Our first stop on the bus journey from Nairobi to Nanyuki was on the edge of the East African Rift Valley with a misty view of Mt Longonot. A place that most geography students only know from their introductory lectures as a prime example of the formation of rift valleys and the shifting of tectonic plates. But the field school we attend is not just about looking at landscapes or observing the structures of cities, it's about practising how to do research in the field.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the University of Bonn have renewed their partnership, reinforcing their commitment to leveraging space technology in response to growing threats from natural and human-made disasters. This five-year agreement, signed today in Vienna, extends the "Spaceborne Earth Observation Applications for Emergency Response and Disaster Risk Reduction" (SPEAR) project, focusing on African nations. Head of the SPEAR II project is Prof. Klaus Greve from the Department of Geography, who retired in 2023.

The Violence Protection Working Group has developed a guideline for dealing with gender sensitivity and violence protection in courses with overnight stays, which will initially be implemented for one year from the summer semester 2025. 

Prof. Dr. Maria Christina Fragkou visited the Department of Geography on a Bonn International Fellowship, which was applied for by Prof. Dr. Jessica Budds (Development Geography and Environmental Governance Research Group) and Dr. Juliane Dame (Cultural Geography Research Group).

With 17 exhibitors and almost 100 participants, the 17th careers and internship fair was once again very well attended.

This year, four researchers have won the International Paper Award of the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn.

On 16th May, the Department of Geography (GIUB) together with the Institute for Environment and Human Security (EHS) at the United Nations University held an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Joint Master's degree in Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security. The event was co-sponsored by the regional Geoverbund ABC/J network, and welcomed 80 guests from our two universities and other institutions in and around Bonn, as well as current Joint Master’s students and alumni.

From May 12 to 16, the Department of Geography hosted Prof. William Mwgehowa, Vice-Chancellor of Mzumbe University in Tanzania, which has long been an active member of our successful ERASMUS+ cooperation program. Mzumbe University and GIUB have been working closely together for many years, most prominently in the support of PhD students and the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 'Future Rural Africa'.