We are now in our third year of the Government Geography Profession's Geography in Government awards. Time has gone quickly! I have been so impressed with the range and quality of the nominations we have received in the last two years, seeing the important contribution geography is having from policy development through to local delivery and I’m looking forward to seeing this years nominations.
We are looking for outstanding individuals or teams who have made a big difference and impact in their area. We are looking for how geography has influenced policy design and delivery in your organisations and for examples of innovation in the profession across the whole range of geographic roles and disciplines. We are also keen to hear from people who have worked to develop and grow the profession, either through their outreach work or through supporting geography in the workplace.
2020 was a strange year and I know that you have all been juggling the demands of lockdowns, home schooling, caring responsibilities as well as your professional lives even more than normal over the past year. But I also know that through your amazing commitment and dedication to keeping essential services running, responding to Covid-19 and supporting future policy development that there has been high quality work from geographers right across the public sector that is having real impact.
To reflect the input the profession has had in the response to Covid-19, but also other situations such as flooding, environmental incidents, major incidents and response we have established a new category for Excellence in Emergency Response. We know that geographers are involved in contingency planning, in policy development, in active management of emergencies and afterwards in the recovery and support. We want to recognise this, regardless of organisation or event. This new category joins the existing ones:
- Advancing geospatial data science
- Contribution to the profession
- Excellence in geo-visualisation & cartography
- Excellence in local government
- Impact on policy
- Operational delivery and joined by
- Excellence in Emergency Response
The awards are open to all civil, crown and public servants who are members of the Government Geography Profession at the time of nomination. If you are not already a member, then you can join at the members site which can be found here. The members site is a new and growing resource to support you and your profession. Among the highlights is a members’ directory, registration for upcoming events and news items. This is a major development for members and we’ll be adding more content regularly.
All nomination forms and information are also held on this site, along with regular updates from the profession.
The closing date for nominations is 15th March with a virtual ceremony being planned for early May. The overall winner of the awards will also be invited to join the Royal Geographic Society Annual Awards in June 2021.
Find out all about last year’s category winners here. You can find out about last year's overall Geography in Government Award Winner, the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) team, Natural England, here:
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