Upcoming conferences
2026
IGU-CGE 2026 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand and Special Symposium in Shanghai, China
In 2026, the Commission on Geography Education (CGE) convenes two interconnected events for the geography education community. Together, these events offer complementary platforms for scholarly exchange and collaboration within and beyond geography education communities, supporting dialogue and collaboration across scales, contexts and forms of participation.
The Bangkok conference takes the form of an established abstract-based international conference, while the Shanghai symposium provides a sustained, collaborative workstream organised through IGU-CGE Special Interest Groups.
IGU-CGE Bangkok Conference 2026
Theme: Educating for Sustainability: Integrating Geographical and Interdisciplinary Knowledge, Practice and Innovation
Dates: 10-12 June, 2026
Venue: Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Conference overview
The IGU-CGE Bangkok conference 2026 invites educators, researchers, and practitioners to explore innovative pedagogies, curriculum approaches, digital and field-based practices, and research-informed initiatives that support learners in understanding complexity, interdependence, and responsibility in a rapidly changing world.
Under the theme Educating for Sustainability: Integrating Geographical and Interdisciplinary Knowledge, Practice and Innovation, the conference aims to create a vibrant international forum for dialogue, collaboration, and critical reflection on the role of geography education in addressing pressing global and local sustainability challenges.
The Bangkok conference highlights geography’s unique capacity to connect environmental, social, economic, and cultural perspectives, and to bridge disciplinary boundaries in meaningful and transformative ways.
More information and registration are available on the conference website.
Key dates:
- Call for abstracts opens: 15 January, 2026
- Call for abstracts closes: 23 February, 2026 [extended to 5 March, 2026]
- Registration opens: 2 March, 2026
- Early-bird registration fees deadline: 30 March, 2026
- Pre-conference fieldtrip: 9 June, 2026
IGU-CGE Shanghai Symposium 2026
Theme: Geography Teaching Research
Dates: 15-17 June, 2026
Venue: School of Geographical Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Registration fee: None (advance application required)
Symposium Overview
The IGU-CGE Shanghai Special Symposium 2026 brings together researchers, teacher educators, policymakers and practitioners to explore the transformation of geography education across diverse global contexts.
The theme, Geography Teaching Research, is woven through the perspectives and practices of IGU-CGE Special Interest Groups (SIGs), providing space for dialogue, methods and experiences to grow, intersect and evolve. The event is designed to foster SIG-based dialogue for in-depth collaboration, creating an organic and inclusive space for participants to critically discuss and re-imagine research, policy and practice within, between and beyond institutions.
By fostering conversations that move across and between disciplinary, professional, and geographical boundaries, the symposium foregrounds the evolving role of geographies in navigating global challenges. It also explores pathways towards future directions for geography education as a living, collaborative field of research and practice.
More information and registration are available from the symposium website.
Key dates
- Application opens: 11 January, 2026
- Early application closes: 14 February, 2026
- Late application closes: 28 February, 2026 [extended to 5 March, 2026]
- Notification of application outcome: 10 March, 2026