European Journal of Geography - EJG

08/01/2026

🌍 EJG Editorial - Vol.17(1):
Happy New Year from the European Journal of Geography 🎉
We begin 2026 by publishing our Annual Editorial, reflecting on what we achieved during the past year. Amid geopolitical tension, accelerating climate change, and widening spatial inequalities, geographical research showed its relevance once again. EJG continued to grow in scope, visibility, and international reach, while staying committed to open access, free and rigorous scholarship. Over the year, we published research engaging with both urgent societal challenges and long standing geographical questions.

• 43 peer-reviewed articles across 569 pages 📚
• 173 submissions 🗒️
• 160 unique reviewers 👨‍🎓
• Strong contributions in urban geography, spatial analysis, environment, mobility, and geography education 🌱
• A Special Issue on Spatial Humanities and interdisciplinary research 🔍
• Authors from 58 countries and an acceptance rate of 25%🌐

We sincerely thank our authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and readers 🙏 Your trust and commitment sustain EJG as a shared scholarly space.

We invite professors, researchers and students to submit original work in geographical science in the year ahead.

👉 Volume 17 marks 17 years of EJG and has just started 🚀

Read the full Annual Editorial here 👇
https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/1058

24/12/2025

🎄✨ Warm Christmas wishes from the Editorial Team of the European Journal of Geography.

🌍✨ We send our warmest greetings to our authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and readers. Your work and commitment keep geographic research active, relevant, and connected to real-world challenges. Thank you for your trust and continued support 📚

🎁❄️ We wish you a Merry Christmas and fresh perspectives for the year ahead!

24/12/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️ Memory-Place Networks: Revolutionary Heritage and Multi-cultural Belonging in Paris’s Belleville
▶️ by John Strait (Sam Houston State University, USA)
▶️ https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/979

📗📖✏️Abstract: Cultural geographers and memory studies scholars increasingly recognize that local places function as crucial nodes in transnational networks of meaning and identity. This paper develops the concept of “memory-place networks” to analyze the circulation, transformation, and contestation of memory in urban spaces. Such networks form through the layering of historical meanings and their reactivation across time, linking local practices to broader transnational narratives. I examine Belleville, a historically working-class neighborhood in northeast Paris long associated with revolutionary traditions and cultural diversity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I examine how Belleville sediments past struggles, translates them into contemporary forms, and circulates them through cultural practices and urban spaces. By linking transnational memory studies with cultural geography, the paper advances an interdisciplinary framework for understanding how memory is both anchored in place and mobilized across scales. It argues that memory-place networks not only preserve geographies but also actively shape urban change, cultural identities, and the politics of belonging in a globalized city.

📣 Keywords: Memory-place networks,urban studies,cultural geography,transnational memory,place,Paris

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ Memory-place networks link local urban spaces to transnational flows of meaning.
▶️ Belleville demonstrates how revolutionary heritage adapts to multicultural change.
▶️ Memorial gentrification preserves cultural forms while displacing communities.
▶️ Democratic memorial practices create inclusive spaces for neighborhood solidarity.
▶️ Ethnographic methods reveal how memory circulates through everyday urban life.

22/12/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️Bibliometric Analysis of Decarbonization: Towards Energy Transition and Regional Resilience
▶️ by Ermelinda Toska, Fotios Chatzitheodoridis, Efstratios Loizou, Achilleas Kontogeorgos (University of Western Macedonia, Greece | International Hellenic University, Greece)
▶️ https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/917

📗📖✏️ Abstract: Energy transition through decarbonization has become a cornerstone policy for a sustainable energy future. Enhancing regional resilience is a critical goal for the recovery of local systems from shocks and socio-economic disruptions caused by decarbonization policy. Investigating the consequences of energy transition in regions undergoing decarbonization with emphasis on regional resilience reveals a novel research area. The present study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 535 studies from Scopus published from 2010 to 2024, utilizing VOSviewer and R Studio’s Biblioshiny software for visualization. The data demonstrate publication trends, geographic distribution, collaborations networks, and keyword clusters. A significant geographic inequality emerges. High-income economies dominate the discourse, while low-income countries contribute marginally. Furthermore, the co-occurrence analysis identifies six keyword clusters. Moreover, the thematic evolution depicts the field’s transformation from an embryonic to a mature stage, strengthening core concepts of energy transition, decarbonization, and sustainability, while emerging specialized themes of renewable energy, just transition, and biomass. Finally, the analysis reveals a substantial gap: regional resilience remains underrepresented compared with decarbonization and energy transition, and constitutes a critical challenge for upcoming researchers.

📣 Keywords: Energy transition, decarbonization,regional resilience, bibliometric analysis, Biblioshiny, VOSviewer

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ The transition toward decarbonization generates challenges for coal-reliant regions.
▶️ Although “regional resilience” was a search criterion, it was absent from the keywords clusters.
▶️ Regional resilience represents a valuable trajectory for ongoing inquiry.

21/12/2025

📣 The European Journal of Geography announces a deadline extension for the Special Issue [SI_TGEO]: Teaching Geography for a World in Transition. Powerful Teaching in Uncertain Times.

Due to the high number of submissions and strong international interest, the new submission deadline is 🗓 25 January 2026. The extension offers additional time for authors who are finalising their manuscripts.

We are looking for work that shows how geography teaching helps students think critically, understand global change, and engage with complex issues. Topics include (but not limited to):
✔️ Controversial topics in geography (e.g. migration, climate justice, war)
✔️ Decolonising curricula
✔️ Pedagogies for complexity & digital education
✔️ Spatial thinking, AI & epistemic uncertainty
✔️ Geography’s role in critical citizenship

Further details and submission guidelines are available on the journal website: https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/announcement/view/22

🔗 Submit here: https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/about/submissions

🖊️ Guest Editors:
▪️ Dr. Neli Heidari (University of Bremen, Germany)
▪️ Dr. Uwe Krause (Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands)
▪️ Dr. Dr Susan Caldis (Macquarie University, Australia)
▪️ Prof. dr. Tine Beneker (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

📘 EJG Editor:
▪️ Dr. Alexandros Bartzokas-Tsiompras (EUROGEO & National Technical University of Athens, Belgium & Greece)

14/12/2025

28/11/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️Critical Spots and Misconceptions in Students’ Understanding of Problems and Challenges in Europe
▶️ by Martina Škodová, Tibor Madleňák & Michaela Mihoková (Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia)
▶️ https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/933

📗📖✏️ Abstract: Europe is currently undergoing dynamic change. European countries, regions, and populations face numerous economic, social, political, and environmental challenges. Reflection within the educational process plays a key role in understanding and responding to these developments. Teaching regional geography offers a suitable framework for such reflection. The regional geography of Europe holds strong potential for fostering understanding of diverse, complex, and often difficult issues. The aim of this study is to identify critical spots and common misconceptions in students’ understanding of problems and challenges in Europe. The study addresses the following research question. What critical spots and misconceptions appear in students’ understanding of European issues? The paper presents results from research focused on the most frequent misconceptions related to selected problematic topics in European geography. The research sample consisted of 304 students from selected secondary schools in Slovakia. Data were collected using a testing method applied after completion of a thematic unit on the regional geography of Europe. Statistical analysis conducted in RStudio confirmed the persistence of several misconceptions. These concerned perceptions of Russia, democracy, nuclear energy, and population ageing. For example, 89.1% of respondents did not perceive Russia as a country with a relatively high share of Muslims. In addition, 71.7% believed Switzerland has the highest level of democracy in Europe, without considering that Nordic countries often rank higher. Misconceptions also appeared in relation to nuclear energy, with 67.6% viewing nuclear power as highly environmentally unfriendly, and population ageing, where 57.9% believed ageing occurs more slowly in Southern Europe than in Northern Europe.

📣 Keywords: regional geography education, critical spots, misconceptions, questionnaire survey, Slovakia

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ Teaching European issues should consider students’ key difficulties and misconceptions.
▶️ Slovak students exhibit several misconceptions in the examined topics of the regional geography of Europe.
▶️ The revealed misconceptions underline the need for contextualized and critical geography education.

26/11/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️Not Just Any Village: Lifestyle Migration and the Search for Cultural Compatibility in Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula
▶️ by Rüya Erkan Öcek & Tolga Islam (Yıldız Technical University, Türkiye)
▶️ https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/936

📗📖✏️ Abstract: This article examines the motivations and destination choices of urban residents relocating to rural areas in Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula, a “late-discovered” region that has recently attracted a growing number of lifestyle migrants. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork—including in-depth interviews and participant observation in seven villages—the study analyzes how migration decisions emerge through the interaction of urban disillusionment and rural attraction. Employing Lee’s (1966) push-pull framework within the broader literature on lifestyle migration, it demonstrates that these relocations are not isolated acts of individual preference but socially embedded and morally charged projects of self-realization. The peninsula’s appeal stems from its perceived authenticity as an "undiscovered" destination, largely untouched by the over-commercialization. This “quest for authenticity,” however, operates through culturally specific moral geographies: migrants are not simply searching for rural authenticity but specifically seeking progressive rural spaces that can accommodate their secular, liberal lifestyles—what they describe as "open-minded" and "democratic" environments distinct from "conservative Anatolia." Their rejection of over-commercialized destinations while simultaneously avoiding "conservative" rural areas reveals a narrow corridor of acceptable rurality defined by both authenticity and cultural comfort. By highlighting how lifestyle migration in Turkey operates through an additional cultural-compatibility filter, this study extends existing debates on lifestyle migration and demonstrates that the notion of a “better life” is deeply contingent upon cultural and political contexts. Furthermore, the study carries early warning signs that the migrants' presence may trigger rural gentrification processes similar to those observed in other amenity-rich regions across Turkey.

📣 Keywords: counter-urbanization,lifestyle migration,rural authenticity,rural gentrification,cultural compatibility,Gallipoli Peninsula

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ Cultural compatibility filter shapes rural relocation choices beyond amenities.
▶️ Migrants seek "authentic yet progressive" rural spaces in Gallipoli Peninsula.
▶️ Early signs show Gallipoli’s “authentic” villages facing rural gentrification risks.

24/11/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️A Decade of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Geography: Bibliometric Insights with AI-Powered Analysis
▶️ by Burak Oğlakcı & Alper Uzun (Manisa Celal Bayar University, Turkey | Balıkesir University, Turkey)
▶️ https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/935

📗📖✏️ Abstract: In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of geography studies utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) applications and algorithms. Despite this increase, what is known about related studies is limited. The study aims to reveal the current state, trends, themes, and collaborations of the studies carried out in the interaction of AI and geography in the last decade and to highlight the prospects of AI within geography. Accordingly, the study is based on the bibliometric data of geography studies that have AI applications and algorithms. In the analysis of the data, basic analyses were first conducted covering titles, abstracts, keywords, and so on. Topic modelling was performed using the BERTopic to identify the research themes. Additionally, natural language processing (NLP) tasks were utilized to enhance the efficiency of the analysis. Between 2015 and 2024, productivity in the interaction of geography and AI has shown a significant increase, with 124 different countries contributing to this productivity. This reflects a growing global interest in the field. With increasing interest and productivity, it has been concluded that the methodologies, data, and focal topics have evolved and diversified, while the number of collaborations has also increased. The role of AI in geography is expected to become even more prominent in the future, thanks to its advanced data processing capacity, real-time analysis capabilities, and complex spatial modelling skills. However, soon, some specific approaches and issues (ethical and technical) regarding the interaction between geography and artificial intelligence are noteworthy.

📣 Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI); Geography; GeoAI; Bibliometric Insights; AI-powered Analysis

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ AI and geography research expanded globally, with 124 countries contributing..
▶️ AI has evolved and diversified geography research methods, data, and focal topics.
▶️ The role of AI in geography is expected to become more prominent.
▶️ Ethical and technical issues in geography-AI interaction require urgent attention.

03/11/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️Spatial Perceptions in a Marginalized Urban Area: Understanding Place, Stigma and Everyday Belonging
▶️ by Tabea Thomsen, Natalie Bienert & Rainer Mehren (University of Münster, Germany)
▶️ https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/938

📗📖✏️ Abstract: Stereotypical spatial constructions are a socially powerful instrument of generalizing and simplifying complex socio-spatial realities while often carrying negative connotations. These constructions contribute to the stigmatization of marginalized neighborhoods. Against this background, this qualitative study uses the example of the socio-spatially disadvantaged district of Duisburg-Marxloh in western Germany to examine how spatial constructions from public discourse influence the local population. The study focuses on subjective perspectives and experiences of young girls with migrant background living in the district. Three semi-structured group interviews were conducted with a total of seven participants. Given the exploratory, in-depth design of the study and the small sample size, the findings should be interpreted with caution and are context-specific. Content analysis results show that external spatial constructions of Marxloh shape not only society's view of the district, but also the self-image of its residents, to the extent that stigmatizing narratives are internalized and reproduced. These findings highlight the urgent need to empower young people in marginalized areas, enabling them to challenge dominant narratives and express their own place-based perspectives.

📣 Keywords: Spatial Perception,Stigmatization,Youth Perspective,Interview Study

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ Places are socially constructed in public discourse.
▶️ Stigmatizing spatial constructions can have a profound influence on the lives of those affected, even leading to the internalized reproduction of dominant narratives.
▶️ Spatial intersectionality, at the intersection of class, migration and gender, shapes perception, participation and identity within society as a whole.

Supplementary Material: https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/938/451

23/10/2025

🔔📣📢📖 EJG PAPER ALERT! [Vol.16(2)]
▶️The R-G Differential: A Policy Instrument for German Federal States to Explore Fiscal Policy Potentials?
▶️ by Christopher Meyer, Hans-Eggert Reimers & Laima Gerlitz (Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences: Technology, Business Design, Philipp-Müller-Str. 14, 23966 Wismar, Germany)
▶️ https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/913

📗📖✏️ Abstract: This paper examines the role of the R–G Differential—the gap between interest rates (R) and economic growth (G)—as a fiscal policy instrument for Germany’s Federal States. While widely studied at the national level, its implications for subnational fiscal sustainability remain underexplored. Building on Domar’s debt dynamics framework, the study calculates state-level R–G Differentials using official budget data from 2013–2023 and classifies states into three distinct fiscal groups. Results show that most Federal States (Länder) experienced periods of r < g, indicating favourable conditions for debt sustainability, yet this potential has not been systematically integrated into fiscal planning. The findings suggest that the R–G Differential could serve as a complementary benchmark to existing fiscal rules, enhancing medium-term planning and resilience under the constraints of Germany’s debt brake and EU fiscal framework. The paper concludes that incorporating R–G monitoring into Federal State-level reporting would not only improve transparency and comparability but also support a more nuanced, forward-looking approach to fiscal policy.

📣 Keywords: Fiscal Policy,Sustainable Debt,Stability Council,Primary Balances,Domar-Model,German Federalism

📣 Research Highlights:
▶️ Demonstrates that favourable R–G conditions allow higher expenditures, including for growth-oriented policies, without necessarily conflicting with debt brakes or fiscal sustainability.
▶️ Positions the R–G Differential as a practical monitoring tool, offering early warnings on the sustainability of fiscal paths and the justification for debt-financed investments.
▶️ Highlights the value of embedding rolling R–G projections into annual budgets to anticipate fiscal pressures and seize policy opportunities.
▶️ Proposes forecast-based integration of r and g estimates into ex-ante budget planning, enabling a probabilistic and adaptive fiscal framework towards sustainable public households.

18/10/2025

❓Are you working on a research paper about geography education, digital learning, or teaching controversial topics?

📣 The European Journal of Geography is inviting submissions for its new Special Issue [SI_TGEO]:
🌍 Teaching Geography for a World in Transition: Powerful Teaching in Uncertain Times

We are looking for work that shows how geography teaching helps students think critically, understand global change, and engage with complex issues.
🔹 Topics include (but not limited to):
✔️ Controversial topics in geography (e.g. migration, climate justice, war)
✔️ Decolonising curricula
✔️ Pedagogies for complexity & digital education
✔️ Spatial thinking, AI & epistemic uncertainty
✔️ Geography’s role in critical citizenship

🗓 Submission deadline: 31 December 2025
🔗 More details: https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/announcement/view/22
🔗 Submit here: https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/about/submissions

🖊️ Guest Editors:
▪️ Dr. Neli Heidari (University of Bremen, Germany)
▪️ Dr. Uwe Krause (Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands)
▪️ Dr. Dr Susan Caldis (Macquarie University, Australia)
▪️ Prof. dr. Tine Beneker (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
📘 EJG Editor:
▪️ Dr. Alexandros Bartzokas-Tsiompras (EUROGEO & National Technical University of Athens, Belgium & Greece)