International geography conference in Tunis draws diverse group of attendees

18/08/2008

Organisers of an international geography conference held in Tunisia last week noted the heightened participation of Arab geographers.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 18/08/08

[igc-tunis2008.com] An international geographer's conference in Tunis concluded with the creation of the Ibn Khaldoun Award

The 31st conference of the International Geographical Union (IGU) concluded in Tunis on Friday (August 15th). Held in an Arab country for only the second time since the IGU's founding in 1922, the four-day conference offered hundreds of sessions and workshops to more than 1,000 participants from 70 countries.

This year's meeting was characterised by an unprecedentedly large number of attendees from Arab countries, Tunisian Geographical Society chief Adnane Haider said.

Held under the slogan "Collaboratively Building our Territories", the conference highlighted efforts within the field to "make geography a science that helps man to live smartly with others and with his environment," Haider added.

Participants presented 850 papers addressing issues in geography and its related sciences, including the development of geographical thinking, the standardization of geographical names in Africa and diversity in mountainous systems.

The Saudi Geographical Society agreed to ensure that IGU bulletins and UN documents on sustainable development are translated into Arabic in order to facilitate their integration into educational curricula.

Geographers stressed the need to disseminate a culture of geography and to look for new geographical concepts that keep up with to the demands of our time. Some of the buzzwords of this year's conference were international co-operation, climate change and dialogue between civilizations.

"[D]iversity is one of the most prominent concepts in the geographers' conference," IGU President Ronald F. Abler said.

Mongi Bousnina, Secretary-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALESCO), agreed, stressing the importance of the science of geography "in achieving communication among peoples and enhancing dialogue among cultures".

Given the open nature of the conference, Haider expressed his surprise that some Arab participants complained about the presence of a delegation of academics from Israel.

"The conference is a scientific conference organized by the IGU," Haider said, adding that the "laws of the IGU state that no participant should be excluded from participation based on ethnic, gender or racial grounds".

Israeli delegation member Mikael Soufer told the Associated Press during the conference that he hoped for significant participation by Arabs at an IGU regional conference to be held in Tel Aviv in July 2010.

Abler said that Tunisia, which currently holds the post of IGU vice-president, has made great contributions in developing the science of geography.

The Tunis conference concluded with an agreement to launch the Ibn Khaldoun Award. Named after the great Tunis-born scientist, the award will be given every four years to honour excellence in geographic research.

On the sidelines of the conference, the IGU held its general meeting to elect a new executive bureau. The US's Ronald F. Abler was elected president and South Korea's Woo-ik Yu was selected as Secretary-General.