European Geography Association
The European Geography Association, abbreviated EGEA, is a European network of geography students and young geographers, with the intention of exchanging geographical knowledge. To achieve this, the entities of EGEA organize congresses, exchanges between the entities, national weekends, excursions, and a scientific magazine is published. The main communication platform is the website.
The aims of EGEA are to offer personal development opportunities to young geographers across Europe, and enable them to fulfill their potential as young scientists. EGEA provides complementary and alternative learning opportunities, beyond formal education of geography. This is done by encouraging and enabling involvement in intercultural interaction, as well as by development of academic, scientific, cultural and professional activities intended for young geographers on terms of equality, diversity and non-discrimination. EGEA actively contributes towards the promotion of geography through its network capabilities and through strategic partnerships, with the ultimate goal to strengthen geography’s place in members’ local communities.
History
In 1987, students from the universities of Warsaw, Barcelona and Utrecht met with the idea to start an association to exchange their geographical knowledge between several countries in Europe.One year later, in 1988, EGEA was officially registered as a foundation with chair in Utrecht.
In 1996 the first website of EGEA was launched. The homepage would become the central meeting point for all EGEA members across Europe.
At the 2009 General Assembly in Heeg a change of EGEA's legal status was decided. Since then EGEA is working as an association.
Until 2014 EGEA has grown from its initial three entities to a current number of 90 entities in 36 different countries.
Activities
There are several local, national, and international activities organized by the entities of EGEA. The main events of the year are the congresses. Other annual events are national weekends and summer schools. In addition, entities organize their own events. The spectrum of content of these events reaches from scientific seminars or excursions to events where the main focus lies on getting together. A high popularity among EGEAns are exchanges between entities.Congresses
Every year five congresses take place. There are four Regional Congresses in spring, organized by one or more entities in each region. However, the most important event of the association is the Annual Congress, that is held in September.The Congresses always include workshops, excursions, trainings, and lectures with a scientific background. There are also meetings for Contact Persons of the entities and regional or international assemblies.
Exchanges
Students exchanges are the core activities of EGEA. They enable small groups from 2 or 3 EGEA entities to visit each other in their countries, learn about culture, explore the habits, nature and many interesting places in visiting countries. What is most important, they make young geography students getting to know their international peers. Following the agreement, one entity is hosting the other one. During the hosting time young people take care of the accommodation, food, and programme. Later on, the hosting entity becomes the visiting one and repays the visit. Exchanges are numerously the most attended activities, when taking into consideration number of events taking place every year.Scientific Symposium
Each year at the Annual Congress there is also a scientific symposium, where the members are able to present their scientific work, for example diploma or PhD theses.Seminars
There are a few seminars every year, always organized by several entities. The seminars are held on a scientific level that cover different themes in the particular disciplines of geography.Summer-/Winterschools
During the semester breaks in summer and winter EGEA also gives students the chance to participate at self-organized summer- or winterschools.Weekend Activities
The national or international weekend activities are organized by an entity. In most cases there is a main theme to show particular regional or local characteristics. The programme can be scientific or have a more informal level. Some of the regional weekend activities, such as those in the Baltic states, the Slavic countries, Germany, the Benelux countries, the Iberian peninsula and the Balkans, are mainly aimed at people from that region, whereas other weekends are open to all EGEA members.Structure
EGEA is divided into four administrative regions: the North & Baltic, the Eastern, the Western and the Euro-Mediterranean regions. Every region elects a new Regional Contact Person each year. As helping hands they have one or more Regional Assistants. Together they form the Regional Teams. The function of Regional Contact Person was introduced in 2012 to relieve EGEA's board members of coordinating the regions.RegionsEGEA website - entities: https://egea.eu/structure/entity-list/
North & Baltic Region
This region is located in Northern Europe around the Baltic Sea. Entities that belong there are situated in: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia and Sweden. The countries in this region that currently don't have active entities are Iceland and Latvia.| Entity | Country |
| Copenhagen | Denmark |
| Helsinki | Finland |
| Joensuu | Finland |
| Kaliningrad | Russia |
| Lund | Sweden |
| Oslo | Norway |
| Oulu | Finland |
| Saint Petersburg | Russia |
| Tartu | Estonia |
| Trondheim | Norway |
| Turku | Finland |
| Umeå* | Sweden |
| Vilnius | Lithuania |
* = candidating entity
Eastern Region
The Eastern Region is the largest geographic region in EGEA. Part of this region are the entities of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. The countries in this region that currently don't have active entities are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia and Moldova.| Entity | Country |
| Bratislava | Slovakia |
| Brno | Czech Republic |
| Bucharest | Romania |
| Budapest | Hungary |
| Chernivtsi | Ukraine |
| Cluj-Napoca | Romania |
| Debrecen | Hungary |
| Dnipro | Ukraine |
| Gdańsk | Poland |
| Iași | Romania |
| Katowice | Poland |
| Kazan | Russia |
| Kharkiv | Ukraine |
| Kherson | Ukraine |
| Kraków | Poland |
| Kyiv | Ukraine |
| Lutsk | Ukraine |
| Lviv | Ukraine |
| Moscow | Russia |
| Olomouc | Czech Republic |
| Ostrava | Czech Republic |
| Pécs | Hungary |
| Prague | Czech Republic |
| Timișoara | Romania |
| Warsaw | Poland |
| Wrocław | Poland |
* = candidating entity
Western Region
By members and entities the Western Region is the largest administrative region of EGEA. It comprises the British Isles, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and parts of France. The country in this region that currently doesn't have an active entity is Luxembourg.| Entity | Country |
| Aachen | Germany |
| Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| Augsburg | Germany |
| Bamberg | Germany |
| Bangor | United Kingdom |
| Berlin | Germany |
| Bern | Switzerland |
| Bonn | Germany |
| Brussels | Belgium |
| Chambéry | France |
| Freiburg | Germany |
| Ghent | Belgium |
| Göttingen | Germany |
| Graz | Austria |
| Greifswald | Germany |
| Groningen | Netherlands |
| Halle | Germany |
| Hanover | Germany |
| Innsbruck | Austria |
| Jena | Germany |
| Kiel | Germany |
| Leicester | United Kingdom |
| Leuven | Belgium |
| Mainz | Germany |
| Marburg | Germany |
| Munich | Germany |
| Münster | Germany |
| Nijmegen | Netherlands |
| Osnabrück | Germany |
| Paris | France |
| Strasbourg | France |
| Tübingen | Germany |
| Utrecht | Netherlands |
| Vienna | Austria |
| Zürich | Switzerland |
* = candidating entity
Euro-Mediterranean Region
This region contains all entities of countries that are located around the Mediterranean Sea. There are entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.| Entity | Country |
| Balearic Islands | Spain |
| Banja Luka | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Barcelona | Spain |
| Belgrade | Serbia |
| Bordeaux | France |
| İzmir | Turkey |
| La Rochelle | France |
| Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| Madrid | Spain |
| Malta | Malta |
| Maribor | Slovenia |
| Milan | Italy |
| Montpellier | France |
| Mostar | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Nikšić | Montenegro |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Skopje | North Macedonia |
| Turin* | Italy |
| Valladolid | Spain |
| Zadar | Croatia |
| Zagreb | Croatia |
* = candidating entity
Board of EGEA
The Board consists of five persons, four of whom fulfill the functions of president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. These four board members are elected by the General Assembly out of members from the Association. A representative of the entity chosen to organize the Annual Congress was also a member of the board, but this latter position was replaced by an elected Public Relations and Event Advisor at the General Assembly of 2015.The board represents and is the executive body of the Association.
The board is supported by the Secretariat Director whose seat is the office at the EGEA Headquarters in Utrecht.
This position was first created in 2005 and contrived by the entity of Utrecht. In 2016 also the grant team with its coordinator was created to take care of financial grants.
| Year | President | Vice-President | Secretary | Treasurer | PR and Event Advisor* | Secretariat Coordinator** | - |
| 2019/20 | Ksenia Simonova | Jakub Růžička | Johanna Zempel | Jeroen Royer | Merli Ilves | Jelle Bulens | - |
| 2018/19 | Swen Schmitz | Valentina Vrhovec | Milan Mík | Frederike Schneider | Anna Feliksbrot | Albert-Jan van der Werp | - |
| 2017/18 | David Rabensteiner | Pietu Niinimäki | Lea Rebernik | Vít Volný | Anselm Eberl | Rick de Graaf | - |
| 2016/17 | Simon Schudel | Ines Stadler | Vilna Tyystjärvi | Joonas Pöllänen | Marek Borkowski | Rick de Graaf | - |
| 2015/16 | Daan Smekens | Florin Cioloboc | Maria Kolesnikova | Nina Wack | Michael Witte | Andries Bosma | - |
| 2014/15 | Nora Varga | Claudia Rock | Wendy Wuyts | André Berger | Robbert Kramer | Sander van der Klei | - |
| 2013/14 | Colette Caruana | Christoph Götz | Isabella Rojs | Alexandra Savulescu | Marius Vidac | Cecile Kerssemakers | - |
| 2012/13 | Jirka Konietzny | Niels Grootjans | Petronela Bordeianu | Maciej Radyno | Anna Toloczko | Rik de Kleijn | - |
| 2011/12 | Svetlana Samsonova | Joanna Wawrynowicz | Henning Kronen | Michael Poulsen | Kristel Sieprath | Sanne Heijt | - |
| 2010/11 | Alexandru Drăgan | Sven Vanderhaegen | Kaija Murasov | Mihovil Masic | Carolin Ziegler | Roos Saalbrink | - |
| 2009/10 | Claudia Iordache | Slobodan Cvetkovic | Milda Latakaite | Samantha van der Sluis | Catalina Ionita | Jelle Gulmans | - |
| 2008/09 | Jeroen van Pelt | Kamila Jankowska | Milena Karanović | Dennis Söderholm | Martinus Spoelstra | Lisette von Leijenhorst | - |
| 2007/08 | Aleš Oven | Vlad Dumitrescu | Kret Masik | David Jochum | Misha Lobanov | Malou Weber | - |
| 2006/07 | Heli Rekiranta | Alexandros Ziogas | Anastasia Kazakova | Tim van de Laar | Lukasz Jankowski | Gert Ruepert | - |
| 2005/06 | Alois Humer | Vojkan Gajovic | Anna Bieniasz | Sandor Kreuze | Florian Fischer | Gert Ruepert | - |
| 2004/05 | Vita Valuinaite | Igor Pilipenko | Rok Godec | Andrea Jordan | Leftheris Eleftheriadis | - | |
| 2003/04 | Leftheris Eleftheriadis | Natalia Krivenok | Kristjan Pärnamägi | Kathrin Klei | Gert Ruepert | - | |
| 2002/03 | Jean-François André | Joanna Markowska | Kristjan Pärnamägi | Heidi van Otten | Tomasz Dusza | - | |
| 2001/02 | Denis Ceric | Magdalena Bednarz | Erki Saluveer | Winneke Lobeek | Sylvain Rigollet | - | |
| 2000/01 | Sylvain Rigollet | Anna Tsukanova | Ann Ideon | Remco van der Hoogt | Wojtek Zalewski | - | |
| 1999/2000 | Vera Veranda | Magda Rak | Helle-Mai Pedastsaar | Sebastian Mosler | Primoz Pipan | ||
| 1998/99 | Erika Eloranta | Primoz Pipan | Svetlana Malysheva | Dennis van der Avoort | Tonia Koops | - | |
| 1997/98 | Teresa Gomes | Piotr Strubel | Erika Eloranta | Dennis van der Avoort | Catrin Effe | - | |
| 1996/97 | Teresa Gomes | Mait Rei | Piotr Strubel | Henk Looijen | Nadia Dida | - | |
| 1995/96 | Catrin Effe | Sebastian Pichinski | Helder Santos | Rebecca Haacker | Ricardo Coutada | - | |
| 1994/95 | Ricardo Coutada | Ricardo Coutada | Maciej Dabski | Berend Bock | Monika Dittrich | - | |
| 1993/94 | Ricardo Coutada | Adam Sniadowski | Ingibjörg Bjornsdottir | Berend Bock | Tiit Tammaru | - | |
| 1992/93 | Jarna Karrila | Joanna Widy-Kwiatkowska | Jorge Humberto | Marije Willems | Xavier Munoz i Torrent | - |
)* until 2012 Annual Congress Organiser, then until 2015 Annual Congress Coordinator.
)** until 2016 Secreteriat Director
Regional Contact Persons
The four regional contact persons maintain the contact between the entities in their respective regions and the European board.| Year | EAST | EUROMED | NORTH & BALTIC | WEST |
| 2019/20 | Dorina Juhász | David Botko | Daria Karsonova | Anna Czerniejewska |
| 2018/19 | Yulia Kozak | Monika Gričnik | Beatričė Petkutė | Dylan Colonne |
| 2017/18 | Tetiana Stadnyk | Petar Božan | Ksenia Simonova | Swen Schmitz |
| 2016/17 | Petr Boucník | Lena Kropivšek | Ida Viinikka | Lorina Schudel |
| 2015/16 | Marek Borkowski | Vane Urh | Vilna Tyystjärvi | David Rabensteiner |
| 2014/15 | Maria Kolesnikova | Sergio Cuevas Pérez | Kseniya Gavrilova | Daan Smekens |
| 2013/14 | Nora Varga | Urban Furlan | Mariana Verdonen | Sascha Sabouhi |
| 2012/13 | Alexandra Savulescu | Colette Caruana | André Sæther Berger | Martijn Claes |
Committees
EGEA has several committees, carrying out important work to keep the association up and running. Currently the following committees are active within EGEA:| Activities and Events Committee |
| Communication and Media Committee |
| EGEA Green |
| European Geographer |
| Fundraising Committee |
| Training Committee |
| Organisation and Strategy Committee |
| Regional Support Committee |
| Scientific Committee |
| WebAdmin Team |