Teaching Geography at school means to build up citizens of the world that are conscious, independent, responsible, critical and able to live in consonance with the environment, changing it in a creative and sustainable way, looking at the future.

 

Italian Geography devotes the research mainly in the University field, where more than 400 teachers work (divided into the two Sectors: General Geography and Political-Economic Geography).

 Less than 150 are the teachers actively operating in the Sector of Geomorphology and Physical Geography. Working in this field, together with the University Professors, there are lots of new-graduated students, studying to take their Doctor’s Degree.

The Italian Geographers Association (AGeI) gathers most of the teachers working in the Universities.

Students who are interested in this field can find different courses in the Italian Universities, with Geography as a reference subject of the curriculum. There are also specific courses in Geography.

 

Three-year-courses in Geography can be found at the following Universities: Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Padua, Piemonte Orientale (Eastern Piemonte), Rome, Turin.

Two-year-courses (or teaching courses) in Geographic Science can be found at the following Universities: Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Pisa, Rome, Turin.

There are also, two important historical associations, aiming at promoting the scientific research and at disseminating and spreading Geography disciplines: the Italian Geographic Society (SGI), located in Rome and the Geographic Studies Society (SSG), located in Florence. There are other institutions operating in the geographic and cartographic sector, such as the Military Geographic Institute, the Italian Cartography Association, the Italian Touring Club.

In the Italian schools Geography is taught in the nursery school (experience fields, for example the knowledge of the world), in the Primary School (five years) and in the Lower Secondary School (three years). In the Primary School and Lower Secondary School the teaching of Geography belongs to the historical-geographic area. In the Upper Secondary School (five years) Geography has not enough space within the curriculum, especially in the first “biennio”. 

An important link between school and research is represented by the Italian Association of Geography Teachers (AIIG), that gathers Geography teachers from nursery school to university.

The Association has the aim to foster the didactic research; spread the geographic education and culture; support the mutual international knowledge and understanding and the rights of all the populations to development and progress.