Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is an honor and a pleasure for me to welcome you to the 34th International Geographical Congress in İstanbul in 2020, Turkey.
İstanbul has an enchanting location spreading over two continents. İstanbul also represents the unique feature of Turkey for serving as a bridge between different cultures. This feature will be the major asset of the 2020 34th IGC in bringing together the Middle East with Europe.
I have no doubt that this meeting will be valuable opportunity to be a part of scientifically enriched environment as well as perfect harmony with all historical beauties of magnificent Istanbul and Turkish hospitality and guaranteed to leave you with unforgettable memories.
I am certain that İstanbul will mobilize the necessary experience, expertise and support for one of the most successful events in the history of the IGU.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee and Turkish Geographical Society, we look forward to have the pleasure and excitement of welcoming you to Istanbul.
With warm regards,
IGU 2020 Congress Chairman
MAIN THEME
“Geography: Bridging the Continents”
IGC 2020 ISTANBUL KEY TOPICS
Globalization vs Localization
Climate Change
Migration and Conflicts
Earth and Disasters
Eurasia and Middle East Studies
Anthropocene
MAIN THEME
Geography: Bridging the Continents
Geography is the science of relationship between the earth and human. This is the basic definition of Geography. But Geography is not only a science of relationship. Geography also has meaning of evaluation, interpretation, awareness and analysis. With all this meaning Geography is the “Queen of the all sciences”.
In the historical eras, people use the science of Geography to explore the World. While the first discoveries were in their own environment, as time progressed, human trips to discover other environments as well. These discoveries, sometimes made for the “wonder” but are often realized the needs.
In the Little Ice Age period, under the heavy climatic conditions people have traveled to unknown regions of the world to search for new sources. Thus, in a sense, the adverse climatic conditions seen in the Little Ice Age caused the beginning of the era of discoveries. And so Geography made the continents and human come together.
The fact that Istanbul is located at the junction of the continents constitutes the most important point of this great meaning. The 34. International Geographical Congress, which will be organized for the first time in Istanbul where the continents meets, will host the most accurate way of realizing this historical meaning of the Geography. Thus, all colleagues in all continents will meet in Istanbul.
KEY TOPICS
Globalization vs Localization
In its most basic meaning, “Globalization” is a model of international trade investment and communication that has developed in the last quarter of a century. In this framework, globalization supports government policies that enable economic activities to open up to domestic and international markets in order to ensure development in poorer countries and raise people’s living standards. In reality, however, these policies created a free market that would harm local businesses, local cultures and human communities. On the other hand, there is a social, political and legal aspect of globalization. Globalization also represents a reciprocal link for these phenomena. In this sense, globalization aims at a single world in economic, political and legal sense.
On the other hand, the concept of localization has evolved as a feature of local characteristics in economic, social and cultural fields. Globalization and localization, which have emerged as opposing concepts in a sense, are two concepts born of missing ones. It is important to protect local differences that are at the root of a multicultural world but are under the threat of globalization. Geography is a science that can assess all the details of globalization and localization.
Climate Change
Climate change has become one of the most important issues of today. However, it is not understood by all people what climate change is, what kind of problem it is and what the reasons are. Along with the ongoing natural climate change, the negativity caused by the human being causes the climate change to be perceived as a problem today. Climate change is a natural process, but in the last century human activity has affected the course of this natural change.
In fact, human-induced climate change is an environmental issue. Degradation changes under the pressure of natural areas destruction, urbanization and industrialization are the anthropogenic causes of climate change. Therefore, mitigating the negative pressures on the environment will also reduce human pressures on climate change.
It is an important process to understand the adaptation conditions besides the struggle with the climate change and to determine the ways of adaptation to the changing climate conditions of the people. Geography science is an important scientific discipline that can evaluate all this process in every direction.
Migration and Conflicts
Another important problem of today’s world are migration and conflicts. Political problems, especially in “hot regions”, cause conflicts and migration on the other hand. Human trafficking, especially starting from the Middle East and North Africa and crossing the Mediterranean through illegal routes, has tragic consequences. These illegal activities cause social problems, especially in many European countries.
On the other hand the political and military problems in Iraq and in Syria towards Turkey led to the migration of millions of people, and this has brought together the social and economic problems.
Discussing these problems, especially those related to the Mediterranean basin, away from political approaches, from a geographical point of view, and developing solution proposals will be an important result.
Earth and Disasters
All the earth system consists of fully dynamic conditions. Each process from plate movements to mass movements is a natural part of this dynamic system. The dynamic processes in the atmosphere are also a natural part of this process. The mass movements that have developed through these natural processes have existed for millions of years.
However, the increasing population and the environmental damage caused by humans have increased the vulnerability from these natural processes. Today, the number of measures to be taken against natural disasters with increasing number of effects has gained importance. On the one hand, natural disasters affecting human life also cause economic losses. In this respect, natural disasters are not only the subject of Geography, but also within the scope of the field of science in every socio-economic area.
Eurasia and Middle East Studies
Istanbul is located at the intersection point of Eurasia and the Middle East. This region, where many civilizations have been established for thousands of years, still hosts many nations together. As a congress based in Istanbul IGC2020, is open to discussing all problems in this region with scientific foundations. All subjects related to physical and human geography will be evaluated in this context.
Anthropocene
Was the end of the Holocene period we were in? This question has been asked frequently in recent years in terms of the extreme pressure on man’s earth systems and the extent of his degradation. Mankind began to be influential on the biosphere, especially after the Industrial Revolution. It affected terrestrial ecosystems, influenced the atmosphere, and carried out activities that would cause changes in the hydrological cycle. Environmental pollution, loss of natural areas, atmospheric pollution, pollution of the sea and oceans, and climate change, all these problems have caused mankind to cause changes on the earth systems. Thus, the natural processes have deteriorated and a new era has begun. This period in which man is influential is now called Anthropocene. The Anthropocene defines Earth’s most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced. According to some writers, Anthropocene, which started with the Industrial Revolution, started after the Agricultural Revolution according to some other authors. However, whatever the case, the Anthropocene used to describe the influence of the human being on the mediator is the study area of both Physical and Human Geography. For geographers it will be an important field of study in the near future. And as geographers it is not possible to stay away from this process. For this reason, it was one of the main topics of this congress.