If we consider that geographical research can be useful for understanding the world, also through the interconnection between the various scales, it is important to ask a question: how to communicate geographical research to a wider audience than the academic one?

Specialized academic journals and the publication of volumes by prestigious publishers, while indisputably the standard for the circulation of research within the academy, for many reasons do not seem suited to wider dissemination. More and more geographers seem to feel the need to share the results of their research and “geographical thinking” beyond the boundaries of academia. This can happen thanks to a personal predisposition for communication (e.g. media contacts), or, more systematically, through the choice of contexts dedicated to the general public (festivals, special days linked to specific themes, targeted events, etc.) or suitable publication/communication tools, often increasingly linked to typical elements of art (video, sounds, literature, photographs, comics, land art, performances and much more). EUGEO, with the International Geographical Union, also, are active in the direction of a wide diffusion, i.e. with the GeoNight initiative, and many national geographical societies include this type of communication among their activities.

This session, directly connected to the session “The Beauty of Geography”, organized in the context of the IGU Dublin 2024 Congress by EUGEO, aims to collect contributions on this topic ranging from theoretical interventions (is dissemination useful? Why? In what way? For whom? Should it be included among the objectives of a researcher or is it a “luxury” for his free time?) to concrete examples in which the broad communication of research has been attempted, achieved or is being achieved or planned. One of the session objectives is the sharing of experiences that could be interesting also in different contexts. Interventions using unusual presentations (video, audio, images and others) may also be proposed, and proponents will be asked to briefly discuss the objectives, methodologies, and results (expected or obtained).

Contributors and the audience of the session, if they wish, are welcome to collaborate with EUGEO in the perspective of its commitment on the topic.