European Geography Association
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2010) |
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| Founder(s) | Students from the universities of Barcelona, Warszawa and Utrecht |
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| Type | Network for geography students and young geographers |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Area served |  Europe |
| Motto | Experience Geography, Explore Europe |
The European Geography Association, abbreviated EGEA, is a European network of geography students and young geographers, with the intention of exchanging geographical knowledge. To achieve this, the entities of EGEA organizes congresses, exchanges between the entities, national weekends, excursions and it is published a scientific magazine. The main communication platform is the website (www.egea.eu).
The aims of EGEA are to offer personal development opportunities to young geographers across Europe, and enable them to fulfill their potential as young scientists. EGEA provides complementary and alternative learning opportunities, beyond formal education of geography. This is done by encouraging and enabling involvement in intercultural interaction, as well as by development of academic, scientific, cultural and professional activities intended for young geographers on terms of equality, diversity and non-discrimination. EGEA actively contributes towards the promotion of geography through its network capabilities and through strategic partnerships, with the ultimate goal to strengthen geography’s place in members’ local communities.
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History [edit]
In 1987, students from the universities of Warsaw, Barcelona and Utrecht met and had the idea to start an association to exchange their geographical knowledge between several countries in Europe. One year later, in 1988 it was getting official by launching a foundation with chair in Utrecht. EGEA has grown until 2011 from its initial three entities to a current number of 80 entities in 34 different European countries. The year 1996 gives an initial change for the organization, due to the fact that the first homepage was established. At the General Assembly 2009 in Heeg a change of organization was decided. Since then EGEA is working as an Association.
Activities [edit]
There are several local, national, and international activities organized by the participants of EGEA. The main events of the year are the congresses. Other annual events are national weekends and summer schools. In addition, entities organize their own events. The spectrum of content of these events reaches from scientific seminars or excursions to events where the main focus lies on getting together. A high popularity among EGEAns are exchanges between entities.
Congresses [edit]
Every year five congresses take place. There are four Regional Congresses in spring, organized by one or more entities in each region. However, the most important event of the association is the Annual Congress, that is organized annually in September.
The Congresses always include workshops, excursions, trainings, and lectures with a scientific background. There are also meetings for Contact Persons of the entities and regional or international assemblies.
Exchanges [edit]
Students exchanges are the core activities of EGEA. They enable small groups from 2 or 3 EGEA entities to visit each other in their countries, learn about culture, explore the habits, nature and many interesting places in visiting countries. What is most important, they make young geography students getting to know their international peers. Following the agreement, one entity is hosting the other one. During the hosting time young people take care of the accommodation, food, and programme. Later on, the hosting entity becomes the visiting one and repays the visit. Exchanges are numerously the most attended activities, when taking into consideration number of events taking place every year.
Scientific Symposium [edit]
Each year at the Annual Congress there is also a scientific symposium, where the members are able to present their scientific work, for example diploma or PhD theses.
Seminars [edit]
There are a few seminars every year, always organized by several entities. The seminars are held on a scientific level that cover different themes in the particular disciplines of geography.
Summer-/Winterschools [edit]
During the semester breaks in summer and winter EGEA also gives students the chance to participate at self-organized summer- or winterschools.
Weekend Activities [edit]
The national or international weekend activities are organized by an entity. Most time there is a main theme to show particular regional or local characteristics. The program spreads between a scientific and a more informal level.
Structure [edit]
EGEA is divided into four administrative regions, the North & Baltic, the Eastern, the Western and the Euro-Mediterranean region. Every region has each year an elected Regional Contact Person. As helping hands they have one or more Assistants.
Regions [edit]
North & Baltic Region [edit]
This region is located in Northern Europe around the Baltic Sea. Entity that belong there are situated in: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway. Countries of the region, however without active entities so far are Iceland and Sweden.
| Entity | Country |
|---|---|
| Copenhagen | Denmark |
| Helsinki | Finland |
| Joensuu | Finland |
| Kaliningrad | Russia |
| Oulu | Finland |
| Riga | Latvia |
| Saint-Petersburg | Russia |
| Tallinn | Estonia |
| Tampere | Finland |
| Tartu | Estonia |
| Trondheim | Norway |
| Vilnius | Lithuania |
Eastern Region [edit]
The Eastern Region is from the areal side the biggest region in EGEA. Part of this region are the entities of Poland, Ukraine, Moldovia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Georgia and also two Russian entities in Moscow and Izhesk in the far east of Europe.
| Entity | Country |
|---|---|
| Bratislava | Slovakia |
| Brno | Czech Republik |
| Bucharest | Romania |
| Cluj-Napoca | Romania |
| Craiova | Romania |
| Iasi | Romania |
| Izhevsk | Russia |
| Kraków | Poland |
| Kyiv | Ukraine |
| Lviv | Ukraine |
| Moldova | Moldova |
| Moscow | Russia |
| Pécs | Hungary |
| Poznan | Poland |
| Prague | Czech Republic |
| Sighetu Marmaţiei | Romania |
| Sofia | Bulgaria |
| Sosnowiec | Poland |
| Szeged | Hungary |
| Tiblisi | Georgia |
| Timisoara | Romania |
| Torun | Poland |
| Warszawa | Poland |
Western Region [edit]
By members and entities it is the biggest region of EGEA. It compasses the British Isles, the Benelux-States, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
| Entity | Country |
|---|---|
| Aachen | Germany |
| Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| Augsburg | Germany |
| Berlin | Germany |
| Bern | Switzerland |
| Bonn | Germany |
| Brussel | Belgium |
| Edge Hill | England |
| Erlangen | Germany |
| Gießen | Germany |
| Göttingen | Germany |
| Graz | Austria |
| Groningen | Netherlands |
| Hannover | Germany |
| Jena | Germany |
| Kiel | Germany |
| Leuven | Belgium |
| Mainz | Germany |
| Marburg | Germany |
| München | Germany |
| Münster | Germany |
| Nijmegen | Netherlands |
| Osnabrück | Germany |
| Passau | Germany |
| Trier | Germany |
| Tübingen | Germany |
| Utrecht | Netherlands |
| Wien | Austria |
Euro-Mediterranean Region [edit]
This Region contains all entities of countries that are located around the Mediterranean Sea. There are entities in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Israel and Turkey.
| Entity | Country |
|---|---|
| Athens | Greece |
| Barcelona | Spain |
| Beograd | Serbia |
| Bologna | Italy |
| Dijon | France |
| Israel | Israel |
| Izmir | Turkey |
| Koper | Slovenia |
| La Rochelle | France |
| Lisbon | Portugal |
| Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| Maribor | Slovenia |
| Malta | Malta |
| Mytelene | Greece |
| Novi Sad | Serbia |
| Roma | Italy |
| Sevilla | Spain |
| Skopje | Macedonia |
| Tirana | Albania |
| Torino | Italy |
| Valencia | Spain |
| Zagreb | Croatia |
Board of EGEA [edit]
The Board consists of four persons and divides the functions of president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer amongst themselves. The board members are elected by the General Assembly out of members from the Association. A representative of the entity chosen to organise the Annual Congress will also become a member of the Board. The Board represents and is the executive body of the Association Added is the team by the Secretariat Director who has the seat in the office at the EGEA Headquarters in Utrecht. This position is established in 2005 and contrived by the entity of Utrecht.
| Year | President | Vice-President | Secretary | Treasurer | Annual Congress Coordinator* | Secretariat Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012/13 | Jirka Konietzny | Niels Grootjans | Petronela Bordeianu | Maciej Radyno | Anna Tołoczko | Rik de Kleijn |
| 2011/12 | Svetlana Samsonova | Joanna Wawrynowicz | Henning Kronen | Michael Poulsen | Kristel Sieprath | Sanne Heijt |
| 2010/11 | Alexandru Drăgan | Sven Vanderhaegen | Kaija Murasov | Mihovil Masic | Carolin Ziegler | Roos Saalbrink |
| 2009/10 | Claudia Iordache | Slobodan Cvetkovic | Milda Latakaite | Samantha van der Sluis | Catalina Ionita | Jelle Gulmans |
| 2008/09 | Jeroen van Pelt | Kamila Jankowska | Milena Karanović | Dennis Söderholm | Martinus Spoelstra | Lisette von Leijenhorst |
| 2007/08 | Aleš Oven | Vlad Dumitrescu | Kret Masik | David Jochum | Misha Lobanov | Malou Weber |
| 2006/07 | Heli Rekiranta | Alexandros Ziogas | Anastasia Kazakova | Tim van de Laar | Lukasz Jankowski | Gert Ruepert |
| 2005/06 | Alois Humer | Vojkan Gajovic | Anna Bieniasz | Sandor Kreuze | Florian Fischer | Gert Ruepert |
| 2004/05 | Vita Valuinaite | Igor Pilipenko | Rok Godec | Andrea Jordan | Leftheris Eleftheriadis | |
| 2003/04 | Leftheris Eleftheriadis | Natalia Krivenok | Kristjan Pärnamägi | Kathrin Klei | Gert Ruepert | |
| 2002/03 | Jean-François André | Joanna Markowska | Kristjan Pärnamägi | Heidi van Otten | Tomasz Dusza | |
| 2001/02 | Denis Ceric | Magdalena Bednarz | Erki Saluveer | Winneke Lobeek | Sylvain Rigollet | |
| 2000/01 | Sylvain Rigollet | Anna Tsukanova | Ann Ideon | Remco van der Hoogt | Wojtek Zalewski | |
| 1999/2000 | Vera Veranda | Magda Rak | Helle-Mai Pedastsaar | Sebastian Mosler | Primoz Pipan | |
| 1998/99 | Erika Eloranta | Primoz Pipan | Svetlana Malysheva | Dennis van der Avoort | Tonia Koops | |
| 1997/98 | Teresa Gomes | Piotr Strubel | Erika Eloranta | Dennis van der Avoort | Catrin Effe | |
| 1996/97 | Teresa Gomes | Mait Rei | Piotr Strubel | Henk Looijen | Nadia Dida | |
| 1995/96 | Catrin Effe | Sebastian Pichinski | Helder Santos | Rebecca Haacker | Ricardo Coutada | |
| 1994/95 | Ricardo Coutada | Ricardo Coutada | Maciej Dabski | Berend Bock | Monika Dittrich | |
| 1993/94 | Ricardo Coutada | Adam Sniadowski | Ingibjörg Bjornsdottir | Berend Bock | Tiit Tammaru |
)* until and including the Board of 2011/2012 known as Annual Congress Organiser.
Partners [edit]
EGEA has several partnerships with organizations like EUROGEO, IFISO, AEGEE, eestec, studyportals and BEST. Furthermore there is a partnership to a program by the EU, „Youth in Action“. There are also strong cooperations with ESRI a supplier for GIS-programs and with the Utrecht University.
