What academic goals should the field of economic geography aim to achieve in future, and by what methods? How should the discipline respond strategically to current challenges and opportunities arising within the field and in key related disciplines?
These and many other topics were discussed at the end of April at the Symposium on the “Future of Economic Geography”organised by Prof. Rolf Sternberg at the Leibnizhaus. Among the 100 guests were many of the most renowned economic geographers from the German-speaking world. Prof. Tom Brökel (Stavanger, Norway; soon to be in Aachen), Prof. Martina Fuchs (Cologne), Prof. Johannes Glückler (Munich) and Prof. Robert Hassink (Kiel) began by presenting their respective theses. These were then discussed by Prof. Sina Hardaker (Munich), Prof. Christian Hundt (Hanover/Brunswick), Dr Sebastian Losacker (Gießen), Prof. Ivo Mossig (Bremen), Prof. Hans-Martin Zademach (Eichstätt) and the audience. The discussion was expertly moderated by Prof. Matthias Kiese (Bochum). It is planned to publish the key findings of the symposium in a special issue of a relevant journal.
To mark the retirement of the symposium organiser, the event concluded with an impressive tribute by Prof. Johannes Glückler, followed by ‘A Boomer’s Retrospective – 40 Years as an economic geographer" by the host of the event, Prof. Rolf Sternberg.
