Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences in the Next Decade

美国国家研究委员会（National Research Council）发表《重新发现地理学》（Rediscovering Geography）一书已经过去了10年。这项研究旨在为“该学科的未来提供蓝图，建议如何加强其知识和制度基础，并满足专业人士和公众对地理专业知识的需求。”它通过关注四个领域来做到这一点：复杂系统的建模、尺度之间的相互作用、社会与自然之间的相互作用以及地理学习。在许多方面，《重新发现地理学》是这门学科的立场声明，关注的是知识机构的建设。在过去的十年里，地理学作为一门正式的学科和地理作为一个知识领域，在学院内外都经历了巨大的发展。地理科学的知名度和活力日益增强，使现在成为重新审视地理科学战略方向的适当时机。按照“重新发现地理学”的传统，国家研究委员会地理科学委员会将召开特别委员会，制定“未来10年地理科学的战略方向”。该委员会将确定有限数量的优先研究问题和方向，并展示地理科学如何在未来十年为科学和社会做出贡献。委员会将制订问题，并通过专业会议和与有关大学院系的通信，从市政厅会议中征求社会意见。在审议之后，委员会将总结迄今为止的研究进展，概述未来的挑战，并提出实现这些挑战的时间表和资源需求。委员会的结论和建议将以清晰、详实的方式呈现给地理学家、其他学科、地理知识和技术的直接使用者以及整个社会。委员会的审议工作及其报告和建议应有助于动员当代地理科学家。该委员会还将确定可能形成并因此由下一代满足的智力资本需求。一系列战略问题可以改变地理科学研究的规模，从本质上小规模的、短期的、非累积的个人练习，转变为一种协调的、战略的方法，利用长期的、往往是多学科的合作来解决对科学和社会重要的大问题。该项目预计将汇集来自地理学和相关学科广泛子领域的主要学者，强调基础地理研究的综合特征以及智力和实践效益。委员会的结论和建议还旨在向非专业人士（包括民选官员、政策制定者和决策者以及普通公众）传达地理科学基础研究的激动人心之处。

A decade has passed since the National Research Council published "Rediscovering Geography." This study aimed to provide "a blueprint for the future of the discipline, recommending how to strengthen its intellectual and institutional foundation and meet the demand for geographic expertise among professionals and the public." It did so by focusing on four areas: modeling complex systems, interactions between scales, interactions between society and nature, and geographic learning. In many ways, "Rediscovering Geography" was a position statement for the discipline, focusing on intellectual institution building. In the decade that has passed, geography as a formal discipline and geography as an intellectual domain of knowledge have undergone dramatic growth both within and outside the academy. The increased visibility and vitality of the geographical sciences make this an appropriate time to take a fresh look at strategic directions for the geographical sciences. In the tradition of "Rediscovering Geography," the Committee on Geographical Sciences of the National Research Council will convene an ad hoc committee to develop "Strategic Directions for the Geographical Sciences in the Next Decade." The committee will identify a limited number of priority research questions and directions and to show how the geographical sciences can contribute to science and society over the next decade. The committee will formulate the questions and seek community input from town hall sessions at professional meetings and through correspondence with relevant university departments. Following its deliberations, the committee will summarize research progress to date, outline future challenges, and present time-lines and resource needs for realizing the challenges. The committee's conclusions and recommendations will be presented in clear, well-illustrated ways that speak to geographers, to other disciplines, to direct users of geographic knowledge and techniques, and to society as a whole.Committee deliberations and its report and recommendations should help to mobilize the current generation of geographical scientists. The committee also will identify intellectual capital needs that may shape and therefore be met by the next generation. A set of strategic questions can change the scale of research in the geographical sciences from essentially small-scale, short-term, non-cumulative individual exercises into the sort of coordinated, strategic approach that leverages long-term and often multi-disciplinary collaborations to address large questions that matter to science and society. This project is expected to bring together leading scholars from across a broad range of the subfields of geography and related disciplines, emphasizing the integrated character of fundamental geographic inquiry as well as intellectual and practical benefits. The committee's conclusions and recommendations also will aim to communicate the excitement of basic research in the geographical sciences to nonspecialists, including elected officials, policy and decision makers, and the general public.