Faculty

Social and economic geography and spatial management was recognised as an independent scientific discipline by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in 2018. Following this decision, the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning was established at the Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) on 1 October 2019 as part of the School of Social Sciences.

Even before the formal recognition, research in human geography and planning had been present at AMU since the very beginning. It was already in 1919 that the Institute of Geography became part of the Faculty of Philosophy, whereas the Seminar of Economic Geography was held from 1924 at the Faculty of Law and Economics. The combination of environmental and social issues within geography was always noticeable in the structure of the University of Poznań, which in 1955 took the name of the Adam Mickiewicz University.

The Faculty of Human Geography and Planning is a successor of the Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management established in 1981 on the initiative of Professor Zbyszko Chojnicki. It strives to continue the intellectual tradition of the Poznań school of economic geography, commonly associated with the creation of conceptual models and the application of quantitative methods, seeking at the same time to engage with newly emerging theoretical and methodological approaches.

Today, the Faculty is one of the largest urban and regional research centres in Central and Eastern Europe. It carries out studies relevant in the present-day context, contributing to the future quality of life. Research areas include, but are not limited to:

  • development of cities and metropolitan areas,
  • the changing role of agriculture and rural areas,
  • challenges of integrated strategic and spatial planning,
  • socio-economic and spatial inequalities,
  • public participation in planning processes,
  • ecosystem services,
  • mobility and transport.

The Faculty has won several Horizon 2020 projects and projects funded by the National Science Centre, the National Centre for Research and Development and others. The scientific position of the Faculty in the country is measured by a high number of publications in high-ranking journals and monographs. Also, many researchers are part of advising bodies such as the Council of Scientific Excellence, the committees of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Committee of Geographical Sciences and Committee for Spatial Economy and Regional Planning) and others. They are also regularly invited to various expert bodies at local, regional and national levels. Over the last years, the academics and PhD students of the Faculty have won numerous national awards and scholarship competitions from, e.g., the Foundation for Polish Science, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Science and Higher Education and the Minister of Investment and Economic Development.

Promotional film of the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning.