Bücher der Reihe Key Challenges in Geography

This monograph assesses the intersections between social tipping points (STP), a relatively understudied social-ecological concept, and various public policy concepts, such as governance, state capacity and resilience of the state and non-state actors, all within the context of the EU Eastern and Southern periphery. This unique approach is subsequently embodied in the newly created conceptual framework of how the STPs are governed and analyzed using three case studies. The goal is to examine how various state and non-state actors (transnational, private, and local) have managed to navigate the STPs triggered by migration, climate change, and geopolitics. The multi-level governance of STPs is studied within the context of the EU periphery, thus spatial and geographical determinants of the resilience are analyzed as well.

This book provides an international perspective on teaching and learning geography in the primary classroom. It describes the essence of primary school geography and identifies the 'big ideas', thereby offering a synthesis of the international geography curricula and classroom profiles against these big ideas. Each chapter discusses current and new research on a set topic, yet a common thread running between chapters is the assessment relevant to that particular topic. By providing a portrait of the central concepts, the essential skills and necessary inquiry processes of a primary geography education, the book will be of interest to education researchers, classroom teachers and the pre-service teacher, curriculum writers and policy writers.

In recent years there has been increased attention paid to the importance of assessment in Geographical Education, the chosen subject for this book.  Assessment is an important tool for collecting information about student learning and for providing timely data to inform key stakeholders including students, teachers, parents and policymakers.  To be effective, assessment needs to be valid, reliable and fair. Validity is about ensuring that we assess what we claim we are assessing. Reliability is about measuring performance and understanding in a consistent way.  Without validity and reliability, assessment is unlikely to provide equitable opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do.  As geography educators it is therefore important that we identify the core concepts and skills in geography that we want students to master.  We need a clear understanding of what the progression of learning looks like for each concept and skill so we can develop fit for purpose assessments that track and improve student learning. While there is a substantial literature on evidence-based assessment in secondary school contexts, research exploring best-practice assessment in geography is rare.  This is a concern given the distinctive nature of geography and the important role of assessment in the learning process.  This scholarly collection seeks to address this issue by connecting research in educational assessment with the domain of geography. The chapters are written by leading researchers in Geographical Education from across the globe. These chapters provide examples of innovation through the collective voices of geography teacher educator scholars from across Australia, USA, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore. What unifies the work in this book, is that each chapter focuses on a key feature of the discipline of geography, providing scholarly examples  of evidence-based practices for assessing student's knowledge and skills. 

The aim of this book is to provide a synthesis of the newest research in Geography concerning the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG¿s). Although the world is strongly interconnected, the majority of the chapters in this volume focus on Europe or the work of European researchers. Each chapter of this book focusses on one of the 17 SDG¿s providing in-depth knowledge from a geographical perspective, fostering comprehensive research on these global targets to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change.The Sustainable Development Goals are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To achieve them, it will be necessary for all stakeholders, including citizens (civil society, doctors, teachers), governments, private sector to collaborate.

This book defines and discusses the term "e;hidden geographies"e; in two ways: systematically and by presenting a variety of examples of the research fields and topics concerning hidden geographies, with the aim of stimulating further basic and applied research in this area. While the term is quite rarely used in the scientific literature (more often as a figure of speech than to illustrate or problematize its deeper meaning), we argue that hidden geographies are everywhere and many of them have significant impacts on (other) natural and social phenomena and processes, subsequently triggering changes, for example in landscape, economy, culture, health or quality of life.The introductory section of the book conceptualises hidden geographies and discusses cognitive geography, symbolization of space, and the hidden geographies in mystical literature. Case studies of hidden environmental geographies address soils, air pollution, coastal pollution and the allocation of an astronomical tourism site. Revealing hidden historical and sacred places is illustrated through examples of the visualisation of the subterranean mining landscape, the analysis of the historical road network and trade, border stones and historical spatial boundaries, and the monastic Carthusian space. Hidden urban geographies are discussed in terms of the urban development of an entire city, presenting the role of geography in rescuing architecture, revealing illegal urbanisation, and the quality of habitation in Roma neighbourhoods. Case studies of hidden population geographies shed light on the ageing of rural populations and the impact of spatial-demographic disparities on fertility variations. Discussions of hidden social and economic geographies problematize recent social changes and conflicts in a country, present the implementation of the fourth industrial revolution and borders as hidden obstacles in the organisation of public transport. Hidden geographies are explicitly linked to perceptions and explanations in case studies that address local responses to perceived marginalisation in a city, the solo women travellers' perceived risk and safety, and hidden geographical contexts of visible post-war landscapes.The book brings such a diversity of views, ideas and examples related to hidden geographies that can serve both to deepen their understanding and their various impacts on our lives and environment, and to attract further cross-disciplinary interest in considering hidden geographies - in research and in our every-day lives.

This book focuses on new and innovative spatial approaches based on smart solutions and developed in the field of geography and related interdisciplinary fields such as urban and regional studies, landscape ecology and ecosystem services.

This book focuses on new and innovative spatial approaches based on smart solutions and developed in the field of geography and related interdisciplinary fields such as urban and regional studies, landscape ecology and ecosystem services.

This book addresses new pedagogies focusing on the use of geospatial technologies and geomedia in the classroom. Today, geospatial technologies are substantially influencing geography teaching and learning, particularly in secondary education. Web-GIS, virtual globes, storytelling, maps and apps for mobile devices are transforming the nature and design of geography curricula, instructional processes, didactics, resources and assessments. Undoubtedly, geography is among those school subjects that have benefited most from the implementation of new technologies in the classroom. Geospatial technologies can be used to develop inquiry-based learning or project-based learning pedagogies and help students to acquire spatial reasoning and spatial citizenship skills in the context of education for sustainable development.This book highlights a range of initiatives, projects and educational practices - from several European countries and settings - related to geospatial challenges in geography education. Given its scope, it will be equally appealing to scientists, students and teachers of geography and other fields using geospatial technologies and geomedia.

The book will appeal to scientists, teachers and students of geography, the earth sciences and related areas, as well as decision-makers interested in the application and capabilities of geospatial technologies and new, spatial methods for addressing important issues.

This textbook offers valuable insights into the nexus between geography, geopolitics, and humanitarian action. It elucidates concepts regarding conflict and power, as well as the role of the state and the international community in mitigating and preventing violence and war. Here the material and non-material, existential or imagined reasons for conflict are deconstructed, ranging from land and resource grabs to Utopian ideals that can degenerate into dystopias, as with Daesh's caliphate in Syria and Iraq. In turn, the issues discussed range from the local to wider national and global levels, as do their resolution mechanisms. Due to insecurities, the impacts of globalization, divisive nationalistic and isolationist reactions emerging in some democracies including the USA, the UK's Brexit stress, and the ominous rise of populist parties across continental Europe (from France and the Netherlands to the Visegrád Group, the Balkans, and Greece), citizen fatigue has become increasingly evident, reflected in ever-growing socio-political malaise and violence.As the impact of any humanitarian disaster is proportional to the level of development of the area affected, concepts and categories of humanitarian action are explored, along with development issues at their core, especially in the Global South. Broadly speaking, humanitarian disasters fall into the categories of natural, human-made, technological, or complex; here, however, the focus is on human-made crises. Attempts at greater regulation, national and international organization and multilateralism to prevent violent conflicts, as well as enhanced responses to humanitarian emergencies, need to be supported now more than ever before.This textbook will appeal to graduate and upper undergraduate students and practitioners in the fields of geography, geopolitics, humanitarian action and geographies of conflict and war. In addition to the main content, it includes exercises, questions and sections for autonomous student learning.