International Geographical Union

The International Geographical Union (IGU; , UGI) is an international geographical society. The first International Geographical Congress was held in Antwerp in 1871. Subsequent meetings led to the establishment of the permanent organization in Brussels, Belgium, in 1922. The International Geographical Union adheres to the International Science Council (ISC), which it recognizes as the coordinating body for the international organisations of science.

The IGU is organized into a number of commissions and task forces that deal with specific topics. The commission topics include e. g. specific approaches (e. g. Applied Geography), topics (e. g. Climatology, Health and Environment), methods (e. g. Geographical Information Science), and spatial examples (e. g. Mediterranean Basin). There are also commissions for the International Olympiad and Geographical Education. The two task forces are "Young and Early Career Geographers" and "Centennial and Sesquicentennial".

The IGU CGE (Commission on Geographical Education) focuses on geography education. It is currently headed by co chairs Clare Brooks (UK) and Chew Hung Chang (Singapore). It publishes the IRGEE journal and organizes yearly conferences. The "International Charter on Geographical Education" constitutes an international agreement on different aspects of geography education with global impacts. The 2016 charter features important geography education research questions and policy recommendations. As such the charter is: Convinced that geographical education is indispensable to the development of responsible and active citizens in the present and future world; Conscious that geography can be an informing, enabling and stimulating subject at all levels in education, and contributes to a lifelong
enjoyment and understanding of our world; Aware that students require increasing international competence in order to ensure effective cooperation on a broad range of economic, political, cultural and environmental issues in a shrinking world; Concerned that geographical education is neglected in some parts of the world, and lacks structure and coherence in others; Ready to assist colleagues in counteracting geographical illiteracy in all countries of the world. In the 1992 charter there is also information on geographic questions, key concepts, approaches and the selection of spatial examples.