Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

The regional approach is used in one-third of the cases analysed. In this syllabiit is common to begin with one or two introductory themes related to the whole ofEurope: “the idea of Europe”, “the definition of European space”, “the natural environment”or “modes of life”; some also refer to the chosen model of regionalisationand the criteria of boundaries. The rest of the syllabus is devoted to as many issuesor thematic blocks as there are delimited regional groups. The criteria for regionalisationtend to follow geopolitical and geographical questions, and Europe taken asa whole is not always represented.In all of the syllabi, we can observe a concern to incorporate a priority for Central,Balkan and Eastern Europe. But we have to say that the European regional divisionestablished and specially ‘Eastern Europe’ is very heterogeneous and emphasisesthe multiple visions of the mental map of this region.Occasionally, European boundaries serve as a resource for dealing with specificissues under the umbrella of a greater region. For example, under the heading “TheEuropean Union” there are sub-headings that coincide with the countries of theUnion. However, this scheme can be found for just thirteen countries, with Swedenand Finland eliminated and included instead as part of the block of “Nordic Countries”.In other cases, the European Union is rejected as a homogenous regional space,and a different system of regionalisation is proposed: “Nordic Europe”, “WesternEurope”, “Mediterranean Europe”, “Eastern Europe”, or “Ex-Soviet Europe”.And in these cases it is interesting to note which countries are included in eachcategory. For example “Mediterranean Europe” may consist of the Iberian Peninsula,Italy and Greece, leaving aside other countries such as Malta, Croatia, Slovenia,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Serbia-Montenegro, Macedonia, Cyprus (andTurkey) to form part of other sub-groups that are more related to other contents thanthe basically economic and political “Mediterranean-ness” offered by the countriesreferred to above.It is curious to note how certain countries are included in regions that are createdin an ad hoc manner for some reason or other. For example, the idea of “Norway,Switzerland and Iceland: countries separated from their natural geographic groups”,or “European States Receiving of Germanic Influence” to include Germany, Austriaand Switzerland. It is also interesting to note how certain spaces that are usuallyforgotten, such as microstates, are included.These categories provide a glimpse of how known geopolitical categories such as“Central Europe”, “Eastern Europe”, “South-eastern Europe”, “Balkans”, “Countriesof the former Soviet Union”, and “Baltic States” have been replaced by others orhave taken on new contents as a consequence of the process of the (re-)invention ofregional and national identities. The “Carpathian Bowl”, “Danube Region”, “BlackSea area”, or a “Central Europe” that extends further east than the traditional mitteleuropaare examples of such reformation. However, we should point that all of theseare symbolic geographies, socially constructed concepts, and that their content anddelimitation are difficult to determine.The headings for the regions in the East of Europe tend to share certain more orless negative connotations such as “crisis”, “disintegration”, “difficult integration”,232