Geography
The subject of the world
Geographers are involved in community planning in aspects concerned with climatic change, flood risk and storm damage, as well as with developmental issues such as innovations in farming, city expansion, health matters and refugees. Work areas are to be found both in Sweden and abroad (SIDA, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Red Cross, Swedish Rescue Services Agency, etc.). As the impact of human induced changes to our environment becomes more and more intrusive, the geographer’s role takes on a new and important dimension. Geographers contribute to planning future communities and are key participants in the creation of a sustainable future for people on the regional, national and global planes. The discipline Geography encompasses environmental and social questions that are linked to world’s diversity of municipal and rural environments, populations, and living conditions. Geography is a science that since the time of the ancient Greeks has aimed to describe, analyse and explain the earth as the human habitat. Man’s living conditions and environment are largely dependent on whereabouts on the surface of the earth he lives, and there are clear connections between the differing development patterns of different societies and the surrounding natural environment and its exploitation. Knowledge of the connections and interplay between humankind, socio-cultural development and the natural environment constitutes the core of the discipline Geography. As a result of increasing globalisation in interdisciplinary research, business, international trade and economics, tourism, land management and environmental work, education and the mass media, geographical skills are in high demand. There is furthermore a substantial increase in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and methods of investigation that require the use of satellite imagery and aerial photography (remote sensing).
