Geography students from across the North West attended a special training session at Hope, to become Ambassadors with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
Hosted by the Department of Geography and Environmental Science, the training was organised and run by PhD student Geoff Main, himself an Ambassador with more than six years’ experience.
Students from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores, Lancaster, Leeds and Keele University were given an overview of the work of the scheme and of the Royal Geographical Society. They were then tasked with workshopping different classroom scenarios and planning their own session based on real-life requests from schoolteachers.
They also took part in ambassador-style workshop sessions, including a ‘Hot Topic’ game where they were challenged to identify the common geographical theme between several seemingly unrelated items. They then had to then present their ‘Hot Topic’ to the rest of the class with a panel of judges – one from each team – deciding on the winner.
Feedback from the attending students was largely positive, with some constructive criticism and ideas for future training development. Geoff Main said: “The Ambassador Scheme is a fantastic opportunity for students, and I was delighted to organise and run the training on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society and our department here at Hope.
“I feel sure that after their training, this new cohort will be a real asset to the scheme, to their home universities and to the Royal Geographical Society, spreading their enthusiasm, passion, and love for the subject of Geography. I wish them every success on the scheme, and I hope they enjoy it and get as much out of it as I have over the last six years.”
The Royal Geographical Society Ambassador Scheme was established in 2005 and has engaged more than 200,000 schoolchildren in Geography and Geographic Information System-related activities. The aim of the ESRI-funded scheme is to raise the awareness of the relevance of the study of Geography, career opportunities, and the subject’s importance to everyday life.
To find out more about the scheme, please visit: www.rgs.org/ambassadors.
Image: Students use a globe wrapped in a hat and scarf to demonstrate global warming.