Defining competences for future geography students in relation to low carbon societies

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the most important skills and competences that will be important in the coming years for future geographers involved in assessing and managing low-carbon societies. The analysed information was extracted from a questionnaire answered by professionals working in low-carbon management in three European countries (Finland, Poland and Catalonia, Spain). From the results, we have identified not only the most requisite abilities and skills, but also differences between countries on a European scale. Among the findings, we would highlight the general agreement that “soft skills”, as opposed to “hard skills”, are critical for future professionals addressing policies in relation to low carbon societies.     

Teaching economic geography in UK higher education institutions

Abstract

This paper examines how the changes in the last decade in economic geography have been reflected in the courses taught in the UK and assesses the impact of recent changes in teaching styles and methods on how the subject is taught. It summarises the findings from a survey of 50 UK Geography Departments. The paper covers three main topics: the significance of economic geography in UK degrees courses; the characteristics of introductory economic geography courses; and the issues involved in the teaching of economic geography.     

The silver screen

Abstract

Based in educational theory and with an interdisciplinary backdrop, this paper applies to economic geography thoughts and contributions pioneered in agricultural science by Professor Richard Bawden. Commonly held educational objectives are interpreted alongside three major teaching traditions. From this analysis, the potential relevance of experiential learning is examined in the light of paradigmatic shifts in economic geography and practical developments in tertiary milieu. The conclusion is that praxis‐based teaching deserves more attention than it has previously received.     

Evolutionary Perspectives on Rural Australia

An enduring concern within Australian rural geography has been to understand the nature and implications of change. Much of the intellectual effort has been focused on interpreting how rural economies, populations, social institutions, cultures, and land uses have been transformed through processes operating across a range of spatial and temporal scales. This paper offers a critical appraisal of recent rural research in Australia and how this body of work has attempted to make sense of change. It argues that despite an ongoing focus on the nature of change, it is often reduced to a relatively simple historical narrative. We suggest that some of the emerging ideas in ‘evolutionary economic geography’ might offer an alternative means of conceptualising the trajectories of rural economies, institutions, and communities. The paper outlines the contours of evolutionary economic geography and the ways in which some of its key conceptual foundations might offer a means of understanding not only rural change, but also continuity.     

Australian Geographers and Geographical Information Science

Geographical Information Science (GIScience) has become an important sub‐discipline for North American geographers but in Australia few geographers are engaged in this ‘research in GIS’ area. Australian geographers seem more concerned with ‘research using GIS’ which has become absorbed into the geographical tradition of thinking and communicating with diagrams, images, and maps. The breakdown of disciplinary boundaries in Australia makes it difficult to be sure, but most of those engaged in GIScience in Australia seem to identify with disciplines other than geography.     

古代国家都城祭祀体系与空间模式——以唐长安为例

祭祀是礼制的渊源,国家祭祀是社会礼制中最高礼仪层次,也是以礼为内核的儒教的载体,都城形成了国家祭祀体系中最为完善的地域空间,本文在建构儒教之所以成立的基础上,以唐代长安城为例,探讨了城市祭祀的等级、结构和地域空间体系,认为国家祭祀是古代都城的显性文化现象,是城市上层的精神空间的表达,是传统城市特有的一类精神文化。     

地缘安全视角下国家边界的“三重功能”及其优化组合

国家边界长期以来都是政治地理学研究中的突出主题。冷战结束后,东亚地区涌现大量毗邻国家之间的次区域合作,同时非传统边境安全异常突起。为此,国家边界由单一的维护传统边境安全的功能转变为同时维护传统边境安全、促进次区域经济合作及保障非传统边境安全的三重功能。这三者之间存在很强的内在联系,且相互之间在一定的条件下能够转化。在分析三者之间的内在联系的基础上,我们提出了形成梯级决策模式、合理定量化评估及建立多主体、多层次的协调机构来优化组合国家边界的"三重功能"的优化思路。     

“地方”概念对人文地理学各分支意义的辨识

地方是文化地理学的核心概念之一.当文化地理学与其他人文地理学分支交叉时, “地方”则为其他人文地理学分支提供了分析的基础.本文结合英美地理学刊物中若干涉及“地方”研究的文章,挖掘了地方的概念和内涵,以期对人文地理学诸分支提供学术支撑.本文的结论是:地方研究可支撑经济地理学文化转向和制度转向的研究;支撑区域地理学地方营销和旅游地理学旅游目的地营销的研究;支撑城市地理学公众参与式城市规划方案的制定;支撑政治地理学的选区策略制定.因此, “地方”作为文化地理学的核心概念,其存在意义是为其他学科提供学术营养,同时,文化地理学对地方的研究也可以使得文化地理学的社会应用能力更强.     

From Compounded to Fragmented Labour: Mineworkers and the Demise of Compounds in South Africa

Abstract: At the core of colonial and apartheid social engineering was a spatial strategy based on institutions and infrastructure linking together rural homesteads and villages, and mining centers and towns. In the case of the mining industry, single‐sex compounds were set up as the foundation of the infrastructure of control over black labor. In this paper we examine how various forms of control operated. We locate our contribution within the labor geography literature. We argue that it was not only state institutions and major corporations that shaped landscapes of control. In this regard we highlight the centrality of workers’ agency, specifically the way in which the National Union of Mineworkers captured the compounds and subverted the logic of employer control. However, the union's successes as well as the advent of democracy have resulted in profound changes, thus presenting the union with new challenges.