Teaching Geography in and for Europe: Geographical issues and innovative approaches.

The “fascinating success story” of Europe has its beginnings in the ancient world. In ancient times the term Europe characterized parts of the Mediterranean area and was based on both, the Greek culture and the development of the Roman Empire. HERODOT already declared in the fourth book of its “The Histories” that it has never been determined whether Europe is surrounded by the sea, and thus the question about the geographical borders of Europe can’t be answered on the basis of natural conditions. However, Europe is one of the traditional continents that became a common term used by people across the world. Nowadays Europe as an object of education is more real than ever. The conciliation of the European countries in the European Union, which codetermine increasingly the everyday life of its citizens, thereby represents an important aspect. The disappearance of frontiers within the context of the Schengen Agreement, the common European currency, common European standards e.g. for water quality, and a common agricultural policy are all examples of the increasing Europeanizing of lives. In connection with the European job market, with its internationally intertwined and cooperating enterprises, the mobility of the population will continue to increase in the years to come. In matters of education policy European and/or global thinking, well-founded knowledge of the European countries, language competences etc. are treated as characteristics of European ability and/or international qualification. Also in the context of Geography higher education Europe is gaining more and more importance. But what are current geographical questions in with the context of Europe and how can these been taught reasonably, effectively and with future-oriented perspectives at university level? In this book geographers from different universities in seven European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia) have made a contribution to this debate. The contributors show – from a European perspective – the educational worthiness and possible educational effect of geographical education in and about aspects of Europe. Thematically key aspects such as e.g. migration, desertification or sustainable development are represented. Academically the work ranges from theoretical bases via methodological considerations up to tips for implementation. By doing so the authors try to contribute to the debate about how to effectively examine a focus on Europe within geography studies in higher education. Whereas the range of topics presented in the book is very varied, the grouping of the papers in this book is not intended to be seen as a topic based arrangement. However, each paper set concerns a major geographical issue in or for Europe and describes how learning and teaching can be enhanced in this area. In the first part of the book a number of contemporary European issues are highlighted and discussed from geographical point of view. The contributions point out general theoretical bases regarding the respective topic, and thus give the scientific basis for an educational implementation of the topic in university geography courses. The second part of the book addresses what the possibilities might be for the implementation of those geographical issues described in part one. This is done by suggesting innovative teaching approaches and methodologies. Each paper therefore firstly gives a short theoretical introduction into the chosen methodology. Subsequently, by using a selected European example and with the help of actual materials the papers show possibilities for the realisation of the content in geography university courses. The enclosed materials thereby are conceived in such a way that the reader can use and adapt them for own teaching practice. On the basis of results from an international survey carried out in Slovenia, Poland, Italy, Greece and Montenegro Tatjana Resnik Planinc suggests possibilities for the development of positive attitudes towards space and its natural and cultural heritage as well as responsible decision-making emphasized through geography lessons. In order to show how students can be assisted to recognize spatial values different examples of teaching approaches are presented within the second paper. Aikaterini Klonari pays attention to the reasons for desertification in a particular European context. She presents Lesvos as an example for rangeland desertification in Greece. On the island desertification processes are activated and accelerated only when, in addition to climatic changes, other land parameters – such as soil erosion, destruction of the vegetative cover, wildfires, soil salinization, unsustainable exploitation of water resources, land abandonment, etc. – have gone beyond critical thresholds by human action. Her second paper describes how one might teach about desertification within a cross thematic approach by using available European or international resource material e.g. remote sensing images, topographical and geological data, climate, soils, patterns of land use etc. and by engaging students in active learning through involvement in constructive methodologies. After describing the origin of the term “sustainability” and defining its meaning Michaela Lindner-Fally gives a brief overview of sustainability as a concept. By presenting international and local policies concerning Geography teaching and education for sustainable development she tries to encourage European Geography teachers to play an active role in educating sustainability-aware future citizens. The second paper presents a general model for an active learning process involving Virtual Globs and then offers two different examples of appropriate teaching approaches. Isabelle Franssen’s paper focuses on migration in Europe and the impact and the consequences this has for the development of a European identity. Therefore possible views on migration within society as well as different theoretical perspectives towards migration are discussed and reviewed in the paper. Following the theoretical introduction two different approaches – the pedagogical tools of De Bono’s thinking hats and the story-line approach – are described as examples for the implementation of migration in education. Sebastian Tyszkowski’s paper fouses on landslides activities in northern Poland. Using the example of two 5-km stretches of the Lower Vistula Valley the paper describes mass movement activities, and modern research methods to estimate the dynamics of geomorphological processes. The second paper then focuses on how one might integrate new technologies into geographical fieldwork. By showing the methodology of geocaching as an example of an innovative geography outdoor lesson the paper gives ideas for applying satellite navigation systems to teaching about natural hazards. In his paper Vít Voženílek emphasizes the fact that these days information and communication technologies are integrated into all specialisations as well as most everyday activities and that for this reason geographers should be educated with high levels of geoinformatic literacy. He therefore puts forward arguments for a teacher education within, with and by geoinformatics (GI) and geoinformatic technologies (GIT) in which geographic information systems (GIS) should play an integral role. By focussing earthquakes as one of the most dangerous geohazards the second paper shows a possible way to assess the effect of selected geohazards on populated areas using geoinformation technologies available via the Internet. It thereby uses links to interactive web projects which offer the latest data from earthquake monitoring.