Geographical culture as a factor of sustainable development

Geographical culture – a particular term in the national science coined Glennon. In the ordinary sense, the term is understood as a culture of geographical knowledge, shared among both professionals and the population. Glennon also explores the concept as a complex of interconnected components: a geographic image of the world, geographic thinking, methods of geography and geography of the language. For us, geographers, various research methods and geographic maps (the main language of geography) – understandable and well-known concepts used in our daily work as they are in the process of learning, and in practice or at work. Looking at the world through the prism of the geographical instruments of perception – geographical knowledge, – creates a geographical image of the world for us, in which all natural objects and creatures, among them, natural, human beings – related to elements of a whole – The geographical envelope. Thinking categories of geographical systems, traditionally, is for us the most natural for professionals of geographical thinking. In this understanding of geographic culture, it is a fundamental tool for the analysis and perception of reality.

For other people, despite the fact that the average school education, the geography, the world seems different. Man, far from geographic science, he sees the world with different eyes, with completely different logic and associative links. What is the ordinary man, say to get into the mountains? He sees rocks, stones, plants, pile of snow in shaded niches. What does the geographer mean? The mountainous terrain, moraine combs, naval niches, rocks, landscapes alpine meadows, microclimate regime. What has the man caught on the coast of the river? Meadow, river, grass, bushes, and a comfortable place for the construction of cottages. Geographers see here a special hydrological conditions, floodplain different levels, special vegetation, and indicators of various natural processes: flood, floods, landslides and shoaling. How does people see their own country? Well, thanks to the school, he comes first card in the mind, on which the urban area, some industrial centers, streets. In fantasy, he will draw the people who live in cities, the nature of the country, in his various parts, animals and plants that are found in the area.

A person deprived of geographical culture, used to see the area. The territory – it is only sketched at the whim of the border around the area of the geographical environment in which interested persons. For the majority of the population is not that for a long time formed by complex geographic relationships and interactions in this area regardless of the particular conditions where a fragile, but somewhere – a little more stable. In addition, here, of course, I fixed, in my opinion, a mistake in the deep system of the population of our country to familiarize with the geographical culture. Provide knowledge, teachers in the schools in the first place, the territorial taught, but not a geographical approach to perception. What resources are being reduced in this area? What peoples live here? In which branch? What temperature, how much rainfall are grown? Moreover, from school review falls most important is that the information differs (as geography courses have no more than the information load on the brain of a teenager) on knowledge. Information – in this case is similar to an untreated piece of gravel in the claws of a primate. The knowledge of a person is able to utilize, modify, and put into practice by finding a use for them in the associative and logical constructs. Ask the modern student’s height of Mount Everest or the French capital – it is true, it is likely to react easily. But if you put a difficult task before him, for example, to know the rate of rainfall, temperature and natural processes prevailing to determine, for example, ground – most likely, tangled people. Why? The answer is simple: he does not memorize, not stored and thus independent to the conclusion, he was not able. Schools are not taught to think logically within the geographical image of the world. People learn not to show the links to the students at the Faculty of Geography. For experts are far from the geosciences, the territorial replacement geographical thinking. Therefore, a series of problems arise in the perception of the population of our country is our natural wealth. Therefore – a problem directly affects the implementation of the programs on sustainable development in The US (and abroad, by the way, too).

On the one hand, it is true why, would it seem to most people seem to understand the geographic pattern? It seems that if the land allocation is not growing, it is sufficient easy to add fertilizer, and if the water is not enough – keep channel. However, as historical practice shows, this is not enough. Of course, critical stupid decisions, such as the cultivation of watermelons in the desert without special preparation of the complex are found in the history of the rare. Any reasonable person, mastering one or other section from the surface of the earth, think about where it is more convenient to run the economy and how to best spread the soil resources under their control to get the best out of nature. But critical mistakes lead to the disaster, it often happens when it is not individual persons, but whole cities or nations, when their policy of economic activity was in contradiction with the natural framework, assumptions and realities. People lead politics. People who are often far from the perception of the area as a geographical environment.

Without understanding the laws, geographic relations that make human civilization, culture, society mistakes, geographically, irrationally take the solution.

Examples of this are in the history of the series: the drought of wetlands, resulting in fires and illiterate land grabbing activities in Central Asia and technological disaster of Fukushima, and many victims of flooding in China and loss management because of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and oil pollution tundra, And the tragedy of the fauna of Australia because of the animals imported from Europe. Inconsistent housekeeping, irrational steps in the development of natural heritage, and have led in the past to catastrophes: remember only the extinction of the population of the Easter Island, the Middle East, desertification or abandoned villages in the foothills of the Atlas, destroyed by Muds

These results in the following important conclusion: any economy that leads people to be built efficiently and therefore must take into account the natural characteristics and established relationships in geographical systems. Regional, resource, predatory approach, inconsistent and thoughtless – he withdraws humanity variety of perspectives leads to irreversible losses in the economy as well as in natural resources. Thus, if we are talking about a large – scale organization of the economy, which would place a radical transformation of the natural environment in the man – made or production sites that influence their possible influence of large areas, we should not be concerned about the territorial but on the geographical or Landscape approach to the interaction between man and nature. There is a landscape approach that takes into account the peculiarities of internal connections in the selected geographic shell segment is a guarantee of sustainable development. This approach can be taken into account that the vision of an ordinary person falls.

Why is it important now? Despite the massive introduction of geographic knowledge, an ordinary man who walks along a path is different from studying the geography of walking still important rarely rational interaction between the manufactured, activity area and the natural environment.

Despite the many assumed ecological and socioeconomic constraints, fabricated disasters occur, even in most developed countries. Moreover, the thing is that, in my opinion, bad cooperation between the geographical specialists, to better understand other reasonable way to do business, and the political and economic circles of society, whose priorities are often on a short, short time. Perhaps even the word “cooperation” is not quite appropriate. People’s leading industrial and agricultural sector in the first place affected the profitability of their activities. People in national governments, including The US are still keen to make good, profit participation and the development of the entire economy, often in a very short time, sometimes instead of for complex, labor intensive, long intensive methods of simplest and inexpensive, Decide productively, the short term, but it does not consider the consequences. In the case of the geographical environment, short-term planning is unacceptable and is counter to the concept of sustainable development. In addition, mistakes to correct already out, which are often much more expensive and unprofitable than before properly plan the agriculture strategy.

The above text is certainly more bear views specialist environmental geographic areas that is only on the other side of the geographic image of the world in terms of sustainable development that is close to natural objects and the interaction of man and nature. Besides geographer “naturalists” and there are geographic and geographic irrigation areas in geography. In addition, these branches of geography, more close to human society and mind can play a more effective role in the implementation of sustainable development. Because these directions are closest to the management of economic activity and thus is on the shoulders of the specialists of this profile, should be logical, form the task of the most rational planning. These experts, their knowledge and data from ecological and geographers can create a concept of development of the region, the country, and perhaps one day, and around the world, which takes into account both the needs of the population, and natural and territorial Conditions. However, geographers and political economies of the environment are the most convenient and effective tool available to achieve sustainable development.

According to the above, my opinion is that governments should be more people’s geographical thinking, be able to see not only the territory and the population, not only the culture, the resources, the industrial development and strategic positions , But it is all in a common system that works in the mutual penetration and interaction geo-geographic relations and the geographic laws. Perhaps it is thanks to people such teams and a reform of the public administration of man’s welfare and the development of the country, both economic, political, social and ecological direction would be much more attainable and would be accompanied by a much smaller number of accidents, tragedies and disasters , Both natural and social. For the introduction of the concept of sustainable development of the geographical culture of the masses, especially among the people who are active in the organization of the economy in the regions, districts and regions, as well as the countries – a prerequisite for a stable and sustainable development of the human Society.