Principles agreed for university geography fieldwork

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The heads of geography departments at UK universities have agreed a set of principles to guide undergraduate fieldwork in the future.

Working with the Society, the Council of Heads of Geography in UK Higher Education Institutions (CHGHEI) considered a range of intersecting issues related to taught undergraduate field courses. These included sustainability and carbon footprints of travel, accessibility, inclusivity and equality of opportunity, and issues of fieldwork and mental health.

Geography programmes are encouraged to sign up to these principles to commit their support to the delivery of high quality and sustainable fieldwork for future generations of undergraduate students. In implementing these principles, the approach to decision making and annual monitoring should be transparent to all those involved, including students and staff, and include a commitment to demonstrable improvement over time.

The principles are available in full on the Society’s website, supported by an extensive range of resources and reading lists relevant to each one. Geography departments have already been working hard to make fieldwork safe, accessible and sustainable, and we are grateful to institutions who have shared their research and policies regarding good practice in the field.

Read the principles