New film by University of Derby and Time for Geography wins prestigious education award

A series of films made by the University of Derby and Time for Geography has won a 2019 Highly Commended Publishers Award from the Geographical Association – the leading subject association for all teachers of geography.

The first film looks at the physical geography of sand dunes and how they are formed, using the case study of Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve in Lincolnshire. The second examines how dune slack wetlands are created.

The Geographical Association Awards recognise geography-related resources that are considered to make a significant contribution to teaching geography in primary schools, secondary schools or colleges, and encourage the creative development of new materials.

The panel of judges were impressed by the film's originality of concept, the quality and usability of the content and the impact they are likely to make to the quality of geographical education in the UK.

Dr Sian Davies-Vollum, Head of the School of Natural Sciences, led on the project for the University of Derby, alongside Dr Howard Fox, Senior Lecturer in Geography, and Dr Toby Tonkin, Lecturer in Physical Geography.

Dr Davies-Vollum said: “The award really highlights the expertise we have here in Physical Geography. We had a great time working with Time for Geography on these videos. We were fortunate to be able to highlight the area that we go to with our first year geographers and use our drone to create stunning footage of the coast.”

The films were created with Time for Geography, an education and outreach project which creates freely available geography learning videos. The project is made up of a collaborative team of teachers, academics, developers and film-makers with a passion for geography.

Dr Rob Parker, Time for Geography Project Coordinator, added: “We are delighted to be working in collaboration with the University of Derby, to help support secondary-school geographers across the UK and beyond. These videos explore the fascinating processes at work in one of the UK's most important wetland environments, building on the world-leading expertise of Derby academics. We had a fantastic collaborative team for these videos and are thrilled that they are now receiving national recognition for excellence. We look forward to continuing working with Derby to help inspire more students to take geography further.”

The award was presented at the Geographical Association’s Annual Conference Awards Presentation at the University of Manchester on 9 April.

Find out more about studying Geography at the University of Derby.

Photo, from left to right:

• Dr Harriet Ridley (Time for Geography) - collecting award on behalf of Time for Geography and Royal Holloway University of London
• Dr Howard Fox (University of Derby)
• Dr Richard Waller (Keele University)
• Dr Rob Parker (Time for Geography) - collecting award on behalf of Time for Geography and the University of the West of England
• Dr Claire Earlie (Cardiff University)
• Dr Donald Houston (University of Portsmouth)