Z_GIS Invited to 1st Int'l Conference of APG, India!

The Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics - Z_GIS was invited to contribute to the 1st International Conference of Association of Punjab Geographers held on 4th and 5th October, 2013 in Kurukshetra, India. The theme of the conference was 'Disasters, Natural Resource Management and Socio-Economic Development' and it was hosted by the Department of Geography at Kurukshetra University, Haryana, India. The 2 days conference attracted about 400 participants, primarily Geography teachers and students, from different parts of India as well as from abroad.

Dr. Shahnawaz represented Z_GIS in the conference and gave opening presentation in the plenary session. He spoke on the theme of 'A Capacity Building Framework for Spatial Analysis of Environmental Vulnerability in Southeast Asia' and also discussed about various types of activities Z_GIS has implemented in the region under this framework during last 10 years. He also gave a lead presentation entitled 'Reliability of Census Data for Socio-Economic Analysis - A Case Study of Tribal Population in India'. The ideas conveyed through both the presentations were well received and the contributions of Z_GIS in Geospatial capacity building were highly appreciated by the organisers and the audience.

During the valedictory session, among other topics, several eminent scholars emphasised that GIS and Remote Sensing have become an integral part geography and there is a need to increase the content of these fields in geography curricula at various levels of studies.