In praise of the International Geographical Union

This viewpoint is a highly personal account of what the International Geographical Union (IGU) has meant for a 50‐year career in Canadian geography and is a consideration of the importance of the IGU to geographers world‐wide. The author's earliest experiences of the IGU, the IGU's Commissions, its disciplinary perspective, some political problems experienced by IGU scholars, and the IGU as a global geographical community are the main topics considered.     

Geographical Research on International and Domestic Tourism

Tourism is a worldwide industry which has become important at all levels of economic development. Although tourism was considered by academicians for decades to be primarily an economic activity, geographers and non-geographers in the 1970s turned largely to analyzing its impact upon cultures and the physical environments of the destination areas. The common goal is careful planning of future touristic developments. In addition, an increasing number of studies is on imagery created by the tourist industry and its impact on the decision-making processes of the tourists. Despite the increasing research efforts of geographers, their findings are usually not published in the major geographical journals nor in geography textbooks. Tourism is a form of spatial behavior and its many aspects need further investigation.     

The International Geographical Congress (Stockholm)

Following are excerpts from a report read by Professor Salishchev on October 14, 1960, at a meeting of the Council of the Geography Faculty of Moscow University. The omitted part of Professor Salishchev's report is substantially the same as the report of the National Committee of Soviet Geographers, printed in Soviet Geography, April 1961, pp. 40–46. Professor Salishchev's report on the work of the Commission of National Atlases, of which he is chairman, is translated in full.     

Economic Geography at the 1960 International Geographical Congress

The author compares the scope of economic-geography papers at the Rio de Janeiro and Stockholm congresses, discusses William William-Olsson's book on Stockholm, and analyzes a number of congress papers with an economic-geographic content.     

The Results of the 21st International Geographical Congress

A review of the New Delhi meetings notes the significance of the congress for the development of the science of geography in India as well as the growing participation of geographers from developing countries. Abstracts of papers are analyzed statistically by subject and by country of origin. The geography of agriculture and urban geography are found to be more heavily represented than at most congresses (except the 18th in Rio de Janeiro), reflecting the significance of these two research areas for developing countries. Papers from socialist countries are found to be underrepresented in biogeography (especially medical geography) and the geography of agriculture, industry, and transportation. The hope is expressed that the Montreal congress in 1972 will break away from the traditional thematic breakdown and organize sections around interdisciplinary problem areas.     

Soviet Geographers at the 19th International Geographical Congress

Reviewing the contribution of Soviet geographers at the Stockholm congress, the author makes a plea for more papers on economic geography and on integrated problems in geography. He denies that a trend toward greater emphasis on specialized disciplines is characteristic of Soviet geography. He criticizes some Soviet geographers for preparing what Saushkin considers misleading summaries of papers presented by foreign geographers.     

The Development of International Contacts in the Field of Geography and Preparations for the 20th International Geographical Congress

The authors review international contacts of Soviet geographers in the last four years and describe a volume of Soviet contributions prepared for the London congress. Soviet Geography, its editor, and David Hooson of the University of British Columbia are criticized for their coverage of the Soviet ideological dispute over the “unified geography” concept. A Soviet proposal for greater timeliness and activity in the work of the IGU is offered.     

International R&D Cooperation between Low-tech SMEs: The Role of Cultural and Geographical Proximity

Although there is a considerable amount of empirical evidence on inter-firm collaborations within technology-based industries, there are only a few works focussing on R&D cooperation by low-tech firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Providing further and new evidence based on a recently built database of CRAFT projects, this study analyses the relationship between technology and proximity in international R&D networks using HOMALS and statistical cluster techniques. The resulting typology of international cooperative R&D projects highlights that successful international cooperative R&D projects are both culturally/geographically closer and distant. Moreover, and quite interestingly, geographically distant projects are technologically more advanced whereas those located near each other are essentially low-tech. Such evidence is likely to reflect the tacit-codified knowledge debate boosted recently by the information and communication technology (ICT) “revolution” emphasized by the prophets of the “Death of Distance” and the “End of Geography”.     

Geographical notes

An earlier reference to the term ‘social geography’ than those described by Dunbar (Scot. Geog. Mag., 93 (1977) 15–20) has been identified in a MS. by H. Gougeon dated 1873. The broader circumstances of the movement to reform geography teaching and the secondary school curriculum at the beginning of the IIIrd Republic are described as a necessary context for evaluating the Gougeon MS. An English translation of Gougeon's views of ‘social geography’ is provided, and although his outline provides no more than a sketch of the possible content of social geography several of the traditional topics of this sub‐field are readily recognizable.