December will be guaranteed to arrive in time for Christmas. For more information on which gift membership is right for your loved one visit our website.
Education
News
National Education Nature Park
The National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards, of which the Society is a partner, was officially launched in October. The new scheme aims to empower children and young people to make a positive difference to both their own and nature’s future.
Nurseries, schools and colleges taking part in the programme will become a network of spaces across England that together form the National Education Nature Park. This pioneering initiative gives children and young people the opportunity to lead the way in mapping, monitoring and enhancing their learning sites for nature.
The programme benefits include meeting curriculum goals, contributing to nature recovery and scientific research, improving wellbeing and upskilling educators.
The Climate Action Awards will recognise schools and colleges that have brought about change at an institutional level, supporting their students in developing green skills, championing nature and working towards a sustainable future.
Young Geographer of the Year
The winners of this year’s Young Geographer of the Year competition are being announced at a ceremony at the Society on Friday 8 December. Find out who the winners are and see all the winning and highly commended responses to the theme, A blueprint for the future, on our website after the ceremony.
Ofsted geography subject report
Ofsted’s recently published geography subject report Getting our Bearings is based on 50 research visits that took place last year to a representative sample of schools across the country. The findings are very welcome and reveal a decade of improvement, which is also shown in this year’s record 279,082 GCSE and 34,700 A Level entries.
One of the most noticeable findings in the report is an improvement in curriculum planning, with many schools demonstrating a well sequenced curriculum from Key Stage 1 to 3, with particular strengths in Key Stage 3 where leaders are ensuring the curriculum builds not only over a topic but over a series of topics. The report shows that teachers across primary and secondary schools have clearly enacted many positive changes since the last report in 2011.
However, the report also highlights where further attention is needed. In particular, more school leaders should consider how to create a curriculum from the exam specifications, rather than working through the content in the specifications point by point. The need for greater consideration of a curriculum for fieldwork was also highlighted.
Image credit: Department for Education
From the field
News
Apply now for our upcoming grants
Deadlines are approaching for a variety of funding opportunities to help support students, researchers and schools undertake fieldwork in 2024. Upcoming grants include the Frederick Soddy Schools Award, to support primary and secondary school fieldwork. The Geographical Fieldwork Grant scheme enables teams of undergraduate and masters students to get into the field. The Fieldwork Apprenticeships give first year undergraduate students the opportunity to join a summer field research project, who would otherwise not have the chance to do so. Students in 2023 joined teams researching food production in the Peruvian Andes and atmosphere dynamics in Zambia.
Expedition planning podcasts
We have commissioned a podcast series featuring some of the leading thinkers and doers in the expedition world, discussing how to plan and fundraise for ethical field research, how best to communicate findings and much more. The series forms part of The Adventure Podcast and is hosted by its founder, and Society Vice President (Membership), Matt Pycroft, who has spent 15 years undertaking documentary film and photo projects.
Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine
Fully revised for its third edition, the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine is a vital resource for expedition medics and well-informed travellers. It incorporates the knowledge of experienced clinicians and expeditioners, including the Society’s medical advisors. Available in print and on Kindle.
Image credit: Ben Rogers
Research and higher education
News
Geo: Geography and Environment relaunch
The Society’s open access journal Geo: Geography and Environment has recently been relaunched, setting out a renewed and refined scope for the journal which aligns it more closely with issues of climate, environment and sustainability. The relaunch has been driven by Geo’s new editorial team, and includes the establishment of ‘Geo themes’ – groupings of papers in specific topic areas led by leading scholars.
Image credit: Digby Oldridge
Annual Conference 2024
Next year’s conference, will be held in London and online from Tuesday 27 to Friday 30 August, and will be chaired by Stephen Legg, University of Nottingham.
The chair’s theme will explore mapping in all its forms, in a world that is saturated with maps, from historical cartography to the newest technologies and practices of map-making.
Maps trace invasions, financial crises, pandemics and environmental disasters, and our responses to them. They map territory and sovereignty, but also evidence indigenous land claims and historical landscapes of meaning.
Submissions for the conference will open in November 2023.
Image credit: Digby Oldridge
Research Group professional development and mentoring series
Several of the Society’s Research Groups have been collaborating on an online event series focusing on professional development and mentoring. Each session is led by a different Research Group and focuses on a specific topic. Sessions to date include the Political Geography Research Group on what mentoring is, the Energy Geography Research Group on navigating interdisciplinarity in job applications, and the Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group on challenging the scripts of ‘failure’ in academia.
Notes from the series are collated and shared online with more events planned for the coming academic year.
Professional
News
Chartered Geographer postnominal
Council recently approved a new post-nominal for geographers who specialise in Earth observation and remote sensing, CGeog (EO). Earth observation (EO) has the potential to generate significant economic, social and environmental value globally through widespread adoption. EO revenues for data and services are forecast to double from roughly €2.8 billion to over €5.5 billion over the next decade.
CGeog accreditation recognises your competence, experience and professionalism in the use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills in the workplace. It shows employers, clients and the public your competence, experience and professionalism. Reflecting the wide range of sub-disciplines that geographers work across, Chartered Geographer applicants may choose to apply to one of the six approved post-nominals to demonstrate a depth of expertise, experience, and professional engagement in their chosen field.
Partnership with AGI renewed
The Society is pleased to have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Association for Geographic Information (AGI), the UK membership organisation for companies and individuals working in the geospatial sector, to further collaboration between our organisations.
This strategic alliance, in alignment with the Society’s and the AGI’s objectives and strategies, will strengthen communications to maximise the impact of messaging in the geographic sector and beyond, and deliver activities to support three priority areas: leadership, developing people, and knowledge sharing.
Events
Highlights
Event highlights
Join thought-provoking conversations and immerse yourself in the most spectacular chronicles of purposeful travel and examinations of the latest research from around the globe in our autumn programme. The Society’s events bring you a spectrum of talks, lectures, workshops and exhibitions for the curious.
Engage with leading experts from across the discipline, participate in groundbreaking discussions on conservation and the environment, or let our speakers take you with them on global travels in a fascinating line up of Monday night lectures. We encourage our members to take advantage of their exclusive access to the lecture series and many other free or reduced rate tickets.
Our regional theatre tour will also reveal the stories behind garden flowers at venues across the UK. Dive into our full programme of regional events which unravel the mysteries of our planet, from its physical landscapes to the intricacies of human interaction.
Society members are united by a thirst for knowledge, and there’s something for everyone to discover online and around the UK this season. Don’t miss out on these enlightening experiences. Book early to secure your spot and continue your journey of intellectual exploration.
Image credit: James Tye
Journey of a Lifetime
11,000 miles of exile
Supporting a passion for radio and storytelling, and a genuine curiosity about the world around her, the Journey of a Lifetime Award enabled Chahrazade Douah to travel to Algeria and New Caledonia earlier this year. We spoke to Chahrazade about her journey, which you can listen to now on BBC Sounds.
Can you describe your journey?
My journey took me from the mountains of Kali, a region on the eastern coast of Algeria all the way to New Caledonia, an island in the Pacific 11,000 miles away from where I started my journey. The idea was to follow the footsteps of people who my grandmother told me about, people who were exiled because they revolted against French colonial rule at the end of the 19th century and had to start over very far away from home.
What was your main motivation for going on this journey?
My main motivation was to understand how people who you’ve never met, can play such a big role in your upbringing. I grew up with stories of exile and I was told that these people mattered to us and they serve a very special role for the Algerian people as a whole. A lot of Algerians heard stories of exile as a way for the family to deflect away from their own pain and trauma around what happened during colonial rule and the war of independence.
How did you approach planning?
The most important part was to find the people, both in Algeria and New Caledonia. People who had a direct link with exile, either an ancestor who was exiled or a story that was passed down to them. I had to play detective and I was lucky enough to find people on both sides of the world who welcomed me with open arms. In Algeria, if you walk around long enough, you will find someone who has a grandfather who was exiled somewhere.
Why is it important to share the story of those exiled from Algeria and their descendants?
I think it’s the most beautiful lesson, that caring about people you don’t know, finding them and creating deep bonds can give you a sense of belonging in a way that archival work alone can never give you. Another reason is because this story is about the complexity of history. I went to find people who, in a twist of history, became settlers when they started off as freedom fighters. We need to tell these stories of complexity and nuance in history and not fall into nostalgic traps.
What do you hope others will take away from your experience?
I think it’s the most beautiful lesson, that caring about people you don’t know, finding them and creating deep bonds can give you a sense of belonging in a way that archival work alone can never give you. Another reason is because this story is about the complexity of history. I went to find people who, in a twist of history, became settlers when they started off as freedom fighters. We need to tell these stories of complexity and nuance in history and not fall into nostalgic traps.
How did you find the experience of recording sound when traveling?
Trying to tell a story through sound at first felt challenging but then it puts you in another frame of mind and you switch off some senses. The emotion and the knot in the throat that you hear when people tell stories, you suddenly notice them more. It opened up new doors in my mind of how you should travel and how you make memories.
Theatre of the World
A history in atlases
Venture into the Society’s latest online exhibition, Theatre of the World, and explore our historic Collections from home. This fascinating exhibition provides an insight into the Society’s cartographical collection, a treasure trove of over a million maps, atlases, and globes.
Theatre of the World explores the art of map-making and its evolution. The dissemination of geographical knowledge was a challenging endeavour and creating precise maps demanded resources beyond the capacity of Renaissance publishers. They therefore turned to existing sources such as Claudius Ptolemy’s Geography. In turn, Ptolemy, a second century Greek scholar, had used the works of earlier scholars to compile his work on geography and astronomy, and his detailed textual descriptions enabled the reconstruction of lost maps. Some ‘hybrids’, including the 1486 edition of Ptolemy’s Geography produced by Ulm printer Johannes Reger, maintained unusual features such as the strange ‘wind-swept’ shape of Scotland in the map of the British Isles.
Image credit: Johann Ruysch’s 1507 map of the world © RGS-IBG
View the exhibition to discover more moments that mark the transition to modern representations of the world.
The exhibition also shines a light on major milestones such as the Atlas Mira from the Soviet era and the Philip’s 2021 Atlas of the World. Each map and atlas tells not just of lands and seas but of the age it was created in, the people who crafted it, and our ever-evolving knowledge of our world.
Image credit: The world from a Ptolemaic atlas published by J. Reger, 1486 © RGS-IBG
EDI spotlight
Society initiatives
The promotion of equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) are core values for the practice, study and teaching of geography and for the Society. In response to the Society’s latest annual EDI report we have selected a few of our initiatives that illustrate the ways the Society is seeking to collaboratively address under-representation and barriers within the discipline.
In schools and universities, inequalities in uptake across race, ethnicity and socio-economic background are significant. The Society’s Geography for all project has been addressing EDI in the subject at school by focusing on under-representation by income and ethnicity. A recent event What do geographers actually do? brought more than 1,500 students together with five geography professionals from underrepresented backgrounds to learn more about their jobs and career paths.
Not only did this give students valuable insights into the discipline, it also provided an opportunity to understand a range of practical applications of skills and career paths in the subject. Over the past year, Geography for all has worked directly with young people, their teachers and wider networks to support and better promote pathways into higher education and the workplace.
The Society has also taken proactive steps to foster inclusivity and equality of opportunity by supporting strategic initiatives. This includes financially supporting the FI WI Road internship, a scheme led by the community interest company Black Geographers, which supports Black students in building networks, voice and experience, encouraging them to remain in the discipline after graduation.
During the summer we welcomed our third cohort of FI WI Road interns, providing them with direct support and practical experience as they helped with the planning and coordination of our Annual International Conference. This project is just one example of how we are using positive action to effect change and work towards a geographical community where all sections of society are represented and meaningfully participating in the discipline.
Partnerships and collaborative work that amplifies initiatives by others in the geographical community with expertise and knowledge are a core aspect our EDI work. For example, the Society is a formal partner in the second phase of the EQUATOR project, which aims to enhance equity and inclusion in Geography, Earth, and Environmental Science (GEES) disciplines through evidence-based interventions that target barriers to ethnic minority participation and retention.
We led a workshop contributing to transferable skills training and increased awareness of research careers in geography at the project’s five-day residential summer school for Black, Asian and minority ethnic students in higher education.
Such initiatives recognise and confront systemic under-representation and barriers in the discipline of geography, particularly concerning race, ethnicity, and income. These provide immediate opportunities and benefits to under-represented communities but also create a ripple effect, influencing other sectors and disciplines to adopt similar values and practices. By fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, disciplines like geography can better address global challenges, produce more comprehensive research, and create a sense of belonging for all members of society.
We include regular updates on our ongoing EDI activities in our latest news articles published on our website.
Venue hire at the Society
Discover what we can offer
Experience historical charm and modern facilities together when you host an event at the Society. Nestled in the heart of London, our South Kensington base promises an unparalleled backdrop for any gathering, from corporate seminars to lavish receptions. Every room uniquely captures the spirit of the Society and acts as space for the meeting of minds and sharing unique experiences.
With state-of-the-art hybrid facilities, the Society effortlessly marries its rich past with modern event necessities. Our versatile spaces are adaptable to fit your vision perfectly.
Make your event unforgettable. Experience the unique blend of heritage and contemporary excellence only the Royal Geographical Society can offer. Contact us to discuss your needs and save with reduced member rates when you book!