Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Nazi geographies


Image above: The spatial theory of Central Places.



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'Towards a National Geography Curriculum' project website
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manning@chariot.net.au 

Where am I??
Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'



Nazi spatial theory: Never not question spatial agenda

“… central to the theory was the ‘deterritorializing’ of territorities as Germans invaded lands (Poland, Czechoslovakia etc.) and removing peoples of ‘impure’ origin; and Christaller in ‘reterritorializing’ these lands with ‘legitimate’ German peoples.  In short the theories of Christaller were concerned with “space and, more fundamentally, the formulation of a larger, guiding spatial theory, was central to achieving Nazi objectives during the Third Reich.”

Whenever I am talking to a group of 1970’s geographers I can usually get immediate cognition and a degree of nostalgia if I mention the spatial theories of Walter Christaller. As geographers we were fed a diet of Central Place Theory and spatial arrangement across rural landscapes. For many of us it was our introduction to the spatial and the wonders of geographical patterns and trends.  However few of us questioned the agenda of the geographer (in fact scientist) who developed the theory. Such a scientific spatial theory had a degree of synergy in the 1970’s with geography’s desire to be taken seriously as a science, with a degree of theories and formulas to explain the spatial world. However, Christaller’s theories is really a wonderful example of how spatial technology and the understanding of the spatial can be used for the wrong reasons. As a previous Spatialworlds posting indicated in regards to spatial technology, we should not blindly accept technology as for the benefit of all but it can have a dark side of invasiveness and in the case of Christaller, an aid to resettlement and human displacement.   

What the goodness am I talking about? Is not Central Place Theory just an idea to help us understand the spatial landscape?  Not quite!  Christaller was a paid up Nazi in 1940 (apparently his Nazi membership documents show him as a very early member) when he was working on his theories. The Nazi’s funded his work in the early 1940’s for the purpose of efficiency of resettlement of the “living space” to the east which was to be opened up by the displacement of the Poles and Russians created by the German conquests.  
Christaller’s theory of Central Place has recently been described in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers as Dark Nazi Geographies. 

Central place theory is a spatial theory in urban geography that attempts to explain the reasons behind the distribution patterns, size, and number of cities and towns around the world. It also attempts to provide a framework by which those areas can be studied both for historic reasons and for the locational patterns of areas today.”
 
What makes much of this revelation of ‘Christallian’ agenda astounding to me is that not once in all the years of being taught (and teaching) Christaller was the issue of agenda raised and that the theory had any murky connections. Recently I came across a retired university geographer who did his Masters work on Christaller – he looked incredulously at me when I asked him how he felt about the dark Nazi geography of Christaller.

Just backtracking a little, here is a summary of the life of Christaller and his work.

Christallers ‘central place theory’ of human settlement was developed when he was a member of the Nazi Party and served in Konrad Meyer’s Planning and Soil Department. At the end of the 1930s he held a short-lived academic appointment, but then joined the Nazi Party in 1940. He moved into government service, in Himmler's SS-Planning and Soil Office, during the Second World War. Christaller’s task was to draw up plans for reconfiguring the economic geography of Germany's eastern conquests ("General plan of the East") – primarily Czechoslovakia and Poland, and if successful, Russia itself. Christaller was given special charge of planning occupied Poland, and he did so using his central place theory as an explicit guide.
At the centre of applying the perverted biopolitical logic of National Socialism required the military accomplishment and bureaucratic management of two interrelated spatial processes: deterritorialization and reterritorialization. Deterritorialization involved moving non-Germanized Germans (mainly Jews and Slavs) off conquered Eastern lands to create an “empty space” that was then “reterritorialized” by the settlement of “legitimate” Germans (although often not German citizens). Although many German academics were involved in designing and implementing these spatial strategies, Walter Christaller brought his peculiar spatial imaginary of formal geometry and place-based rural romanticism in planning the “empty space” of the East after non-Germanized inhabitants were removed. His central place theory re-created the Nazis' territorial conquests in the geographical likeness of the German homeland
Ironically after the War Christaller joined the Communist Party and became politically active. In addition, he devoted himself to the geography of tourism. From 1950 forward, his Central Place Theory was used to restructure municipal relationships and boundaries in the Federal Republic of Germany and the system is still in place today. In 1950 Walter Christaller founded the German Association of Applied Geography (DVAG). The Walter Christaller Award for Applied Geography is named after him to this day.


 
Despite the dark history of Christaller’s spatial theory of central places, it is still used today to give meaning to space and settlement – maybe  a use for good despite its origin as a servant of the Nazi’s.  As described by the Smart Earth site, the work of Christaller still has a role to play as we try to make sense of space.

As Christaller said:

“People have become too easily satisfied with slogans about the power that is to be found in a space, or that emanates from it, about the narrowness of space, the domination of space, the magic of space. Space is not a sorcerer or a supernatural being." - Walter Christaller

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Planning the spatial



Image above:  The data visualisation site called Gapminder

Related links
Geogaction
Spatialworlds website
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'Towards a National Geography Curriculum' project website
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manning@chariot.net.au

Where am I??
Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'



11 great sites to start planning courses

“Some are new, and some have been around awhile, but all have consistently been those resources that have fostered inquiry-driven, spatially-oriented, project-based education using GIS.”
Joseph Kerski, Esri Education Manager


As I was about to start planning my geography courses for this year, our GIS colleague in the US, Joseph Kerski posted his favourite 20 GIS/Geography orientated sites. Thanks Joseph, you have provided me (and others) with a great list to work with as we look for quality and engaging sites for studnet use.  I have selected 11 of these sites to start my geographical planning for 2013. These 11 sites provide GIS platforms, data, visualisations, imagery, videos, lessons, activities and Web 2.0 capacity to communicate with other spatial educators. These web resources and sites I have previously posted as my favourite on Spatialworlds should keep me busy putting together my courses for the next few weeks.  Gee, we are so lucky these days with such great resources, free and only a click away.
  1. Change Matters: http://changematters.esri.com/compare
    Examine landscape changes resulting from natural and human causes using historical and current Landsat satellite imagery from NASA/USGS shown in a side-by-side online GIS from Esri.
  2. Worldmapper: http://www.worldmapper.org
    I have always valued the effectiveness of teaching with cartograms, and this site allows you to create cartograms and analyze spreadsheets for hundreds of variables by country. It also allows you to download the data as spreadsheets and bring them into ArcGIS for Desktop for further analysis.
  3. GapMinder: http://www.gapminder.org
    Understand the world’s past, present, and future changes through unique visual animated graphs of hundreds of variables.
  4. ArcGIS Online: http://www.arcgis.com
    As my colleagues and I have written and created videos about for the past several years, Esri’s ArcGIS Online allows you to make your own customized maps, analyze thousands of data sets from local to global scale, map your own field-collected data, create map-based presentations, save and share your maps with others, and much more.
  5. NationMaster: http://www.nationmaster.com and StateMaster: http://www.statemaster.com
    Unique, powerful chart and graph comparison tools backed by data for hundreds of variables by country and US state.
  6. Geography Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/geographyuberalles
    1,000 geography-and-GIS-themed movies on ecoregions, scale, fieldwork, biomes, energy, water, population change, GPS, and other topics filmed on location.
  7. Geocaching: http://geocaching.com
    Real-world outdoor treasure hunting game using hidden containers on the landscape requiring spatial thinking and GPS to discover them.
  8. Esri Education Community: http://edcommunity.esri.com
    Connect with other educators using GIS in the curriculum; discover lessons, data, videos, blog posts, and other documents supporting spatial analysis in the curriculum.
  9. GPS Visualizer: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com
    Online mapping utility that creates maps and profiles from GPS data, addresses, and coordinates.
  10. Geospatial Revolution: http://geospatialrevolution.psu.edu/
    Professionally-produced series of videos illustrating the use of geotechnologies in society, and the importance of spatial analysis and GIS for 21st Century decision making.
  11. NASA Earth Observations: http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html
    NASA Earth Observations is a set of georeferenced images for the planet on oceans, atmosphere, energy, land, and life, able to be examined online over space and time, and downloaded into a GIS for further analysis.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

A fracking glow!



Image above: An unusual glow in North Dakota. Not an UFO but fracking consequences.

Sites related to Spatialworlds
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manning@chariot.net.au

Where am I??
Melbourne, Australia: S: 37º 47' E: 144º 58'


A picture tells a thousand geogstories

“…if you look at the centre, where the Eastern lights give way to the empty Western plains, there's a mysterious clump of light there that makes me wonder.”

A recent satellite image of the United States highlighted the power of remote sensing to expose layers of a geographical story for the geography classroom. Such a story would be a great basis for a case study (or a place based exemplar as the new expression is being popularised in the UK) with physical and human perspectives. The satellite image above of the US shows a significant glow in North Dakota. The interesting thing is that this area is a lowly populated area of the US with no big cities. As it turns out, this glow is fields of gas flares from the new oil fields in North Dakota made possible by the controversial process of fracking. As one begins to explore what all this means, layers of the geogstory are exposed. I do not intend this posting to be a comprehensive expose of fracking and US oil generation, rather a geographical examination of the glow, only able to be seen through remote sensing technology.

The remote sensing story
In the Suomi NPP Satellite/NASA Earth Observatory satellite photo of the Earth below, you can clearly see the Dakota fields blazing in the grasslands as North America rolls by. The glow in North Dakota, on some nights, is almost as bright as the aurora borealis. 


The change story
Six years ago, the region in North Dakota was close to empty. The few ranchers who lived there produced wheat, alfalfa, oats and corn. The U.S. Geological Survey knew there were oil deposits underground, but deep down, 2 miles below the surface. It wasn't till the 21st Century that the industry developed a way to pull that oil to the surface at a cost that made it practical. Fracking means pumping water and chemicals down pipes, fracturing the rock, releasing the oil. The technology is hugely controversial.

The Environment story
When oil comes to the surface, it often brings natural gas with it, and according to North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources, 29 percent of the natural gas now extracted in North Dakota is flared off. Gas isn't as profitable as oil, and the energy companies don't always build the pipes or systems to carry it away. For a year (with extensions), North Dakota allows drillers to burn gas, just let it flare. There are now so many gas wells burning fires in the North Dakota night, the fracking fields can be seen from deep space. What is so sad about that is that it probably used to be one of the best places in the world to look up and see the stars. There seems to be no end in sight to this energy "boom" mentality.

The geomorphological resource story
The Bakkenshale oil field is part of a huge formation covering approximately 200,000 square miles.  It covers the northwest corner of North Dakota, the northeast corner of Montana and a significant chunk of Saskatchewan, Canada, as the image beneath indicates.  
"In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey surveyed the Bakken area in which they found roughly 151 million barrels of recoverable oil.  Since then, drilling technology has improved causing reserve estimates to spike up between 6-24 billion barrels of recoverable oil."  - 
 
So what is fracking? Contrary to what most people think, oil is not found in vast pools beneath the surface; it’s found in solid rock formations. In order for rock to yield economically produceable oil, it must have two qualities: porosity and permeability. Shale is one of the most common sedimentary rocks. Sometimes it contains an abundance of oil, but it’s not permeable, meaning oil and natural gas cannot easily flow through the rock for extraction. To extract oil and natural gas from shale, a well is drilled into a shale formation. Rather than drilling straight down, the well kicks off laterally. A high pressure pump is then used to break the rock (this is where ‘fracking’ gets its name, to hydraulically fracture the rocks is colloquially, ‘fracking’). The gaps in the rock created by the pressure allow the oil and gas to escape into the well bore.

The pollution story
In western North Dakota the light pollution is so bad that people get confused and think they are driving towards the sunrise in the early hours of the day. Environmentalists claim that fracking can contaminate the water table, that fracking fluid is harmful to water supplies and that fracking causes earthquakes. Such views are at the core of the pro/con fracking environmental debate.

The energy story
The lights are a startlingly new oil and gas field — night time evidence of an oil boom created by a technology called fracking. Those lights are rigs, hundreds of them, lit at night, or fiery flares of natural gas. One hundred and fifty oil companies, big ones, little ones, wildcatters, have flooded this region, drilling up to eight new wells every day on what is called the Bakken formation. Altogether, they are now producing 660,000 barrels a day — double the output two years ago — so that in no time at all, North Dakota is now the second-largest oil producing state in America. Only Texas produces more, and those lights are a sign that this region is now on fire. This oil rush is so sudden, so enormous. The Bakken fields are helping to improve energy security for the US. It is estimated that every day drillers in North Dakota "burn off enough gas to heat half a million homes."

The economic story
North Dakota now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. More than 41,000 workers got jobs there between 2008 and 2012. Only seven years ago, the U.S. was importing 60 percent of its oil. Now imports are down to 42 percent. However many locals consider that as they sit on billion dollar surpluses year after year the government do nothing to build up the infrastructure or protect the environment. North Dakota law says that flares are subject to taxes and royalties after one year, even if the gas isn't being sold.

The social story
Much of the commentary indicates that state regulators seem less than energetic when farmers call to complain about poisons in the air and water. Many farmers in North Dakota can't prevent drillers from drilling — even if they'd like to. Decades ago, the rights to the minerals below those farms were separated from the rights to the land itself — which is why today, energy companies can move in, create drilling pads where they please, move in trucks and workers, without the farmers' consent. In some places, North Dakota feels like Texas in the early 20th century, when cattlemen fought the oil men. This time it's corn folks versus oil folks. Tempers are rising. The elementary schools have tripled in enrolment in the past two years. They don't want to stifle the money coming in from taxes because they need it to build up their infrastructure. However, allowing the companies to do as they please with little to no accountability will make it difficult to preserve some beautiful country in the priaries of North Dakota..

So, just one satellite image with an unusual glow can lead to such a rich place based exemplar (case study) for the geography classroom.  This is a great example of how remote sensing can create a geogstory with so many layers to unpeel.



 

Friday, January 11, 2013

Primary Geography for Australia book launched



Image above: Front cover of the new Teaching Primary Geography for Australian Schools.

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manning@chariot.net.au

Where am I??
Perth: S: 31º 57' E: 115º 52'


Primary Geography for Australia book launched

One of the highlights of the conference was the launch of the new Teaching Primary Geography for Australian Schools by Simon Catling, Tessa Willy and John Butler. The book has been produced by Hawker-Brownlow and strongly endorsed by AGTA. The book is the first of its kind for Australian schools and certainly fills a huge hole in the primary geography landscape in Australia.


 Simon Catling talking at the AGTA 2013 Conference in Perth




Sunday, January 6, 2013

AGTA 2013 in Perth



Image above: David Lambert addressing the conference.

Sites related to Spatialworlds
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manning@chariot.net.au

Where am I??
Perth: S: 31º 57' E: 115º 52'



AGTA 2013: A critical event for geography in Australia

AGTA 2013 in Perth went very well. As mentioned in the conference materials, the Australian Geography  Teachers Association (AGTA) is the peak body for professional geography teachers in Australia and considers that the conference will provide a great opportunity for geography teachers and others to learn and discuss all things related to geographical education in schools. The conference titled, ‘Geography’s New Frontier’ was a crucial event in relation to the introduction of the Australian Curriculum for geography in 2013. The work of AGTA is closely aligned to the development of the Australian Curriculum for Geography and AGTA saw this conference as pivotal to 2013 being the year of quality implementation of the  geography curriculum. To provide input on implementation matters our two keynote speakers from the UK, Professor David Lambert (past CEO of the UK Geography Association) and Professor Simon Catling (Primary Geography specialist from Brookes Oxford University) were fantastic to listen to and work with. Videos of their presentations are on the AGTA website. Their experiences in the UK with the implementation of the National Geography Curriculum were very enlightening ... and  we will learn from their mistakes and successes.

A recent article in the UK by David Lambert (written upon his return to the UK in January) is worth highlighting at this stage to reinforce the reasons why geography is so important for young people. David's article titled, "Without geography, theworld would be a mystery to us", appeared in the Telegraph in the UK on 3 February 2013. It is worth a read! 

Here are the presentations on Dropbox for the workshops I was involved in during the conference.

* Geographical thinking
* Australian Curriculum: Geography update


* Here is also the workshop presentation of Sue Jones at the conference titled: Making Sense of assessment and reporting for the Australian Curriculum: Geography

Many of the other workshop at AGTA 2013 will be posted on the AGTA site soon after the conference.

Feel free to look at and use these presentations in your professional learning activities, just acknowledge them as presentations by those presenting at AGTA 2013.