Geographic Concepts
* Space: The examination and exploration of an area or space of the earth’s surface
through the spatial observations of location, distribution and pattern.
(related concepts of absolute location, relative location, distance, association,
proximity, agglomeration, time-space convergence, distribution, diffusion,
interdependency, spatial pattern, density, clustering, dispersal, segregation,
diversity, spatial justice, urban and environmental management, representations of
space).
* Place: The observation and analysis of identified localities on the earth’s surface
(across and in space), which have been given a particular meaning, shape and
perspective by humans. People identify with places, using and experiencing them in
response to cultural perceptions and human needs (related concepts of region,
territory, boundary, perception, identity, interconnection and interdependence,
sense of place, cultural understanding, diversity and similarity).
* Environment: Involves examining how we perceive and experience
environments, how people and environments are interconnected, and how we think
about our relationships with and responsibilities towards the environment (related
concepts of human environment, human-physical environment, change, dynamic,
cultural environment, landscape, earth processes, natural environment,
management, mitigation, perception, biophysical environment, interdependency,
relational thinking (cause and effect), risk and sustainability).
* Change: The perception that the world is complex and dynamic and that various
rates of change are natural and expected in a complex interconnected world (related
concepts of dynamic, equilibrium, interdependence, risk, relational thinking (cause
and effect), time, technological impact, globalization, pace of change and societal
change).
* Interconnection: Awareness that geographical phenomena, people, places and
spaces are connected to each other in complex and often reciprocal ways – that
nothing can be viewed in isolation (related concepts of process, interaction,
relational thinking (cause and effect), scale, regional, global, interdependence,
system, enabling technology, scale, sustainability and flow).
* Sustainability: To view a location, environment or phenomena in terms of their
capacity to maintain human life and system quality into the future (related concepts
of values and valuing, economy, long term/short term perspectives,
social/economic/political/environmental sustainability, generational equity,
development, social justice, contestability, globalization, world views, change,
interdependence decision making, technological change and capacity, planning,
management, diversity, relational thinking (cause and effect), risk, renewable
resources, technology, non-renewable resources, modeling, perception and
preferred futures).
* Scale: To study and map geographical phenomena at various levels of scale from
the local to the regional, national, world regional and global - the zoom tool
perspective (related concepts of local, global, national, regional, small/large scale,
impact of technology of scale perception, time-space compression, spatial
perception, distance and map representation of the earth surface and geographical
phenomena).