From August 17 to 22, 2025, the 32nd International Cartographic Conference (ICC) took place in Vancouver, Canada, under the theme “Mapping the Future: Innovation, Inclusion, & Sustainability.” With a total of 743 participants from over 60 countries and 498 scientific contributions, the ICC represents the world’s most significant international conference in the field of cartography.

The Cartography team from the Department of Geography at Ruhr University Bochum also took part with several presentations: Annika Korte, Katrin Reichert, and Dennis Edler presented current research findings on Virtual Reality (VR), spatial cognition, artificial intelligence (AI), and theoretical approaches to cartography.

• Annika Korte: Differences in navigation behavior between head-mounted display and desktop presentation
• Katrin Reichert: Using physiological measurement to investigate fear in virtual geographical spaces
• Dennis Edler:
  • Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) in Geography Lessons in Schools – A Case Study from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • A Theoretical Framework for Fallibilism and Generative AI in Cartography
  • Cartographic Vocabularies and Their Redescription – A Contribution to Neopragmatic Cartographic Theory

In addition to his presentations, Dennis Edler also chaired a session on GeoAI. Furthermore, Annika Korte received a Scholarship Award from the International Cartographic Association (ICA) in recognition of early-career researchers.

The conference provided numerous opportunities for international exchange on current developments in cartography and geoinformation sciences. The contributions from Bochum attracted great interest and enhanced the international visibility of the Department of Geography’s research activities. The next ICC will take place in Warsaw in 2027