During the week in which Earth Day (April 22nd) is marked, a one-day seminar for geography teachers and professors was held on Friday, April 26th, 2024, in the amphitheater of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (PMF), organized by the Geographic Society of Republika Srpska, the Study Program in Geography of the University of Banja Luka’s Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and the Republic Pedagogical Institute of Republika Srpska. The seminar was attended by over 90 teachers and professors employed in primary and secondary schools from a large number of schools across Republika Srpska. The seminar addressed professional and methodological issues in geography education, its role in the education system, and the development of contemporary society. Participants raised a series of problems encountered in the implementation of teaching, criticisms of teaching plans and programs, textbook content and relevance, and other issues aimed at modernizing and improving the teaching process, education, and the upbringing of young people.

The seminar concluded with recommendations for initiating initiatives to improve geographical education and future teacher education. The attending geographers agreed that only through coordinated joint work of teachers, teacher training faculties, the Republic Pedagogical Institute, and the Geographic Society of Republika Srpska can positive changes be influenced in the educational system, which must respond quickly to society’s challenges in order for education to meet contemporary needs and keep pace with the times.

Author of the text: Prof. Dr. Mira Mandić