Geography and environmental science

Abstract

Geography is one of the oldest academic disciplines with a strong holistic approach in conceptualizing the interaction between nature and society, i.e. animate and inanimate parts of the environment. Over time, geography has been increasing and improving its conceptual and terminological abilities for studying and understanding complex relationships among environmental systems. For this reason, geography has advanced from a well-known science about nature and society into a relevant science about the environment. The increased awareness about ecological crises creates conditions in which knowledge, theory, and practice of environmental geography have a perspective to grow and develop. Besides, society has been interested in environmental problems today more than ever before, and these problems, in many countries, have been ranked to be existentially and developmentally the most important. This perception of environmental problems contributes to the need for growth of scientific and practical interest for the state of surrounding and for further scientific and social affirmation of environmental geography.

Geografija je jedna od najstarijih nauka sa izraženim holističkim pristupom u konceptualizaciji interakcije prirode i društva, živog i neživog u životnoj sredini. Vremenom ona sadržinski i pojmovno, uvećava i usavršava sposobnost istraživanja i tumačenja složenih relacija u sistemima životne sredine. Tako je geografija od prepoznatljive nauke o prirodi i društvu postala i relevantna nauka o životnoj sredini. Porast svesti o ekološkoj krizi stvara uslove u kojima nauka, teorija i praksa geografije životne sredine ima perspektivu rasta i razvoja. Uostalom, društvo nikad nije bilo toliko zainteresovano za pitanja životne sredine kao što je to slučaj danas, a u mnogim zemljama se ovi problemi rangiraju kao egzistencijalno i razvojno najznačajniji. Ovakva percepcija problema životne sredine doprinosi potrebi rasta naučnog i praktičnog interesovanja za stanje okruženja, ali i dalju naučnu i društvenu afirmaciju geografije životne sredine.