Austrian Geographical Society
The Austrian Geographical Society [Österreichische Geographische Gesellschaft, ÖGG] has been founded in 1856 and is one of the world’s oldest scientific associations in the field. Its aim is to promote and disseminate geographical knowledge also beyond the boundaries of the discipline. To this end, the ÖGG organizes lectures, excursions and other scientific events such as exhibitions, promotes young scientists by awarding prizes and publishes a scientific journal, the Annals of the Austrian Geographical Society [Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft, MÖGG] as well as a newsletter (GeographieAktuell). The ÖGG addresses students, scientists and everyone who is interested in geographic topics.
Contact:
Helmut Wohlschlägl, President (helmut.wohlschlaegl@univie.ac.at)
Peter Jordan, Executive Board member for international relations (peter.jordan@oeaw.ac.at)
Annals of the Austrian Geographical Society [Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft, MÖGG] (http://www.moegg.ac.at)
The oldest (since 1857) still existing geographical journal of the German-speaking area is published annually in a print and an open-access electronic version with contributions in German and English. The journal invites authors from all the various branches of geography and related disciplines plus cartography and has its regional focus on Central Europe in the widest sense. Several articles on a focus theme are usually accompanied by theoretical and empirical treatises on a wide range of additional topics as well as short research and conference reports. Scientific articles are peer-reviewed, and the journal is listed and evaluated by the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), ISI Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (JCR), Geobase, Elsevier, Scopus, Google Scholar, EBSCO, ERIHPLUS and others and has an impact factor.
Regional branches
The Society runs regional branches outside Vienna in all other Austrian university locations with geography departments. They exist in Innsbruck since 1971 (with the status of a branch association titled “Innsbruck Geographical Society” [Innsbrucker Geographische Gesellschaft]), in Graz since 1987, in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee since 1989, and in Salzburg – after a predecessor society had already existed from1952 to 2007 – since 2015 (with the status of a member society titled “GeoComPass Salzburg – Geographical Society of Salzburg”).
Speciality groups
Speciality groups are set up for special professional orientations of geographers and geography branches as well as cartography. They are largely independently managed sub-organizations of the ÖGG.
Austrian Cartographic Commission [Österreichische Kartographische Kommission, ÖKK]
The ÖKK was founded in 1961 as the first expert commission of ÖGG. Since then, it has dealt with cartographic issues on a national level and represents Austrian cartography in the International Cartographic Association (ICA). There are two meetings every year for domestic communication with the opportunity to participate in specialist presentations. A newsletter, which all members of the ÖKK receive, contains news from home and abroad. Eight technical discussion groups started work in 1998. Founded already in 1959 and a special status has the Austrian Board on Geographical Names [Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kartographische Orstnamenkunde, AKO] as a multidisciplinary expert group in place-name standardization passing recommendations for Austria and representing Austria in international fora of this field (e.g., United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, UNGEGN).
Austrian Research Association on Geomorphology and Environmental Change [Österreichische Fachgruppe für Geomorphologie und Umweltwandel]
The Association conceives itself as representing the interests of geomorphologists and is at the same time a platform for physical geography in Austria. It promotes national networking of geomorphologists in universities, schools, authorities/offices and in the private sector and represents them in international networks and scientific organizations such as the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) or the International Permafrost Association (IPA). Its aim is to stimulate communication and the regular exchange of experiences between the members and to stimulate them to engage in joint activities (regular events, training courses and research projects).
Austrian Association for Applied Geography [Österreichischer Verband für Angewandte Geographie, ÖVAG]
The Association has been established in 1992 to represent the interests of applied geography in business, administration, science and the wider public. It is a network platform for issues of applied geography, as well as a bridge between university education and the job market. It is also a group of geographers working at the interface with business, government, politics, academia, media and the public. As a flexible and open network, its goal is to strengthen the status of applied geography within geography and to communicate the problem-solving skills of professional geographers in spatial issues.
Speciality Group on Geographical and Socio-Economic Education [Fachgruppe für Geographische und Soziökonomische Bildung, GESÖB]
The group was newly founded in 2016. Meetings take place twice a year for internal coordination and consensual planning of activities and projects. Thus, this group is an important player in the field of Austrian subject didactics. GESÖB founded and implemented the two international research and development networks INSERT and INSERT-Money. The aims of this group relate on the one hand to the subject of geography and economics (GW), on the other to interdisciplinary activities and are focused on the following areas: to follow innovative paths in geographical and economic education, to cooperate with national and international educational institutions, to design projects with geography and economics teachers and subject didacticians, to involve pupils and inspire them with our subject, to demonstrate the importance of an integrative geographical-economic-social education for participants and outsiders, to implement further training events for geography and economics teachers, to develop and apply quality criteria for the EduGroup’s economic web-portal.