Cultural Geography Blog

I'm always interested in the ways that places are presented and represented. This is all part of the idea of Geography offering 'a different view' or lens to see the world in a particular way. Alice Stevenson's new book ' Ways to see Great Britain' looks interesting. There are many books describing the UK of course, and I have many of them on my shelves. I'm also interested in how students introduced to this sort of writing could also adapt some of the ideas to their own writing, and perhaps explore their own home areas anew. This video outlines, the approach, which is inherently 'geographical'...

2018: the EU Year of Cultural Heritage On 9 February 2017 Council and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on a decision establishing a European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018).  Cultural heritage encompasses resources from the past in a variety of forms and aspects. These include monuments, sites, traditions, transmitted knowledge and expressions of human creativity, as well as collections conserved and managed by museums, libraries and archives. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness of European history and values and to strengthen a sense of European identity . At the same time, it draws attention to the opportunities offered by our cultural heritage, but also to the challenges it faces, such as the impact of the digital shift, environmental and physical pressure on heritage sites , and the illicit trafficking of cultural objects. Expect some new resources from the GI Learner  project on this theme here...

2nd track from the new album, on the theme of the decline of coal mining....

The Human Atlas of Europe: A continent united in diversity A review Here are three important dates to remember for geographers… · June 23rd 2016 – the EU referendum is held · March 29th 2017 – Article 50 triggered · April 24th 2017 – publication of the new Human Atlas of Europe Policy Press previously published a Social Atlas of Europe, with the same author team in 2014, which explored European identify through a range of different facets. This Atlas explores provides a human perspective on Europe as it exists today, and explores how it might look in the future. The motto of the EU is “United in Diversity”, and the authors explore the strength that this diversity offers, viewing ‘Europe’ as a single large area stretching from Iceland to Turkey. A reference map at the start identifies the 43 countries that are included in the maps, and their part in the evolution of the European Union. Ben Hennig’s innovative and bold cartograms and other diagrams will be f...

I've been involved in this campaign every year since it first launched, and it's nearly time to start preparing for 2017. World leaders have promised every child in the world a quality education. But a key piece of the puzzle is missing - the money to pay for this education - leaving the global picture with 263 million children missing out on school, and many more in school not learning. Now is the time to act to solve this crisis. We have a window of opportunity - 2017 is the year that world leaders can translate their words into action and fund education for all. As part of the campaign, thousands of children across the country are creating paper jigsaw pieces, to represent that financing is the missing piece of the education puzzle, and sending them to their newly elected or re-elected MPs following the results of the UK General Election. It is important that as many MPs as possible can hear about the campaign so that they can see the strength of support for education. ...

I followed the story of Shackleton's whisky being rescued from beneath the ice, and recreated by Mackinlay a few years ago, and if I didn't have a mortgage I'd buy one of the resulting bottles. Now Whyte and Mackay have released this. A new 'expression' has been launched, at a more reasonable price, although with more tenuous connection to the original of course. I'd be happy to write a review :)