Andrej Kranjc
THE KARST SESSION AT THE 31st INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF GEOGRAPHY, TUNIS, TUNISIA
Every 4 years, the International Geography Union (IGU) ing Committee, going beyond the classical discussions of organizes events in order to bring together geographers division of Geography, the event aimed to demonstrate from around the world. Thus, the IGU presents itself as that these are matters of this science that allows man to an organization which objectives are aimed mainly, in live in the search for harmony with their environment. promoting the study of geographical problems concern- It is also important to mention the existence of a ing its human or physical aspects. parallel theme (The Evolution of Geographical Thought) The International Geographical Union was estab- and the various topics of specific technical sections: lished in 1922 in Brussels. However, the history of in- • Physical Geography (Biodiversity and Environ- ternational meetings of geographers is much older. The mental equilibrium; Geography of arid lands; Biogeo- first of a series of such conferences took place inAnt- graphical diversity; Coastal morphology; Climatological werp (Belgium), in 1871. Since its first meeting the IGU matters; Geography of cold regions; Mountainous sys- was organized into three main components: the General tems; Natural Risks; Reliefs and Karstic contours) Assembly, the Executive Committee, the Committees • Human Interventions in weakened environment and Study Groups, which work between meetings of the (Town and land planning; Local and regional develop- General Assembly. The adopted official languages are ment; Rural areas transformation; Mobilization and uses English and French. of water; Populating dynamics; High lightings improve- Currently, it is organized through an Executive ment of the coastlines; Risks and aggressions on the Committee, 90 National Committees, 2 Special Commit- coastal areas; Mountain and human activities; The de- tees, 4 Task Forces and 36 Special Committees. For the sertification and human responses) karst and caves one can highlight the C04.22 Karst Com- • Economic geography (New economic process in mission, chaired by Andrej Kranjc of the Karst Research the globalizing era; Geography of transport; Geography Institute, Slovenia. of ports; Geography of Tourism; Industrial spaces; Ge- ography of fishing; Geography of commerce) The Event • Urban spaces (Sustainability of small and medium Between August 12th and 15th, 2008, the Association of towns; Metropolization; Town management and devel- Tunisian Geographers was responsible for the organiza- opment; The town, a place of living) tion and implementation of the 31st International Con- • The world-space (The large political changes of gress of Geography, held in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, the present world; Sociocultural and special process North Africa. Like most international academic events, all over the world; Geography of the large geopolitical pre and post-congress excursions were organized for the spaces; Outskirts and marginalized spaces; Geography participants. of emerging countries; Responses to underdevelopment; The country shares borders with Algeria in the Geographical views over globalization) west, and Libya in the east, in the coast of the Mediter- • Concepts, tools and geographical techniques ranean Sea. The Atlas Mountains divide the country into (Making maps of today’s world; New technologies in Ge- two main regions: the Mediterranean north and the arid ography; Geography and modeling; ICT and geography; south. According to its relief, it is still possible to divide Techniques and representation tools of the geographical the country into four almost parallel stripes in the north- space; Conceptualizing in Geography; Epistemology of south direction: 1) the coastal plain of Medjerda, 2) the Geography; Speeches and geographical languages; Di- Atlas mountain range, 3) the plateaus decreasing towards dactic of Geography; The geography in networks; Dis- the south and 4) the Sahara Desert which is around 40% tribution and geographical concentrations; Geography of the country. Especially by those physical conditions, and teaching; Geographical landscapes; Geography and approximately 38.5% of the soil is considered unproduc- humanism) tive for agriculture. • Other geographies (Applied geography; Cultural The main theme of the Congress was represented by geography; Psychogeography; Geography of health; So- the phrase “Building together our territories”. However, cial geography; Population matters; Political Geography) the event still had four strong main thematic axes: the • Particular spaces (The Mediterranean; The - Sa territories, the construction of territories, the actors and hara; The Africas; Geographical Diversity of the Arab the sustainable development. According to the Organiz- countries)
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The participants of the event were able to partici- Only future will show us whether we will use a new pate in general and specific lectures within each of the term to designate the collapse dolines, or if the term will areas identified above. Regarding this report, more em- be considered another type of special doline. One can phasis was given to the activities of the IGU Karst Com- say that the tiankeng are very specific macro scale forms mission. that can reach over 600 meters of depth, for example. At first, its size and depth make it difficult to its internation- The IGU Karst Commission alization being more relevant to Karstology its inclusion The main objective of this Commission is the investiga- as another type of collapse doline. tion of morphology and vegetation associated with the karst world scenarios, which make these landscapes a so Final considerations distinct geoecosystem. The committee aims to advance As an academic discipline, Geography is characterized by knowledge of ecological, geomorphological and hydro- a highly pluralistic approach that helps its professionals logical aspects of karst, especially in relation to the im- to have some degree of convergence. It is precisely that pacts caused by human activity. Therefore, the inclusion the main feature which, paradoxically, makes geogra- of studies of the karst in national and international con- phers holders of some cohesion and self identity. Neither ferences should always be seen as positive, involving the better, nor worse. Only different, capable of congregate issues related to sustainable development in this type of other science branches. terrain. For the French, Geography is not only physical, Specifically in this congress of Geography, the pa- not only human or technical. It is the study of Earth as pers related to karst were mainly associated to physical home of man and therefore the excesses of specializa- geography and epistemological discussion regarding tions within the discipline should be viewed with cau- consolidated concepts in Karstology. Work on the histor- tion (Amorim Filho 2005), working for the integration ic importance of the karst of Cordisbugo (Brazil), as the of these three pillars. Likewise, Karstology is a multidis- region where for the first time in the Americas studies ciplinary field of study. of Paleontology, Archaeology and Speleology appeared One can reflect on the evolution of geographical and the relationship between the scallops and regional thought noticing that Geography has always been fun- paleoflow were approached by Travassos and Guimarães damentally not reductionist and holistic. According to (2008). Pitman (2005), Geography has always been inclined to Zhang et al. (2008) presented a likely new form of focus specific areas of knowledge, however, never for- genesis of karren studied in Tibet. According to the au- getting its complexity. While other subjects developed thors, there are still many debates about the fact if it is a reductionist capacity over the centuries, Geography possible to occur or not the dissolution of limestone in has always (or almost always!) was aware that Earth is a conditions of aridity for karren genesis. For the research- “complex system”, that can not be explained only by con- ers, the studies in Tibet shows evidence of the formation sidering individual parts. of microkarren, influenced by aeolian action. What is missing for the discipline, and is the big- Another important discussion was presented by gest barrier to its full development, is respect for diver- Kranjc (2008), who demonstrated how Karstology sity (Clifford 2002). For Mathews and Herbert (2004), should be perceived as a science in which where that Geography today is more dynamic than before and is presents concepts are in constant evolution. One ex- commonly perceived as a discipline where there is a lack ample is the term dolina, used for the first time by of unity. The “gap” created since the mid-twentieth cen- Morlot, in 1848, in the Kras Plateau, Slovenia. Origi- tury between the physical and human sub disciplines in nally the term was used to designate both solution terms of ideology and methodology, is most often the (original meaning) as well collapse dolines. With main focus of academic discussions. The coherence and the popularization of karst studies, the term collapse identity are sometimes undermined by the various and doline was introduced and is now widely used by ge- different paths taken by geographers, in what we can call ologists. As with the term dolina, in the American an “explosion” of specializations within the same science, literature, the term sinkhole may also have several leading it towards other branches of knowledge, such as meanings. Geology or Sociology, for example. The most important topic of the presentation was These differences are also the reason of debates by the recognition of the work developed by Chinese kar- various authors, who claim that these are ideas that try to stologists who started to introduce the term tiankeng divide the discipline and go against the essence of Geog- (tian= sky; nature / keng= hole) in order to identify col- raphy, which is plurality. Fortunately, while participating lapse dolines. in 31st ICG, it was possible to perceive a strong current
ACTA CARSOLOGICA 37/2-3 – 2008 347 Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos & Andrej Kranjc
toward the strengthening of unity among the physical and human areas of geography, the fundamental solution of global problems.
References
AMORIM FILHO, O.B. Entrevista. Geosul. Florianópo- lis, v.20, n.49, p.191-209, jul./dez. 2005. ATLAS NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Africa I. São Pau- lo: Abril, 2008. CLIFFORD, N.J. The future of Geography: when the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Geoforum, n.33, 2002.p.431–436 IGU – INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL UNION. The website in Geograohy. Disponível em:
Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos Andrej Kranjc
Associated Junior Researcher from the Environmen- tal Studies Laboratory – Post Graduation Program in Geography – Spatial Analysis – PUC Minas University, Brazil.
Karst Commission Chair - Karst Research Institute.
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