Contemplating the Future for Primary Geography Education: An Irish Perspective

The major challenge for humanity in the Anthropocene is how to address the wide range of environmental, social, and economic problems that threaten our world, such as climate change, increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, food insecurity, and poverty that threaten human well-being and hinder the achievement of sustainable development. We contend that a high-quality geography education has a unique advantage both from a discipline and an interdisciplinary perspective to help citizens understand and address the multidimensional issues facing our people, places, and environment today. This chapter tracks the progression of primary geography in Ireland, its unacknowledged potential, and it advocates for the true capacity of geography to be recognized. This chapter addresses current and future challenges for primary geography education in Ireland, thus empowering geography educators to take proactive measures and inspire action.