Integrating ‘The Triangle of Geography, Geology, and Geophysics’ into Sustainable Development

In the context of tackling climate change in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, HRH Prince El-Hassan bin Talal has called for an integrated approach to human and natural resources management that takes account of “the triangle of geography, geology, and geophysics”. The lack of application of geoscientific knowledge to sustainable development issues is surprising given that advancing human progress lies at the roots of modern geoscience and aligns with the intellectual mindsets and technical skills that geoscientists are trained in. Applying this Earth Science toolkit to the challenges of long-term sustainability will require the global geoscience community to repurpose its principles and practices. In particular: (1) better communicating what geoscientists know and do, and how that is socially useful; (2) reaching out to other disciplines more engaged in sustainability issues; and (3) re-designing Earth science education and training programs to place sustainability and human wellbeing at the heart of a 21st-century geoscientist’s professional purpose