Geography GIS Workshop Day

Dr Ceri Davies, Lecturer in Physical Geography, University of Gloucestershire and Professor Kenny Lynch, Professor of Development and Community, University of Gloucestershire

This workshop gives students and teachers a practical introduction to ArcGIS, focusing on the key tools needed for the NEA. We’ll cover simple mapping, data input and basic spatial analysis to help build confidence with a platform many find challenging. By the end, participants will have a solid grounding in how ArcGIS can enhance the quality and clarity of NEA investigations.

Peter Vujakovic, Emeritus Professor of Geography, Senior Fellow HEA, Centre for Kent History and Heritage, Canterbury Christ Church University

The Land Utilisation Surveys (LUS) of Britain provide detailed geographical information on the land use and land cover for the 1930s and 1960-70s. They provide an opportunity for you to explore the drivers of change (economics, technology, climate) that may have affected a landscape you wish to explore, perhaps your home area or a landscape you have visited.

The Second LUS provides particularly detailed information on a landscape your grandparents may have known! More recent land use surveys will be covered.

Graeme Schofield, Geography Subject Lead, Oak National Academy

Places and events are shaped by geography. Physical and human landscapes influence how we see a place, the decisions that are made, and how people interact with their environment. We may know that an event is occurring in a particular location, or have heard about the character of a place, but without investigating its geographical context we cannot fully understand it.

This session explores how accessible GIS tools can help us examine the wider spatial context that shapes places and issues. By layering data and using accessible GIS tools, we can uncover patterns, relationships and processes operating at different scales, helping us make better sense of an increasingly complex world.

Professor Kenny Lynch, Professor of Development and Community, University of Gloucestershire

The world faces challenges that affect communities and landscapes at a global and a local scale. Many of these are linked to human activities. The good news is that they can be resolved by human action. However, it will take work by people with the right knowledge and skills.

Some call the skills needed ‘green skills’, but what are they, how can we gain these skills, and where does Geography come in? I will talk about some of the latest evidence of the growth in demand for green skills and explain how geographers at every level can, and will, contribute to the global effort to address these challenges.