Geography & Education Research Group

Writing and reviewing for the Journal of Geography in Higher Education
2026-03-25 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/London) | Online – advanced booking required
Hosted in collaboration with the Geography and Education Research Group (GeogEd), this session is designed to encourage and enable new academics/postgraduates who have undertaken pedagogic research to publish and disseminate their work to the rest of the geographic community.After discussing the mission of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education (JGHE), panellists will explain the submission, review, and publication processes of the JGHE.Topics will include the nature of material appropriate for submission, the types and level of evidence necessary to support findings, the recommended length of manuscripts, advice about writing for an international readership, and JGHE’s citation index.In this practical workshop, prospective authors will interact with panellists through an interactive paper review session and discuss issues specific to manuscripts they are planning or writing. Practical guidance and advice will be provided to potential authors. The detailed discussion will be responsive to the needs and interests of the participants.

Speakers

David Higgitt (University of Lancaster), JGHE Editor-in-Chief

Derek France (University of Chester), JGHE Editor

Sonja Rewhorn (The Open University, UK) GeogEd Treasurer and JGHE Editorial Board Member

Alan Marvell (University of Gloucestershire), GeogEd Chair and JGHE Editorial Board Member

Vicky Johnson (The Open University, UK), GeogEd Committee Member and JGHE Editorial Board Member

Advance booking required – book here.

RGS-IBS Annual International Conference 2026
2026-09-01 00:00 - 2026-09-04 23:59 | RGS-IBG and Imperial College london, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR, United Kingdom
Join us for the RGS-IBS Annual International Conference 2026

The Annual International Conference 2026 will be chaired by Professor Peter Hopkins (Newcastle University, UK), on the theme of Geographies of inequalities: toward just places. Find out more about our Chair’s sessions at the conference.

GeogEd will be hosting a number of events (see below). Stay tuned for specific locations and times!

The Geographies of Generative AI in Higher Education (RGS-IBG AIC 2026)

Emerging and Innovative Pedagogies in Geography Higher Education

Rethinking Educational Pedagogies and Practices in Unequal Contexts

The Geographies of Generative AI in Higher Education (RGS-IBG AIC 2026)
2026-09-01 00:00 - 2026-09-04 23:59 | RGS-IBG and Imperial College london, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR, United Kingdom
*This event is part of the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2026. Exact session time and location will be confirmed in due course and updated here.

Session organisers: Kieran Phelan (University of Nottingham, UK) and Andrew Cook (University of Nottingham, UK)

Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping practices of learning, teaching, and knowledge production in higher education (Pratschke, 2024, HEPI, 2025). The widespread use of large language models by both students and faculty presents fundamental challenges to established pedagogical norms, as well as academic integrity, and institutional governance (Bertram Gallant and Rettinger, 2025). As universities struggle to respond to these disruptions, significant shifts are emerging in assessment practices, curriculum (re)design, and integrity and assurance mechanisms, as well as everyday pedagogical cultures of teaching and learning.

Taking seriously the geographies of the university, this session invites critical reflection on how generative AI is reconfiguring the geographies of higher education; spatially, institutionally, ethically and relationally. Rather than focusing narrowly on technical or instrumental approaches such as prompt engineering, the session seeks to centre broader conceptual and empirical insights on how universities are being reshaped by cultures of artificial generativity, including changes in pedagogical spaces and cultures, shifts in students’ digital practices, as well as how forms of academic labour are being reimagined in response.

experiences embedding critical AI literacy within geography degree programmes

analysis of institutional AI strategies and responses

critical AI politics and resistance amongst students and faculty

approaches to governance, assurance, and academic integrity

assessment redesign and curriculum innovation

AI and student experience enhancement and student-voice projects

Emerging and Innovative Pedagogies in Geography Higher Education (RGS-IBG AIC 2026)
2026-09-01 00:00 - 2026-09-04 23:59 | RGS-IBG and Imperial College london, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR, United Kingdom
*This event is part of the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2026. Exact session time and location will be confirmed in due course and updated here.

Convenors:

Dr Harry West (University of the West of England)

Dr Alan Marvell (University of Gloucestershire)

Professor Jennifer Hill (Visiting Professor, University of the West of England)

Dr Sonja Rewhorn (Open University)

Format: In-person paper session

Sponsored by the Geography & Education Research Group

The evolving landscape of geography higher education demands pedagogical innovation that is responsive to the diverse needs of students and the challenges of the 21st century. This session invites paper contributions that explore emerging and transformative approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment, offering a platform to share ideas and discuss emerging and innovative HE pedagogies.

Central to the discussion is the integration of inclusive and equitable teaching practices that address the diverse needs of students. By rethinking traditional teaching and learning approaches and exploring alternative assessment models, educators are fostering accessible and engaging learning experiences. These practices are further enhanced by advances in technology, including the use of generative AI. Tools such as AI-driven writing aids, data analysis platforms, and virtual simulations are being leveraged to personalise learning, create innovative assessment opportunities, and prepare students for a digitally-literate world, while also prompting critical discussions about ethics and academic integrity.

The session also explores how pedagogies adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as digital and hybrid teaching, have evolved into powerful tools for the post-pandemic era. Innovative uses of digital platforms and immersive technologies, such as GIS, augmented reality, and online collaborative tools, are changing how students interact with geographical content and their peers and tutors. This transition to flexible and technology-rich learning environments is complemented by a renewed focus on authentic and sustainable fieldwork. By emphasising local contexts, virtual field experiences, and ethical community engagement, educators are balancing pedagogical rigour with social, environmental and financial responsibility.

Recognising the holistic nature of education, this session also considers the affective dimensions of learning. Emotionally supportive pedagogies are emerging as crucial tools in fostering student and staff wellbeing, resilience, and motivation. Equally transformative are student-staff partnerships, where students are empowered as co-creators in curriculum design, assessment practices, and research, ensuring that educational practices remain inclusive, relevant, and reflective of diverse perspectives.

By integrating these themes, the session aims to provide a collaborative space for sharing innovative practices that advance the discipline of geography, preparing students to navigate and address the complex challenges of a changing world.

Rethinking Educational Pedagogies and Practices in Unequal Contexts (RGS-IBG AIC 2026)
2026-09-01 00:00 - 2026-09-04 23:59 | RGS-IBG and Imperial College london, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR, United Kingdom
*This event is part of the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2026. Exact session time and location will be confirmed in due course and updated here.

Convenors:

Professor Jennifer Hill (Visiting Professor, University of the West of England)

Dr Harry West (University of the West of England)

Dr Sonja Rewhorn (Open University)

Dr Alan Marvell (University of Gloucestershire)

Format: In-person paper session

Sponsored by the Geography & Education Research Group

Education is frequently positioned as a vehicle for social mobility and justice, yet institutions are deeply uneven places, shaped by widening social, economic and spatial inequalities. This session invites contributions that critically examine student and/or staff experiences of teaching, learning and assessment within these unequal contexts. It invites contributions that explore how educational experiences, institutional resources and academic labour are geographically differentiated and unevenly valued.

Contributions may focus on geographical disparities in education provision, for example widening participation, inequalities in academic careers and working conditions, in addition to broader spatial politics of internationalisation, and unequal impacts of neoliberal austerity, marketisation and institutional restructuring.

The session also welcomes work on campus geographies, such as inclusive pedagogies, assessment practices and curriculum design, and how these are inflected by inequalities related to class, race, gender, disability, citizenship and place. Papers might also discuss digital divides, accessibility, caring responsibilities, precarity and institutional policies and practices shaping everyday educational experiences in classrooms, online spaces and the field.

Crucially, the session seeks to move beyond diagnosis to consider resistance, reform and reimagining of power, privilege and exclusion. This includes reflections on policy interventions, collective action and alternative educational practices. Contributions may be empirical, conceptual or practice-based, and may engage with students, staff or institutional policy contexts. The session aims to create space for critical discussions about how educational spaces might become more just places of learning and work.

Potential themes:

Teaching, learning and pedagogy in unequal institutional contexts

Assessment practices, fairness and equity

Student experience, belonging and exclusion

Staff experience, workload, wellbeing and precarity

Widening participation, access and retention

AI, digital and hybrid learning practices and environments

Disability, accessibility and inclusive practices

Institutional policies, metrics and governance

Marketisation, austerity and institutional change

Resistance, reform and reimagining educational practices
