Geography can contribute tremendously to the scientific debates about these rapid changes and the increasing awareness of the limits of the earth: as an integrative scientific discipline, it aims at understanding the combined effects of biophysical and/or socio-economic forces on human-environment interactions. Therefore, geographers also increasingly reflect on the social relevance of their discipline and the ways to demonstrate it to society.

On the other hand, Global Change is affecting the way Geography can develop as a discipline. Global integra-tion makes new approaches possible, not only because global datasets are becoming increasingly available but also because geographical technology such as GPS and GIS has now become mainstream. This has not only implications for geographical research but also for geography education. Geographers reflect on how they may increase their societal impact and how professional geography applications interact with society in a changing world, both at the local and the global scale.