Geografie 2002, 107, 50-62
Czech Geography and Environmental Issues after 1989
The contribution brings the author's personal views and attempts reflecting some of the important events, outcomes and trends in the Czech geography dealing with environmental issues in the first period after the 1989 turnover. The environmental issues permanently provide a large and significant - but after 1989 much more open and challenging - arena to geography. The author illustrates and tries to stress in a critical way based on several selected examples and activities that both geography / geographers activities and geographical studies / aspects / approaches did not effectively use this opportunity nor did they penetrate into the newly evolved and newly forming science and practice policies. On the contrary, the Czech geography's position in terms of environmental issues can be seen as defensive and therefore also weakening, especially in comparison with the development in the former German Democratic Republic, Poland and Slovakia. For instance, the Institute of Geography, Czechoslovak Academy of Science, which prepared and published the unique Atlas of Environment and Population Health of Czechoslovakia (1992) was abolished. Geography, however, must not resign from its role and ambitions to be one of the very important, maybe key disciplines dealing with the environmental issues.
