It was with great pleasure we welcomed the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) to Norwich School last week.  It is an honour for our school to have been chosen as their host location in the East of England for their prestigious monthly lecture series. The RGS is the country’s leading society for the promotion of geography, both nationally and internationally.

The inaugural lecture took place on Thursday 7^th November in the Blake Studio.  Norwich School’s own Dr Anthony Speca, a Fellow of the RGS and a former civil servant in the Canadian Arctic, treated the audience to a lively and thought-provoking talk on ‘The moral geography of the Arctic’.

In his own words: ‘The geography of the Arctic has long been a geography of fantasies - fantasies of manly heroism, of colonial exploitation, and especially today of climate disaster and redemption. But the real Arctic has even longer been a home to indigenous peoples and other northerners. Who pays the price when our Arctic fantasies meet reality? This talk explores the moral dimensions of the Arctic, and challenges us to think afresh about this fascinating and special part of the world’.

Amongst around 150 attendees numbered Fellows of the RGS, interested members of the public, teachers and pupils from Norfolk schools, and members of the Norwich School community.

We look forward to seeing the RGS return for monthly lectures in this series. Future events will continue to take place in the Blake Studio from 7.30 to 9.00 pm, and all are welcome to attend:

• Tuesday 28^th January – Dr Mark Collins, ‘Floreana: Rebirth of an island in the Galapagos’
• Tuesday 18^th February – Mr Andrew Hayden, ‘In the footsteps of Marco Polo’
• Tuesday 17^th March – Mr Asher Minns, ‘The science of climate-change communication’
• Tuesday 2^nd April – Mr Ben Osborne, ‘Landscape and wildlife photography’