"I present this paper from the perspective of my position as President of the International Geographical Union (IGU), an organization that celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, 2022.  I begin with a brief outline of the history of the IGU and its emergence as a founding member of what was then called the international Research Council.  The IGU has flourished into a vibrant international organization that represents geographers, and the discipline of geography, globally. The presentation highlights the importance of internationalism and analyses recent trends in internationalism in global science more generally and in geography in particular. In describing the basic structure and strategy of the IGU, its relevance and role within the global community of science emphasizes the opportunities (and responsibilities) for geographers.  in closing, I contemplate the future of geography and its potential role in accelerating progress towards achievement of the sustainable development goals." Michael E Meadows

Michael Meadows is Professor in the School of Geography and Ocean Sciences at Nanjing University and is a Senior Research Scholar in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town, where he was Head of Department from 2001-2017. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Sussex and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. Meadows has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed research articles and edited several special editions of international journals. More substantial works include the co-edited Southern African Geomorphology (Sun, 2012) and Geomorphology and Society (Springer, 2016) and he is currently co-editing volumes entitled Research Directions, Challenges and Achievements of Modern Geography (Springer) and Geography of the Anthropocene (Istanbul University Press). His research interests lie broadly in the field of physical geography and more specifically concern Quaternary environmental change and the geomorphological and biogeographical impacts of geologically recent natural and anthropogenic changes. He has a particular passion for fieldwork and discovering new and interesting places. Meadows was Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (IGU) from
2010-18 and was elected as IGU President for the period 2020 to 2024. He is a Fellow of the Society of South African Geographers (2000), of the Royal Geographical Society (2016), of the Royal Society of South Africa (2016), of the African Academy of Sciences (2019), of  Academia Europaea (the European Academy) and, in May 2022, was elected as foreign Fellow of the Geographical Society of China. He is a devoted trail-running enthusiast, especially with the family’s two beloved labrador retrievers, as well as enjoying regular road-cycling and hiking in the mountains around Cape Town.