Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

The Evolution of a European Student NetworkGert Ruepert, Anouk Adang, Sandor KreuzeFaculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.115,NL-3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlandse-mail: G.Ruepert@students.uu.nl a.b.adang@students.uu.nlAbstractThe European Geography Association is a European network of Geography Students andyoung Geographers, founded in 1988 by students from Utrecht, Warsaw and Barcelona.Today it has around 73 entities in 29 different countries. Its goals are to exchange knowledgeand information between geography students and young geographers. To achieve these goals,congresses and exchanges are being organised and an Internet forum was created.The aim of article is to find out how the EGEA network has developed. There is not a cleargeographical direction in how the EGEA network developed but there are some striking blankspots on the EGEA map that can be explained by the local context of these countries. TheInternet plays an essential role in the communication in the network, but to make receiversadapt the EGEA idea, face-to-face contact is more successful.Key words: Geography, Networks, EGEA, Students Association.IntroductionIn the spring of 1987 a group of geography students from Barcelona, Warsaw andUtrecht met in Leon (Spain) to discuss the possibility of forming a European Associationfor Young Geographers. Its purpose would be to facilitate and improve theinteraction and exchange of ideas, information and students, which was commonlyfelt to be lacking in the field of geography. In February 1989 the first EGEA Congresswas held in Zaborow, Poland with 80 participants from 23 different universities.Sixteen years later EGEA has, according to the website, 73 entities in 29 differentcountries. Every year five official congresses are organised and many other activities.The EGEA network expanded and it shows great dynamism. The aim of thisarticle is to trace the development of EGEA over the years. Which entities are andhave been active in the network? Can a geographical pattern be identified? Whichfactors play a role in the origin of entities?NetworksHägerstrand described in his book “Innovation Diffusion as a Spatial Process” aninnovation in a rural area in Sweden. Innovation adopters inform others in their socialnetwork in their proximity. In this way innovation spreads like an oil slick: contagiousdiffusion (De Pater 1996). Communication factors dominate the acceptance process.Critics pointed at the underestimated role of the adaptors (Blaut, Blaikie) and thelocal context. The importance of the local context is shown in the diffusion of the airconditioner, which was much more adapted in Texas then in Montana (Ormrod 1998).195