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EUGEO. European Society for Geography
Origins and development:
 EUGEO
is an association of geographical societies, associations and other
institutes representative of geographers and geographical science
in EU-nations. All of them work autonomously and represent a geographer
community from a country or region. Although the founding members
were basically the old Geographical societies, many of them with
one hundred years of life, EUGEO is open to those geographical institutions
wishing to work in promoting a shared idea of Europe.
The Società Geografica Italiana started the initiative and
the idea was embodied at the meeting held in Rome in 1994, with
the attendance of six representatives of other geographical societes
from other countries. After drafting the statutes, the Board of
Directors and the General Assambly met for the first time officially
in Paris in 1996. Since 1997 EUGEO works as a scholarly society
under the Belgian act of 1921. Ten were the societies that subscribed
the first statutes, the Real Sociedad Geográfica among them,
to which five more entities have adhered since then. Thus, previously
to the extension of the European Union to 25 nations, all the EU
nations except Luxembourg and Greece were represented in EUGEO,
and Spain and Italy had two societies each. Nowadays societies from
the new EU-nations are joining. The EUGEO network is opening to
other national or regional geographical societies and institutes
in countries that are already members, which undoubtably will increase
EUGEO's work capacity and scope inside and outside EU land.
Objectives:
Among the essential objectives that motivated EUGEO's creation
we can point out the following:
• To improve communication and exchange of ideas between
member institutions from an European point of view.
• To act as a lobbying body for geography in Europe before
EU institutions and authorities.
• To encourage a Pan-European approach to geographical
research in any of its basic and applied aspects.
• To set new approaches to Geography teaching in the
European Union promoting good practices at every teaching levels.
• To have Geography positioned within the centre of the
European debate.
• To disseminate and share knowledge by means of publishing
and conferences.
• To credit geographers professionally in their acting
fields.
Activities:
Activities have focused in the dissemination and exchange of knowledge
by means of publishing and conferences. The key publishing activities
include the production of a text on Geography of Europe, in progress,
and a volume of papers on the position of Geography in the member
countries published as a special issue of journal Belgeo for the
30th International Geography Congress (Glasgow, 2004), reproduced
on EUGEO's www.eugeo.org.
Conferences have been held annually since 2000 at events organised
by some of the member societies (Paris, 2000; 2001, Brussels; 2003,
London and 2004 in Glasgow). For 2007 an ambitious European Geography
Congress under the title A new Geographical View of Europe and its
Problems is planned; it is to be organised by the Royal Dutch Geographical
Society. It aims to be the start of a series of European Geography
conferences held jointly with EUGEO and some member societies.
Founding members:
The Royal Geographical Societies of Belgium, Netherland, Spain
and United Kingdom; the Geographical Societies of France, Germany,
Ireland and Italy, and the Geographical Studies Centre of Lisbon.
Executive Board (Elected in London, 2003):
- President: Prof. Christian Vandermotten (Open
Univeristy of Brussels)
- Vicepresidents: Prof. Armando Montanari (Universidad
Gabriele d'Anunzio) y Prof. Jean-Robert Pitte (Université
de Paris-Sorbonne)
- Treasurer: Dr. Hans de Weert (Universidad de
Nimega)
- Secretary-General: Dr. Rita Gardner (Royal
Geographical Society)
Social seat:
Open University of Brussels www.eugeo.org
Real Sociedad Geográfica's representative:
RSG is represented in EUGEO by a member of its Board of Directors.The
current representative is:
Prof. Dr. Manuel Valenzuela Rubio
Professor of Human Geography
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
manuel.valenzuela@uam.es | 
