Research Directions, Challenges and Achievements of Modern Geography

This book identifies and discusses research directions, challenges and achievements in contemporary geography. It also documents the most current theoretical and methodological considerations undertaken by scientists representing various sub-disciplines of geography with particular reference to human geography. It was assumed that the thematic structure of the currently active International Geographical Union (IGU) problem commissions corresponds to the most relevant and current research directions in geography. Reflecting this assumption, the book consists of 14 chapters contributed by geographers representing 14 problem commissions of the IGU, which allows us to examine geography from different perspectives and to provide the reader with a complete overview of contemporary research issues in human geography. 

The first part discusses contemporary research problems and issues related to scientific methodology and achievements of selected geographical sub-disciplines, including urban geography, agricultural geography, transport geography, and political geography, among others. The second part focuses on the interdisciplinarity of geography and the topics of global dimension undertaken by geographers such as global change, GIS and geospatial technology, marginalization, and environmental change. This part also discusses the internal relations between geographical specializations and their links with other related sciences, including geology, sociology, and economics. The third part discusses the holistic approaches of geography applied to particular regions, territories, or conditions (Africa, costal systems, geomorphology and local development).

Jerzy Bański is a professor of human geography at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences (IGSO PAS), where he was the director in 2018-2021. His main research interests include rural and agricultural geography, land use, regional policy, and spatial organization and local development. Between 2006 and 2012, he was the president of the Polish Geographical Society. In 2017-2022, he was the chairman of the Local and Regional Development Committee of the International Geographical Union. He is an author of 400 publications, including 27 books and more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. He is the author and editor of books published by Springer and Routledge, among others.

Michael Meadows is the President of the International Geographical Union (IGU). He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Sussex and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK. His research interests lie in the area of physical geography, more specificallyconcerning Quaternary environmental change and the geomorphological and biogeographical impacts of natural and human-induced climate change. He is a Fellow of the Society of South African Geographers (2000), the Royal Geographical Society (2016), the Royal Society of South Africa (2016), the African Academy of Sciences (2018), the University of Cape Town (2018), the International Science Council (2022) and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (2022).