LivingGeography Newsletter #1

Jan 1st - 8th 2025

Welcome to the first weekly newsletter providing a summary of key posts on the LivingGeography blog.

Each newsletter will usually include a number of sections:

• a digest of posts from the LivingGeography blog (and other blogs)

• any important geographical news

• an update on any personal projects

• details of books that I am reading, or cultural experiences

• a couple of nice images taken this week

• events that you might be interested in

Blog posts this week included

• An Unherd post from James Rebanks on the UK’s threatened food security

• A Woman’s Hour special on Walking

• A reminder of Shipping Forecast Day on Radio 4

• Slow Ways-backed campaign to allow walking on field margins when there is no footpath on rural roads.

• David Alcock talks about the value of attending conferences. The GA Conference will be at Oxford Brookes University this year

• Details of an RGS CPD event in March for aspiring or newly appointed Heads of Geography to look at subject leadership. Speakers include Kate Stockings, Graeme Eyre, Paul Sturtivant and Field Studies Council. Book here.

• There’s also an AI course presented by Paul Logue later this month. Details here.

• A few updates on what we know about the ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will report at some point in 2025.

• Thanks to Rafael De Miguel González, President of EuroGeo for telling me about his meeting with Carlos Moreno, and introducing me to a nice tool which uses AI to assess how well set up the place where you live might be for becoming a ‘15 minute city’.

Ely scores 75% - how about your own location?

News

The year is going to be starting with the return of Donald Trump as US President. This is a long way from good news for the world as a whole. He has already announced plans to remove prohibitions on offshore drilling for oil and gas.

For my birthday over the Christmas period I received a metal detector. My wife knows of my love for the detectorists. If there are any other geographer-detectorists out there, let me know your best hints and tips. I’ll let you know how I get on.

The deadline for entering your department into the application process for a Secondary Geography Quality Mark from the GA has been extended to the 31st of January. I’ve been a moderator for this (and the Primary Quality Mark) for about 15 years now, and it’s an annual pleasure and privilege to read the application portfolios. Good luck if you do apply!

US Geographers are apparently really well paid according to an Independent article.

Projects

• There are now over 400 posts on my GCSE Natural History blog. The qualification itself is paused, and may be a casualty of the Curriculum and Assessment Review as some view it as a Conservative party project although natural history and young people’s understanding of it should be a part of everyone’s education

• I had my Chartered Geographer (Teacher) accreditation confirmed for another year after submitting my annual CPD log. If you want to know more about this, check the website or ask me for further details.

• I’ve got a lot of writing and consultancy to kick off the year, as well as some involvement with a European-funded project. This explores the ethical use of AI for civic and democratic engagement. A course is being created for teachers.

Why not give Perplexity a go if you want an ‘answer engine’ AI that tells you the sources that it used to find the answers it presents to your questions. On the other hand, if we are teaching a curriculum predicated around sustainability, should we be encouraging energy-intensive AI use for relatively mundane tasks?

• I am also involved in a project involving Minecraft which will be coming out later than planned because of a forthcoming Minecraft movie.

Books

I’ve been reading Bernd Brunner’s ‘Extreme North’, which looks at the cutlural geography of the northern countries, particularly across Fennoscandia, including Greenland, which is in the news at the moment. It has a lot of sources that were used for research, sending me down lots of interesting avenues particularly for my Iceland blog. I’m already booked in to be heading back to Iceland in March to lead a group’s adventures for Rayburn Tours.

A preview here.

Don’t forget my GeoLibrary blog as well - over 650 books reviewed and described.

I’m also currently reading ‘Question 7’ by Richard Flanagan and ‘Footmarks’ by Jim Leary, which explores the importance of movement to human society and identity.

Images

I have approaching 45 000 photos shared on my Flickr page - all CC licensed and free to use. I shall share a couple of pictures I’ve taken within the last week each week.

The first week of term is marked by a service in Ely Cathedral.

Lantern tower - Angel Doors - Ely Cathedral - Alan Parkinson - CC licensed

I also spent some time by the North Yorkshire coast over the holiday.

Whitby Abbey - Toon Camera treatment - Alan Parkinson - CC licensed

Events

These are of particular interest for those in the Cambridge and Ely area.

Geographical Association Cambridge and District Branch,

Lecture
Geopolitical Crocodiles

Our next lecture will take place on Tuesday 21st Jan, presented by Dr Alexander Cullen. This will be held at 4.30pm in the large lecture theatre at the Dept of Geography, University of Cambridge.

Please complete the short form here to give approximate numbers attending from your school/ college.

Department of Geography, Downing Site - Large Lecture Theatre

Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EN

http://map.cam.ac.uk/Department+of+Geography

Geopolitical Crocodiles

In this lecture we will look at the novel dimension of human-wildlife conflict. I will explore how the relationships between humans and the more-than-human worlds can be entangled in broader development and geopolitical matters, often in unexpected and challenging ways. To do so, we’ll focus on the issue of growing crocodile attacks in the tiny Southeast Asian country of Timor-Leste through the historical, cultural and political context that shapes contemporary conflict. Finally, we’ll consider crocodile agency as tied to broader socio-political contestations, regarding whose nature and what species are privileged over others.

Bio

Dr Alexander Cullen is an Associate Professor in Political Ecology in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge. His research has been concerned with environmental and land conflicts in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on how indigenous and customary communities negotiate claims to conservation. His current teaching focus includes (post-)development geography and environmental justice.

Royal Geographical Society East of England event

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