royal geographical society essay competition

The Journal for Student Geographers

Royal Geographical Society and Financial Times essay competition 2021

Routes is pleased to partner with the RGS and the Financial Times to showcase the winner of their 2021 school essay competition.

Electric vehicles — the political cop-out

Winner of the Royal Geographical Society/FT student competition

Most people believe the future of transport is electric vehicles. Their uptake has been increasing rapidly and governments are starting to create policies to encourage their use. But they are a cop-out which avoids difficult decisions by governments. From a political standpoint, EVs are very easy to implement. They require no change in culture, comparatively little investment from central government and use existing road infrastructure. Most importantly, their adoption makes governments seem environmentally friendly.

Read Cameron Allen’s full essay on the RGS website here .

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Development Geographies Research Group

David W. Smith Memorial Prize 2022

The Development Geographies Research Group (DevGRG) of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) runs an annual essay competition. This competition is in memory of David W. Smith, an outstanding scholar committed to researching cities in the Global South. He died in 1999. This year, we invite  Y12/Lower Sixth students from across the UK to submit their entries.

Theme:  This year we are delighted to run a photo essay competition with the theme of  ‘Repair, Recovery and Reparation’  specifically addressing the question – How do individuals, communities and/or environments repair, recover and seek reparation after a disaster? The theme for the competition engages with the RGS-IBG’s Annual Conference  https://www.rgs.org/research/annual-international-conference/chair-s-theme/ .

We encourage all students to submit 3 images exploring the theme. Each image should tell their story clearly supplemented with a title and a description of no longer than 300 words. Please explain how the photographs interpret the theme.

All entries must be in PDF/JPEG/.jpg or word doc format (not more than 3MB) and appropriately cited. Kindly include your name, school/college, and contact details.

Please submit your entries (and any questions) to the DevGRG schools prize committee at  [email protected]  by 1 st  August 2022 at 23:59 UK time. Entries received after this time will not be accepted. Due to the volume of entries we receive, we will only contact you if you are selected as one of our winners.

By submitting your photo-essay to this competition, you acknowledge that you are the only author of your work and that is it your original work.

The judging panel will comprise of committee members of DevGRG. The panel will assess the entries and determine the winning entry based on theme, imagination and originality, quality of the photographs, and the development of ideas through the description of the photos.

The winner receives an RGS certificate and a book voucher of £100.

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RGS Essay Competition

Posted: 2nd December 2021

The Royal Geographical Society’s annual essay competition for pupils studying A Level Geography in the UK asked entrants to explain how transport changes might help the world to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. The competition sought thoughtful and well-argued responses to the topic, which was based around the COP26 conference, and to aim to consider, among other actions, how changing our methods and practices of transporting people and goods will help towards the goals of the Paris Agreement (more details can be found here ).

We were delighted to see that Year 12 geographer, Sahel, was judged to be in the top 20 of all submitted essays. In his essay he reflected on his life in Bangladesh and Thailand in order to personalise his answer alongside the experience of his brother who has suffered from asthma.

Sahel’s concluding sentence is a rallying cry to all of us to take responsibility for how we travel in order to help us meet the COP26 goals:

‘Taking the initiative to walk, riding a bike, taking public transport or purchasing an electric car to work or school are all viable ways we can collectively take part in helping everyone live healthier and happier lives and ultimately achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.’

Well done Sahel!

THE QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH ESSAY COMPETITION

Since 1883, we have delivered The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition, the world's oldest international schools' writing competition. Today, we work to expand its reach, providing life-changing opportunities for young people around the world.

ENTER THE QCEC 2024

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2024 is now live!

Find out more about this year’s theme

'Our Common Wealth' and make sure to enter by 15 May 2024!

140 years of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools and has been proudly delivered by the Royal Commonwealth Society since 1883. 

ABOUT THE COMPETITION 

An opportunity for young Commonwealth citizens to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences on key global issues and have their hard work and achievement celebrated internationally.

Frequently Asked Questions for the Competition. Before contacting us please read these.

MEET THE WINNERS 

In 2023 we were delighted to receive a record-breaking 34,924 entries, with winners from India and Malaysia. Read their winning pieces as well as those from previous years.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Terms and Conditions for entrants to The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition. Please ensure you have thoroughly read them before submitting your entry.

Reimagining Design with Nature: ecological urbanism in Moscow

• Reflective Essay
• Published: 10 September 2019
• Volume 1 , pages 233–247, ( 2019 )

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• Brian Mark Evans   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1420-1682 1  

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The twenty-first century is the era when populations of cities will exceed rural communities for the first time in human history. The population growth of cities in many countries, including those in transition from planned to market economies, is putting considerable strain on ecological and natural resources. This paper examines four central issues: (a) the challenges and opportunities presented through working in jurisdictions where there are no official or established methods in place to guide regional, ecological and landscape planning and design; (b) the experience of the author’s practice—Gillespies LLP—in addressing these challenges using techniques and methods inspired by McHarg in Design with Nature in the Russian Federation in the first decade of the twenty-first century; (c) the augmentation of methods derived from Design with Nature in reference to innovations in technology since its publication and the contribution that the art of landscape painters can make to landscape analysis and interpretation; and (d) the application of this experience to the international competition and colloquium for the expansion of Moscow. The text concludes with a comment on how the application of this learning and methodological development to landscape and ecological planning and design was judged to be a central tenant of the winning design. Finally, a concluding section reflects on lessons learned and conclusions drawn.

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The politics of designing with nature: reflections from New Orleans and Dhaka

Acknowledgements

The landscape team from Gillespies Glasgow Studio (Steve Nelson, Graeme Pert, Joanne Walker, Rory Wilson and Chris Swan) led by the author and all our collaborators in the Capital Cities Planning Group.

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Mackintosh School of Architecture, The Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6BY, UK

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Evans, B.M. Reimagining Design with Nature: ecological urbanism in Moscow. Socio Ecol Pract Res 1 , 233–247 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00031-5

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Received : 17 March 2019

Accepted : 13 August 2019

Published : 10 September 2019

Issue Date : October 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00031-5

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Creative local students win historical essay and video contests

RIDGEFIELD – Three high school students from Vancouver and Ridgefield displayed their creativity in winning first place in the Fort Vancouver Sons of The American Revolution Chapter’s 2024 Eagle Scout Essay, Knight Essay and youth video contests. Each contest challenged the high school students to research and write about or produce a video featuring a compelling person from the American Revolution. Each winner received a $100 award and certificate for their achievement at the local level and advanced to the state level for further competition.

Josephine Abbott, a Seton High School junior, wrote a descriptive essay about Cherokee Nation War Chief Dragging Canoe and his many efforts to lead his people during the American Revolution. Abbott’s entry in the SAR Arthur M. and Berdena King Eagle Scout Essay Contest earned a first-place finish at the local level. Abbott had a special connection to her essay subject as she is the eighth great-granddaughter of Chief Dragging Canoe. In addition to writing her essay, Abbott was required to prepare a four-generation family lineage chart and document her many accomplishments as an Eagle Scout.

Elizabeth Swift, a Ridgefield High School senior, also choose a Native American as the subject for her George S. and Stella M. Knight Essay Contest entry. Nicholas Cusick was a member of the Tuscarora tribe, which supported the American patriots’ cause during the Revolution. He served with French Marquis de Lafayette as an interpreter and guide, and for his service he was granted a pension after the war. Swift’s essay on Cusick also earned her second place at state this year and a $500 award.

Lincoln Swift, a sophomore at Ridgefield High School, used video to tell the story of Patrick Carr, an Irish immigrant and leather worker, who was one of the victims of the Boston Massacre. Swift choreographed Carr’s tragic story with the use of stick puppets. Swift’s three-minute video not only won accolades at the local level, it earned him first place in the Washington State SAR Society Youth Video Contest. Swift received a $1,000 award and certificate for first place.

“These three contests challenge high school students to research and document important events and people from the American Revolution,” said Fort Vancouver SAR Chapter President Paul Winter. “In fact, we have programs designed for students at the elementary school level up through high school. Each program encourages the students to be creative, have some fun, and, as in the case of our Eagle Scout this year, find personal connections to the struggle for independence.”

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• School Essay C...
• 2020 competiti...

2020 competition

The 2020 Essay Competition, organised in partnership with the Financial Times , asked students to discuss the geographical story behind a chosen set or sets of data related to sustainability and climate change. The competition sought thoughtful and well-argued responses to the topic, which was based around the COP-26 2021 aims ‘to increase climate ambition, build resilience and lower emissions’, and was open to all A Level geography students aged 16 – 18 in the UK. We are delighted with the high quality of the entries received. We are pleased to be able to provide the winning essays here. 

Overall winner

Reuben Meadows (All Saints RC School, York)

Highly commended entries

In addition, given the range and depth of entries received, the Society and  Financial Times  have recognised four other essays submitted with highly commended awards:

Jack Doran (Birkenhead School, Oxton)

Benjamin Xavier Jacob (St Paul's School, London)

Marina Semple (St Helen and St Katharine, Abingdon)

Clara Zibell (Southbank International School, London)

You can view the winning entries in the downloads box at the bottom of this page.

The judges were looking for:

• A clear essay which is well evidenced and argues for a point of view
• Submissions which do not exceed the word limit of 800 words
• Referenced sources of information and data
• Submissions which are the young people's own work 

This competition was open to all geography students aged 16-18 in the UK.  

The Society launched this competition in partnership with the Financial Times as part of its Education Programme to support geography teachers and their pupils. Your school can become a School Member of the Society, and you and your pupils can join respectively as a Fellow or Student Member .

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Reuben Meadows

Benjamin Xavier Jacob

Marina Semple

Clara Zibell

FT Competition 202 T&C

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This article was the winning entry in the 2022 free FT Schools programme student essay competition with Royal Geographical Society on the environmental costs of consumerism . Second place went to William Stoodley at Clifton College and third place to Nina Aswani from the London Academy of Excellence.

In 2019, the average person produced 7.3kg of electronic waste including used and discarded electronic devices. This adds up to 53.6mn tonnes worldwide, an alarming quantity that will only continue to grow as global consumption increases.

The environmental cost is clear: e-waste is not disposed of properly, polluting the environment with clear ecological and human costs, and contributes a large share of the global greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change. The problem will not be mitigated without a globally co-ordinated effort.

Much of the world’s electronic waste will not be recycled, reused or even disposed of in a safe and controlled manner. Only around 17.4 per cent was officially recorded as recycled in 2019 — very low relative to other types of waste such as plastics and paper. This has serious consequences for people and the environment. For progress to be made, there has to be serious investment in improving our recycling facilities.

But a flawed recycling system is not the only failure. An estimated 60 to 90 per cent of e-waste was illegally traded or simply dumped outside official waste disposal systems as recently as 2015. This imposes a substantial ecological footprint, because the waste pollutes ecosystems with microplastics and poisonous chemicals such as mercury and arsenic.

These environmental consequences of e-waste creation, while they do not originate in developing countries, affect those countries disproportionately. Most electronic products are consumed in the developed world, with the typical North American producing 20kg annually and Europeans 17.7kg, while on average Africans each produce only 1.9kg.

While the problem of e-waste is created in rich countries, its consequences are borne elsewhere. It is estimated that 1.3mn tonnes are exported from western Europe illegally each year to countries mostly in eastern Europe and Africa, where they are disposed of illegally or without supervision.

Much of the waste exported to developing countries is burnt or dissolved in acid to recover valuable materials such as gold, copper, cobalt and neodymium. This process exposes workers to contaminants such as lead and mercury, which have health effects including increased risk of cancer and neurological damage.

Over 12.9mn women worldwide work in the informal waste sector, causing both them and an unknown number of unborn children to be affected by toxic chemicals.

The responsibility to fix these growing problems has to lie with those who have caused them. The developed world must invest more in its capacity to deal with e-waste, instead of sending it — along with its consequences — overseas.

The root cause lies in consumer habits. Across the developed world, people consume electronics at an avoidably high rate. The average American smartphone lasts only 24.7 months before being thrown out, and 26.2 months in the EU.

The pattern is not limited to smartphones. Increasingly, many electronic devices only last a few years before being replaced, so more and more waste is being produced. By 2050, the world is expected to produce over 125mn tonnes, more than double the current total. If we simply used our electronics for longer, such a large increase would easily be avoided.

However, consumers are not the only ones at fault for the problem of device lifetimes. Tech companies including Apple and Microsoft have been accused of “planned obsolescence,” or deliberately slowing down their older devices to encourage people to buy new ones.

In 2020, Apple was ordered to pay a $500mn settlement to its US iPhone customers after it was sued for slowing down older models intentionally with its software updates.

There are also blockages to the repair of broken devices. Apple, as well as many of its rivals, has a system of “licensed service provision” which controls the shops authorised to carry out repairs. Devices which could be fixed are thrown out, accelerating an already unsustainable rate of electronics consumption. Manufacturers need to make their products last longer.

While companies remain on the wrong side of the e-waste debate, governments have started to pay attention. The UK and the US have enacted “right-to-repair” legislation which seeks to ensure more parts operate in different devices, helping prolong lifetimes.

All these measures could help reduce electronics consumption and improve device recycling. For real progress to be made, designers and manufacturers need to become more committed to reducing their e-waste footprint.

Instead of engineering shortened lifespans and releasing new products so rapidly, tech groups must improve the quality and longevity of their devices without denting their commercial success. Governments can help by subsidising producers with longer device lifespans, and by improving access to spare parts with expanded legislation like the right-to-repair.

If consumers are armed with the ability to choose devices that last longer and repair those which are broken, their purchasing habits will push the world towards a more sustainable future. But for now, e-waste remain a significant obstacle to reconciling innovation and sustainability.

Pip Booth is a student at Gordonstoun School

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