ИСТИНА

Travelling is essential for geography as a fundamental method of data collecting and understanding of the diversity of our Earth. Perhaps the International Geography Olympiad (iGEO) is one of the most powerful tools for maintain this tradition and recruit new generations of those devoted to geography and addicted to travel. First, the iGEO is a travel per se. Each year, nearly two hundred students from all over the world travel to a selected host country. For most of them, this is not only the first visit there, but also the first long voyage. And they take this trip as professional geographers do: anticipating acquaintance with the terra incognita trough reading books and observing maps. Second, because the iGEO programme includes several activities encouraging students understand the geographical diversity of our world in all its forms from nature to culture. One of the key elements of iGEO is the Fieldwork Exercise (FWE), which consist of two parts. The first one is a ride through a preselected polygon. On the route students ‘touch the ground’, observe and take notes, perform calculations. Second part of the FWE is analytical, where field observations merge with maps, satellite images, statistical and other kind of databases analysis. The expected result is to answer burning questions on land use, urban development, natural hazards. Thus, the FWE becomes for students the first professional experience of field work and opens for them a wide horizon of geography as a vitally important science. They realize how professional geographical knowledge could be applied for solve environmental and socio-economic problems and promote territorial development. On the other hand, the FWE is a powerful tool for geographical education. As iGEO was already hosted by many countries, we consider the FWE materials collection as extremely valuable input in the didactics of geography. Collection of these materials could become a very special and high demanded textbook of geography.