Scientists from the Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine participated in the International Regional Geographical Congress, which took place from August 17 to 21, 2026 in Istanbul (Turkey) under the motto "Exploring the Earth, Connecting Worlds".
At one of the largest international forums of geographers, they presented research results dedicated to assessing the environmental state of Ukraine and landscape planning in the context of war and post-war recovery, as well as changes experienced by Ukrainian border communities due to Russian aggression.
The Congress was organized by the International Geographical Union (IGU) together with Istanbul University. Its program covered current issues of modern geography – climate change, migration and conflicts, natural disasters, globalization and localization, studies of Eurasia and the Middle East, the Anthropocene, and application of artificial intelligence in geography as well.
At the session "Land use and soil cover changes: driving forces and consequences of changes in land use/soil cover", Yevheniia Marunyak, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine, presented a collective report "Landscape Planning: Overview of Methodology and Implementation Considering the Consequences of War in Ukraine" (Yevheniia Marunyak, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine; Serhiy Lisovskyi, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine; Viktor Chekhniy, PhD in Geography, Oleksandr Holubtsov, PhD in Geography, and Yuriy Farion).
In the report, the scientists presented the results of work on combining landscape planning tools and remote sensing of the Earth for comprehensive assessment of the environmental condition of Ukraine during the war and post-war recovery. The research was conducted within the "Combined toolkit of landscape planning and remote sensing of the Earth for comprehensive assessment of the environmental condition of Ukraine during the war and post-war recovery" R&D project under the priority focus "Critical mineral technologies, issues of chemical, radiation and biological environmental monitoring and its restoration" for 2025-2026.
At the session "Border regions and communities: rethinking in the context of new global challenges and crises" of the Commission on Local and Regional Development, jointly moderated by Yevheniia Marunyak, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine, and Professor Tomasz Komornicki, Doctor of Sciences, Director of the Stanislav Leshchytsky Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, the report "Border Communities of Ukraine in the Context of Russian Aggression: Dimension of Growth and Decline" (Serhiy Lisovskyi, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine; Yevheniia Marunyak, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine) was presented.
Overall, the scientific program of the Congress combined plenary speeches, thematic and special sessions, viva-voce and poster presentations. The work was conducted in 38 specialized commissions and task groups of the International Geographical Union and covered social and physical geography, regional development, landscape and environmental studies, geoinformatics, geographical education, and a number of interdisciplinary topics.
International Geographical Union congresses serve as a platform for professional interaction among geographers from different countries, presentation of new research results, and development of international scientific cooperation. The next regional congress of the International Geographical Union will be held in Paris in 2027.
Information is provided by he Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine
