Geography and public policy: taking responsibility in research and teaching

Abstract

In this short intervention I ask whether geographers are helping or hindering progress towards a policy turn. The inclination for turning to research means the largely unspoken aspect of the geography and public policy debate is our role as educators. While research-informed teaching is the fundamental mechanism by which academic staff engage students with public policy concerns, I highlight how the foundational books used in many undergraduate degree programmes to frame ‘doing’ geographical research provide no reference to policy. I argue as geographers we must take more responsibility for exposing students to a diversity of policy in geographical learning and teaching.