Navigating higher education reforms and reinventing the discipline across sectors

Abstract

Geography is undergoing significant change in response to widespread higher education reforms. In this commentary, I reflect on how the discipline’s visibility and geographers’ security and sense of purpose are being reshaped by the likes of programme closures, organisational restructures, or pressures to mould academic priorities to others’ imperatives. These dynamics constitute a background condition that invites deep reflection about where and how geography might be reimagined—and for what ends. I argue that geographers must more actively position the discipline beyond academia by boldly asserting its relevance across public, private, and non-government sectors. I highlight the discipline’s distinctive capacities and consequence—not least among them spatial reasoning, relational thinking, civic engagement, and ethical responsiveness. These qualities make geography crucial for any who seek to deal with complex social, environmental, and political challenges. Ultimately, I call for a (geo)politics of care and radical collegiality among geographers as we navigate uncertain terrains, and stress that we have the ability and responsibility to shape those same terrains. Reinvention is challenging, energising, and purposeful, and this moment offers the possibility to safeguard geography’s enduring civic and intellectual values.