Fashion Revolution Week

Fashion Revolution Week is this week. It starts today (which is also Earth Day).

It also takes in the 24th of April - the 13th anniversary of the collapse of Rana Plaza.

CONSCIOUS FASHION IS A COLLECTIVE MISSION

This year, our campaign aims to re-ignite hope. With over eleven years of campaigning, the revolution needs the collective more than ever.

We are all accountable, but we are tired: tired of claims that are misleading, of leaders’ promises that lead us to nowhere, of information overload. We are all together in this collective mission – for a clean, fair, safe, transparent and ethical fashion industry, and that brings hope.

We want this year’s Fashion Revolution Week to reclaim the collective: standing united as one voice. As a movement we’re going back to our roots, and we’re asking fashion revolutionaries to do the same. Seek connection, ask questions, and take to the streets – for both a better fashion industry and for future generations that follow in our footsteps.

Check out the resources and research reports and do something fashion related with students. 

It's a perfect example of Everyday Geographies in action.

China's SHEIN village

China has several towns which are famous for the production of particular items, just as cities in the UK used to be connected with particular industries e.g. textiles in Manchester, hats in Luton etc.

SHEIN is one of the most popular websites for buying low cost (and therefore low quality) items. 

There is a town in China which dedicates a great deal of manufacturing to producing items for this website.

This is a useful video describing the impact this has:

Thanks to Fiona Sheriff for the lead to this particular video.

Perfect for our unit on Fast Fashion with Year 8.

A new image of Earth from Space

Via Artemis II.

Chippy Tea?

Growing up in Yorkshire, Friday was generally "chippy tea" night.

We were lucky to have some decent chippies in the village where I grew up. My parents' house was at one stage about 2 minutes walk from the XL Chippy which was decent and did scallop fish cakes - which any northerner will tell you is NOT a fishcake. 

I checked on Street View and it's now a seafood restaurant upstairs.

Image: Alan Parkinson

I've got a reasonable collection of food-related books that reference the cultural importance of fish and chips as part of our identity, but also a meal that we owe to migrants: Portuguese and Jewish amongst others, as well as the arrival of the potato from South America and the risks taken by fishing boats in the waters around Iceland or even further north.

It's worth exploring the story of Fish and Chips.

I've produced a resource on this topic, which I've shared previously elsewhere.

It needed a little update for the 2026 situation.... and I've now completed that.

Fish and Chips - Have They Had Their Chips - 2026 by Alan Parkinson

There's an associated sheet here.

   

Fish and Chips by Alan Parkinson

A new resource which includes more details on the enquiry around this topic will be released in a few months' time as well.

Happy Finland

Last Friday was World Happiness Day....

And the World Happiness ratings for 2026 were revealed - and once again the Nordic countries are the happiest in the world, taking 5 of the top 6 slots, with just Costa Rica sneaking into the mix.

This BBC Travel piece explores what makes the Nordic countries so happy.

Iceland has gone up to 2nd place as well, which is good news.

Links with the Discover the World Education resource on the Happy Nordics.

It was not such good news for the UK.

Norwich: a fine city

Norwich has taken top spot in the Sunday Times' best place to live in the UK list for 2026.

My daughter lives there, and it's one of the places that I am considering with my wife for where to retire to. So don't tell everyone how nice it is... too late...

Here's a BBC article suggesting seven reasons why it's such a good place to live.

Here's a Radio Norfolk clip on BBC Sounds.

One for our Y7 unit explaining what makes places feel like home.... 

400 000 page views

Another milestone reached... thanks for visiting and reading!

360 tour of a Primark factory in Bangladesh

Used this again today to explain how Primark can price their clothes competitively and show inside a clothing factory...

IAPS National Geography Conference 2026

 IAPS National Geography Conference 2026

Peter King, who co-ordinates geography activity for the IAPS, has moved the date of the annual geography conference to Thursday 21 May 2026. This gives more time for people to book onto the event.

It will still be held at the lovely location of Beeston Hall on the north Norfolk coast, so we can take advantage of our location in the afternoon with a session on fieldwork led by Jon Cannell (Geographical Association).

The morning session will include a talk from Alan Parkinson (that’s me)…. (author, head of geography at King’s Ely Prep and Vice President: Education of the Royal Geographical Society) who will talk about curriculum development and Peter King will plan to share some ideas that have accelerated and improved learning in the classroom.

Here’s the title slide of my slide deck for my workshop. It will be modelled on my GeoLincs session from today.

We plan to kick off the day at 9.30am and finish around 4pm.

The cost of the day is £199 for IAPS members and £250 for non-member schools.

You can contact Peter King at the school, or click the link on the IAPS website.

Farmers for Schools

We were delighted to welcome local arable farmer, Luke Abblitt, to King's Ely Prep last week.
Luke - also known as 'Farmer Luke' on Instagram - is based near Ramsey, and is a 'Farmers for Schools Ambassador' for the NFU (National Farmers'​ Union).


Helen Melville, my colleague, invited Luke into school to talk to Year 7 pupils, as part of our 'Food for Thought' topic.

Helend said: 

"Luke spoke to us about his crops, what he can grow and when, and he explained his modern crop rotation to us. Luke discussed some of the issues facing modern farming, and how he tries to overcome these; in particular the problem of excess potatoes that he has at the moment, which was really relevant to our recent work on the rising costs of fish and chips.

"We had the opportunity to ask loads of questions about many aspects of farming, which Luke answered with detail and enthusiasm. Luke was very impressed with all the questions, and how keen and interested our pupils were. Thank you to Luke for sparing us some time in his very busy schedule!"

Image: Jordan Day

FutureGuessr

One for KS3 perhaps, or Geography Club... 

Thanks to Joshua Peake for the tipoff to this website on LinkedIn.

This is produced in France.

What if no landscape on Earth was recognisable anymore? 

Inspired by popular geography games like GeoGuessr (65 million players worldwide) and OpenGuessr, FutureGuessr adopts similar mechanics: the player is dropped somewhere in the world in a 360° environment and must guess their location. 

But here, it’s no longer today’s world. 

The landscapes reflect a future where global warming reaches or exceeds +2.7°C by 2100, according to intermediate to high IPCC scenarios. This future, transformed by the consequences of climate change, remains possible if policy efforts fail to drastically and rapidly reduce human-generated greenhouse gas emissions.

Come and join me on the RGS Education Committee

Nominations are now invited from Fellows for Committee positions to be elected in June 2026.

Please note, there are no Council positions up for election in 2026, but the positions on committees are as follows:

• Research and Higher Education Committee - Chair of the Annual Conference 2027 (to serve on the committee June 2026-June 2028, a two-year term).
• Research and Higher Education Committee - Member (to serve on the committee June 2026-June 2029, a three-year term).
• Education Committee - Member (to serve on the committee June 2026-June 2030, a four-year term).
• Professional Practice Committee - Member (to serve on the committee June 2026-June 2030, a four-year term).
• Expeditions and Fieldwork Committee - Member (to serve on the committee June 2026-June 2030, a four-year term).

The expertise and interests of Council and committee members represent the main areas of RGS activity and bring a breadth of experience from the wider world. The positions provide a valuable opportunity to contribute to the Society’s activities and serve as a direct influence on its strategic direction.

Nominations for candidates with the following key skills/expertise areas would be welcomed:

• Research and Higher Education Committee - Chair of the Annual Conference 2027: a senior, leading, internationally-renowned scholar.
• Research and Higher Education Committee - Member: Expertise in research leadership and impact in geography with in-depth knowledge of the Society’s research groups and their ethos.
• Education Committee - Member: Practical expertise, skills and knowledge as an established geography teacher and head of department at secondary level in either the maintained or private sector.
• Professional Practice Committee - Member: Active interest in higher-level skills training for those in the professional practice, including, but not limited to, professional development courses, apprenticeships and micro-credentials.
• Expeditions and Fieldwork Committee – Member: Expertise in purposeful travel and exploration, strategic approaches to community growth and knowledge mobilisation through creative or civic channels.

We are looking for a range of experience, genders, ethnicities, and ages to apply for these roles. 

If you are wondering whether any of the positions are right for you, or you have any queries, please contact the Director's Office.

I'm also happy to respond to any queries from people who are thinking of putting themselves forwards for the Education Committee role.

You'll be working with a fine bunch of geographers.

The deadline is 5.00pm on Thursday 19 March 2026 and all nominations should be sent to the Director, preferably via email: director@rgs.org

Full guidance and information on the nomination process

BETT 2026 Awards - a win for CoastCraft!

At the BETT Awards 2026, CoastCraft was awarded Best Secondary Digital Learning Product. Congratulations to all the team involved!!

From the description:

CoastCraft is an educational game developed for Minecraft Education Edition (MEE) by Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency, as part of the £200m Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme. Supported by Microsoft and aimed at students aged 9-14, it aligns with Key Stage 2 and 3 of the National Curriculum and introduces learners to coastal processes, climate change, and sustainable decision-making.

Set in Bude, Cornwall, the game uses real-world data and future modelling to simulate environmental scenarios. Students explore erosion, dune ecosystems, and coastal adaptation through two minigames, then take on the role of a coastal manager in the main game. They make strategic choices, from present day to 2060, receiving feedback and sustainability scores based on the social, economic and environmental impacts of their actions or inactions.

CoastCraft is learner-led, supports inquiry-based learning, and includes a virtual careers fair in the endgame. It builds on the success of Rivercraft and Rivercraft 2, and is accessible globally via MEE, which used in over 40,000 school systems.

By combining immersive gameplay with curriculum relevance and real-world application, CoastCraft fills a gap in climate education and empowers students to explore the complexities of climate and coastal resilience.

I am proud to have been part of this project and to have worked on the Teacher Pack that goes along with the game to help its use in the classroom. See the game and the additional resources here.

Earth NullSchool - now available as an app

Earth NullSchool is probably in the top five websites I've used in my teaching over the years, alongside sites like Digimap for Schools and Google Earth.

It is now available as an app for iOS and Android.

It works perfectly in landscape or portrait format on your device, and has all the same features as the desktop / web browser version.

GA Conference 2026 - programme now published

The price will rise in the New Year, so secure yours now. 

And you'll have a chance to see a double-act with me and Matt Podbury - worth the price alone! See you in Sheffield!

You can now browse the programme here... this session looks awesome.

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