National Geography Conference-2019
“Power of Geography for National Development”
The Department of Geography together with Sri Lanka Association of Geographers (SLAG) organized the ‘National Geography Conference 2019’, under the theme of “Power of Geography for National Development”. The conference was held on 29th August 2019 at the Auditorium, Department of Economics from 9.00 am – 5.00 pm.
The prime objective of the conference was to share knowledge and experience for the betterment of the national development in the context of Geography. Geography is one of the most demanding subject, among the social sciences stream and holds a significant position both in global and local academic activities, since it has a positive link with the country’s economy, society and environment. The Geographers’ contribution in this regard are immense.
The year 2015 was a turning point in the history of the SLAG, where the association turned into a new chapter with the intention of ‘A new way forward’, electing new office bearers in Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 25th April 2015. Prof. Lasantha Manawadu, Head/Dept. of Geography, University of Colombo worked hard to re-activate the operational process of SLAG for calling an AGM to elect a new team. Since then, the SLAG has published the ‘Geography Thorathuru’ newsletter (Sinhala and Tamil languages), conducted district/regional level seminars for Advanced Level students, prepared a data base containing information of members and publications, established a website and a facebook page for SLAG, conducted advance certificate course for Advanced Level Teachers in collaboration with the Department of Geography, taken necessary steps to enhance SLAG memberships, revised the membership fees, launching the SLAG e-journal and organizing upcoming National Geography Conference-2019.
In addition, SLAG is one of the co-founding member, among the 22 Geography Associations from different Asian countries, which was established on 07th December 2018 at the 4th Asian Conference on Geography in Guangzhou, China. Accordingly, SLAG has played a remarkable role to achieve its mission and to contribute national economy. Above conference will provide an opportunity to exchange the knowledge in multifarious disciplines of Geography, among the intellectuals and students.
