Last week, I headed up north for the Geographical Association (GA) Annual Conference and Exhibition held at Sheffield College City Campus from 8th to 10th April 2026. The current GA President, Catherine Owen, had selected the theme, ‘Geography makes a difference‘. What a jam-packed and invigorating three days it was! Not only did I manage to catch up with many long-standing geographical contacts, but also meet several of my online geography friends in person, as well as welcome a few ‘newbies’ to the world of geography. There was certainly something for everyone. I was frequently torn between two or three sessions to attend at any one time; I am hoping that I can delve into the GA’s conference archive to catch up on some that I, unfortunately, missed.
There were numerous highlights and takeaways to be had from this year’s conference. Well done to all who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to put together a varied and topical programme and ensure it ran smoothly, as well as those who presented sessions; my input at the Teach Meet on the Thursday evening seemed minuscule to some!
Below is a little taster of my three days in Sheffield, including links to sessions and resources where viable.
Wednesday 8th April 2026
Mid-afternoon, I attended the GA Roundtable and Q&A led by the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Alastair Owens and Steve Brace, Chief Executive of the GA. They reviewed the work of the GA over the past year and outlined its strategy for 2026-2031 (https://geography.org.uk/geographical-association-2026-31-strategy/ and https://geography.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/GA-Strategy-2026-31-WEB-RES-Mar26-Final.pdf). Questions were posed to both representatives, which they answered confidently and comprehensively.
The GA Awards Ceremony followed, with a collection of individuals, organisations and companies being rewarded for their valuable contributions to the geography community. Congratulations to Sophie Wilson, who was announced as the GA President for 2027/2028; there were three highly competent candidates who stood for election this year, so this was a real achievement. David Gardner received an honorary membership to the GA too, which was richly deserved.
The Public Lecture was given by Professor Lee Elliot-Major, the first Professor of Social Mobility and based at the University of Exeter. Lee spoke about ‘Embracing equity in education‘. Amid growing societal divides, the equity approach strives to make schools genuinely inclusive, focusing on removing obstacles to learning and acknowledging the biases and barriers we create in schools. It encourages us to look at children through the strengths they bring, not the deficits they face. This includes replacing unhelpful labels, such as ‘disadvantaged pupils’, and nurturing mutually respectful relationships with parents. Equity best bets offer teachers practical strategies to level the playing field in education. A recording of Lee’s lecture can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFoFOsfBypo
Thursday 9th April 2026
I was up bright and early so that I could attend Peter Vujakovic‘s session, entitled ‘The pylon paradox: views of our energy futures‘. Peter sits on the Committee of GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local GA branch that I chair, so I know him very well. Many of the examples included in his talk related to our county. This is a very newsworthy subject at present, particularly given events in the Middle East and the desire to move towards more sustainable forms of energy. Peter demonstrated that pylons have their own history and geography. He explained about the different viewpoints held (empiricist and contingent) and how these could clearly be displayed by taking an article and colour-coding it or visiting a ‘notes to the editor’ page on such a theme. He reminded me of a couple of books, including ‘The map that came to life’ by H.J. Deverson and R. Lampitt, published in 1948, and Bill Bryson’s ‘Notes from a small island’ and ‘The road to little dribbling’. The approach that he took here could easily be applied to other landscape features, such as wind and solar farms.
The Rex Walford Memorial Lecture was all about ‘Reimagining geography: creative and critical thinking for a changing world‘, delivered by Vicki Pountney. Following the release of the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) in England, teachers of geography are presented with new opportunities to explore the transformative power of creative and critical thinking in lessons. The challenge for geography teacher educators and mentors is to support novice teachers to empower pupils to think geographically as they navigate an increasingly interconnected and changing world. In this lecture, Vicki explored how teachers of geography, across all phases, can re-engage with the principles of curriculum-making, grounded in geographical enquiry as they re-imagine the role and significance of critical and creative thinking. Listen to Vicki here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7P6JvEE4gY. There is plenty to digest!
The teacher-to-teacher session (‘Geography at scale: how MAT networks support teachers and learners‘) presented by Ben Newborn, Chantal May-Holloway and Megan Setchell provided insight into how the educational landscape is evolving. With 82% of schools now operating within a MAT and more likely to follow, it appears that such local networks are thriving and local authorities’ roles are becoming increasingly redundant.
Matt Podbury and Alan Parkinson‘s session on ‘Musical geographies: sense of place and storytelling within the curriculum‘ was extremely popular and entertaining. A great double-act! Matt talked about a Grade 8 unit of work that he has designed and delivered (https://www.geographypods.com/geography–music.html), introducing us to new websites and tools in the process, e.g. Suno, and Alan gave us a flavour of his new World of Music blog (https://worldlymusic.blogspot.com/). Find out more about their session here: https://livinggeography.blogspot.com/2026/04/ga-conference-2026-2-musical-geographies.html
Dr Rebecca Kitchen and Karen Corfield focused on ‘Third place theory: making a difference to social progress and urban landscapes‘, which was brilliant; two very competent speakers, something a little different and a case study fairly close to me, Bristol. Bonus points for being in a lecture theatre with very comfy seats too! Karen explained what is meant by first place, second place and third place and identified the key characteristics of the latter. She then discussed the importance of third spaces, drawing on examples from the Nordic countries, an area of the world that she is very familiar with. Becky then focused on a UK example, Bristol. Afterwards, I suggested to Becky that she made contact with Dr Verity Jones, who has had a significant role to play in the success of Sparks, Bristol, a classic third place.
Following a brief wander through the exhibition, I headed to Jill Owens and Chloe Searl‘s session on ‘Fieldwork skills that make a difference’. They concentrated on two aspects that youngsters often struggle with, namely field-sketching and questionnaires, and showcased three ways to make a difference in conjunction with each. There were several ideas that I will share with delegates during our next in situ and virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network meetings in late May (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-primary-geography-subject-leader-network-pgsln-meeting-tickets-1985572608121). They also promoted #NationalFestivalofFieldwork2026; look out for further suggestions and resources, which will be uploaded shortly ahead of the week/fortnight in early June.
Fieldwork with a sustainability and climate change theme was also emphasised in Kit Marie Rackley‘s workshop (‘The National Education Nature Park: mapping a sustainable future‘). Kit is very passionate about climate change and sustainability and has a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share. Whilst I have registered and visited the National Education Nature Park website regularly (https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/), I was introduced to a couple of new resources, which would make superb fieldwork to conduct within the school grounds or local vicinity and, additionally, encourage young people to become citizen scientists and activists.
Next, everyone made their way to the Sports Hall to hear Catherine Owen‘s Presidential Lecture. By revisiting elements of her own life and teaching career, she clearly demonstrated that ‘Geography makes a difference‘. Geography helps understand the world around us and our place in it. It teaches us about places from the local to the global and opens our eyes to different perspectives on issues. Through this, and in other ways, it makes a difference to our lives. As educators, we have the opportunity to reflect on our practice and consider the difference geography makes to individual young people themselves and to our society, economy and environment. How can we maximise the benefits reaped by studying geography? How do we share ideas about how to make a difference through geography? You can watch Catherine in action here if you were unable to be at the conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEP2OhPMS0c
All GA members were then invited to a drinks reception at the Showroom Cafe Bar in the city centre. The Geographical Association Annual Conference and Exhibition Teach Meet followed, where eight individuals had been invited to share best practice within the space of six minutes each. I was first up, discussing a local fieldwork activity that I had conducted on behalf of GlosGeog with Daniel Raven-Ellison (the man behind the Mission:Explore books amongst many other things) during #NationalFestivalofFieldwork2025. A PDF of my slides can be found below:
Alistair Hamill captured the ambience of the evening fantastically with his action photographs and comments (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7448122227260243968/).
Friday 10th April 2026
Another early start and busy schedule ahead.
This morning began with a session led by the enthusiastic and hugely adept duo comprised of Alistair Hamill and Brendan Conway on, guess what, GIS (‘Are we nearly there yet? Pioneering approaches to full GIS integration‘). As you can imagine, the audience was gripped. According to Alistair, I was a great front-row viewer apparently, providing the right gestures and facial expressions as and when needed! They made many of us realise that we do, in fact, already use GIS quite automatically and significantly within our day-to-day lives. Alistair discussed how a knowledge-rich curriculum approach to GIS integration might just be the key foundation to unlock our GIS journey, whilst Brendan showcased a brand new app that he has designed himself – Geo Mapper – that can help us realise our curriculum ambitions for GIS. Alistair’s presentation skills are exemplary; I picked up a few ideas re: content and delivery for future CPD events that I steer too.
Ilan Kelman’s Keynote Lecture, ‘Disaster by choice: geography making a positive difference‘ was outstanding. Ilan took us on a global trip of disasters. Throughout, his message was clear: there is no such thing as a natural disaster. The disaster lies in our inability to deal with the environment and with ourselves. I have since purchased a copy of his book to read (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disaster-Choice-actions-natural-catastrophes/dp/0198841345). Catch Ilan in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtG7C2MVc9U&t=49s. I would love to organise a virtual speaker session for GlosGeog with Ilan at the helm in the near future; watch this space!
Next, I popped along to hear Emma Groves talk about ‘From local to global in primary geography: planning an effective place comparison‘. This was pitched against Margaret Robert‘s session on ‘Classroom talk: oracy makes a difference‘, so we were quite small in number (I hope to review this at a later date). Emma introduced me to a new website (https://unequalscenes.com/) and made me reflect upon the content and format of our ‘Step into the Amazon’ workshops, which I do think are a really effective means of identifying similarities and differences between life in the UK and that in the heart of the tropical rainforest in northern-central Brazil.
James Riley and John Snelling delivered a teacher-to-teacher session, ‘Introducing the new National Geography Olympiad‘. This appears to be a great initiative for upper secondary-aged pupils to be involved with. It would be great to facilitate something on a smaller scale for primary pupils; perhaps, an abridged version of the GA WorldWise Quiz at a slightly simpler level, but in a similar online format to the Olympiad. One to propose to Steve Brace and others at the GA!
After a browse around the exhibition and a brief lunch, I went to hear Mark Enser, someone with whom I have co-presented several times. Mark was his usual charismatic self and provided a hugely informative talk about ‘Creating a future-facing KS3 geography curriculum‘. Mark’s final slide is certainly worth contemplating as you plan for the next academic year and beyond.
I was disappointed to miss Helen Martin‘s Primary Keynote Lecture (‘Why loving the world makes all the difference‘) that clashed with this session. However, I knew that this was being recorded and would be available for me to listen to at a later date (https://www.youtube.com/@geographicalassociation4023). Here, Helen actively explored why Early Years and primary education is vital to our understanding of children’s knowledge and understanding of geography. By considering child development, the importance and spirituality of place, the advocacy of our youngest learners in relationship with their curriculum, Helen suggested ways that we can deepen children’s ownership of and with their world.
As I was exhausted and had a long drive home, I left just before the final sessions took place. All in all, a great way to spend three days of the Easter holidays. Yes, an expense and tiring, but really worthwhile, both from a networking and subject knowledge point of view. The camaraderie increases year on year. We really are so lucky to have such a strong subject community and it deserves our utmost support.