Schools enrichment resource portal

Geography Directions posts apply geographical insights to better understand and explain contemporary issues. Each post is written by a relevant expert geographer and many draw directly on the latest research, as published in the RGS-IBG journals, book series, and beyond.

Designed in collaboration with the RGS-IBG Education and Outdoor Learning team, this page filters Geography Directions content into easily accessible streams, based on topic areas at A-Level and GCSE, which can be used by teachers to enhance their knowledge, or shared with their students as part of their course materials and to provide stimulus for their NEAs.

The streams will live update as new posts are added, so make sure you check back regularly for new materials and insights.

Physical & Environmental processes and issues

Climate Change

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the planet, climate change is a key topic for any geographer to engage with.

Responding to hazards and disasters

Understanding the relationship between humans and the environment is key to managing and mitigating disasters, preventing them from becoming catastrophes.

Water: Rivers and Coasts

Water is one of the most powerful natural forces. It shapes not only the physical aspects of our planet, but is also key to human societies, politics and economics

Ice: Glaciers and the arctic

The presence or absence of ice not only shapes the places in which it is found, but also influences many factors at a global scale, from climate change, to geopolitical struggles.

The carbon cycle and resource extraction

Carbon is a key element to everyday life on our planet. Yet because of this it is also a resource that has profoundly affected relations between people and the planet.

Global issues

Geopolitics, power and borders

The interactions between state and non-state actors, their environments and borders, shape international politics profoundly. Geographers are central in understanding these power relations and their implications.

Migration, national identity, and human rights

These topics have increasingly become key political flash points around the world. As geographers we can apply unique perspectives to better understand how and why these issues arise, and how we might resolve them.

Global health and disease dilemmas

As the world pushes through a global pandemic, studying global health and disease has never been so important.

Changing places

‘Changing places’ is a varied topic covering many aspects of human geography and human-physical processes. We have split up this content into more manageable streams below.

Urbanisation: growing and building cities

The majority of the world’s population live in urban areas, and that number is constantly growing. As geographers, we play an important role in ensuring our cities expand in a way that is sustainable and accessible for all.

Dynamic neighbourhoods

Neighbourhoods are often seen as particularly special places in the city. Yet neighbourhoods are constantly changing through processes of migration, gentrification and regeneration. Geographers play a key role in understanding and mitigating these processes.

Social inequalities: levelling up and down

Differences in wealth, health, crime, access to education and exposure to pollutants often depend hugely on where a person lives. With political agendas now focussed heavily on the idea of ‘levelling up’, understanding the geography of these inequalities will be very important.

Place and nature

Humans are not alone on this planet. We are part of a complex global ecosystem, and understanding our relationship to nature is crucial to creating better lives for all of us.

Capital, money and finance

Capital and international finance are hugely important to understanding why the world is organised as it is. From international politics right down to day-to-day experience, money has an impact on all aspects of our lives.

Moving beyond the syllabus

There are some key geographical categories not specifically covered within the GCSE/A-Level modules but which will extend teachers and their pupils geographical insights and perspectives. These may be useful for pupils reading around their subject and, if applying to study geography at university, pupils may wish to include their reflections on these and other articles within their personal statements.

Geographies in and of the home

Geography is prevalent at even the smallest of scales. Looking at the geography of the home is important for many reasons, but it also allows us to understand and answer some much bigger questions.

Difference, identity and everyday experience

Differences within and between our identities dictate how we understand and live in the world. As geographers its crucial that we understand and apply this knowledge.