Doug Specht
@dougspecht.bsky.social
Chartered Geographer | Reader in Cultural Geography and Communication & Head of School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster | doug.specht.co.uk
University policy and students’ practical use of AI are running in different directions. Higher education needs a collaborative approach, focused on human capability, write @dougspecht.bsky.social and Gunter Saunders via @timeshighered.bsky.social ▫️ #academicsky #edusky #ai
How universities can learn to live with AI
University policy and students’ practical use of AI are running in different directions. Higher education needs a collaborative approach, focused on human capability, write Doug Specht and Gunter Saun...
timeshighereducation.com
The media often shows wildfire drama but not the long build‑up that makes these far-reaching disasters more likely — leaving the climate story incomplete. Check this insightful analysis from @dougspecht.bsky.social, www.westminster.ac.uk, @uk.theconversation.com: theconversation.com/wildfires-wh...
Wildfires: why media coverage doesn’t always make the climate connection
A wildfire can be explained by today’s barbecue, yesterday’s wind direction, a dry spring, four decades of land use change, or a century of emissions.
theconversation.com
My reflections on World Press Freedom Day 2026: geographical.co.uk/news/why-a-f...
Why a free press makes the world safer
As conflict, disinformation and authoritarianism spread, press freedom is no longer simply a media issue – it is a frontline defence against corruption, violence and global instability On 3 May 2026,...
geographical.co.uk
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Three years in, Sudan’s civil war has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced 14 million and collapsed a nation. So why does almost nobody talk about it? geographical.co.uk/news/the-war...
The war the world forgot
Three years in, Sudan's civil war has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced 14 million and collapsed a nation. So why does almost nobody talk about it?
geographical.co.uk
I'm delighted to share that I'll be speaking at the Playful Computing Conference 2026. This is a conference where play, creativity, technology and pedagogy come together. I’ll be speaking on digital creativity, and I’d love to see you there. 🔗 pcc-2026.eventbrite.co.uk
Digital tools become obsolete. Creative thinking doesn't. The thinking behind the tools matters more than the tools themselves, says @dougspecht.bsky.social from the University of Westminster #DigitalCreativity
Silence has a particular quality in the Atacama. The air is so thin and the land so vast that sound seems to dissolve. Then, on 16 March 2026, five days after Chile’s new far-right president José Antonio Kast took office, the excavators arrived. geographical.co.uk/news/the-tre...
The trench at the edge of the desert
A 520km barrier in the Atacama Desert tests the limits of migration control in South America, Doug Specht examines
geographical.co.uk
I am really pleased to announce the publication of 'Being indispensable: Capabilities for a human-AI world, the ‘FUTURES’ framework' co-authored with Gunter Saunders and published by the Higher Education Policy Institute www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/bein...
Being indispensable: Capabilities for a human-AI world, the ‘FUTURES’ framework - HEPI
New report advises universities to act now on GenAI – and to put human competency at the centre. A new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), Being indispensable: Capabilities for a...
hepi.ac.uk
Greenpeace is being treated not as a participant in democratic debate but as an enemy whose punishment will deter others. I write on how a verdict against Greenpeace could chill environmental activism. geographical.co.uk/news/how-a-v...
How a verdict against Greenpeace threatens climate activism
Doug Specht looks at a US$345 million ruling that could redefine the risks of environmental protest worldwide
geographical.co.uk
This winter’s sodden fields and overflowing drains tell a story of infrastructure and institutions built for a climate that no longer exists, struggling under the weight of too much water in the wrong place at the wrong time. geographical.co.uk/news/too-muc...
Too much rain, not enough water
Doug Specht on how we are living in the era of global water bankruptcy, and what it means for water supplies in the UK and worldwide
geographical.co.uk
Artificial intelligence is shifting from a shared commons to a strategic, controlled territory. My latest on the geopolitical fragmentation of Artificial intelligence. geographical.co.uk/geopolitics/...
Loved this piece by @dougspecht.bsky.social on the life and diversity to be found in the “dullest OS Map square” - excellent!
Trump’s Venezuela raid revives the old logic of oil, empire and the Monroe Doctrine in the 21st century geographical.co.uk/news/why-the...
Why the US seizure of Maduro echoes a century of gunboat diplomacy
US arrest of Nicolás Maduro is a Trump-led operation that revives a long history of gunboat diplomacy, oil politics and empire
geographical.co.uk
How do maps shape our perceptions of space, power, and identity? Doug Specht (University of Westminster) discusses this in a new Geography Directions blog post, reposted via The Conversation UK. Check it out here 🗺️👇 https://ow.ly/BEMK50XtABY
My thoughts on the budget, climate change, and the media. theconversation.com/the-biggest-...
The biggest climate stories often aren’t labelled ‘climate’ – so newsrooms miss them
Budgets are now climate policy. But mainstream media hasn’t caught up.
theconversation.com
The UCL admissions chaos will damage UK HE’s global reputation, writes @dougspecht.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/ucl-...
The UCL admissions chaos will damage UK HE’s global reputation
Future crises can be averted if government and universities share data and plans in a more timely and transparent fashion, says Doug Sprecht
timeshighereducation.com
The Student Guide to the Creative Studio in the Digital Age is now available #openaccess Congratulations to authors Denitsa Petrova and @dougspecht.bsky.social! Read or download for free at: www-fulcrum-org.uow.idm.oclc.org/concern/mono... #digitalcreativity #studiopractice #teachingandlearning
The academic conference no-show might feel like a minor inconvenience, but it represents evidence a growing concern with CV padding over contributions to the field wonkhe.com/blogs/the-ri...
The rise of the ghost academic
The academic conference no-show might feel like a minor inconvenience, but for Anne Tierney and Doug Specht it represents evidence a growing concern with CV padding over contributions to the field
wonkhe.com
There are major technology lessons to be learned from Google's failures during the 2023 Türkiye-Syria quake. New from me for Geographical Magazine. geographical.co.uk/news/the-per...
The peril of big tech in disaster response
There are major technology lessons to be learned from the Türkiye-Syria quake, Doug Specht explains
geographical.co.uk
Really pleased to have been able to contribute to the Vogue Business climate finance glossary. www.voguebusiness.com/story/sustai...
The UK's new ten-year industrial strategy is ambitious and well-structured, but a reliance on nuclear rather than true renewables is seeking a quick win with high risks and high costs. theconversation.com/the-uk-has-p...
The UK has published a ten-year industrial strategy to boost key sectors of the economy – here’s what the experts think
The government hopes that by focusing on sectors that drive growth it will attract investment and boost prosperity.
theconversation.com
My summary of the International Development Committee’s latest report on the UK’s Role in Upholding International Humanitarian Law and Supporting the Safe Delivery of Humanitarian Aid geographical.co.uk/news/uk-repo...
UK Report Warns Humanitarian Law Is Being ‘Hollowed Out’ Amid Rising Global Crises
Cuts to aid and politicisation of relief undermine safety, access, and accountability in conflict zones The International Development Committee’s latest report, Protection Not Permission: The UK’s Rol...
geographical.co.uk
An important new ecocide bill is being discussed in the Scottish Parliament. Damien Short and I break it down here for Geographical geographical.co.uk/news/scotlan...
Scotland's ecocide bill could set a global legal precedent
Scotland’s proposed ecocide law could make mass environmental destruction a crime – and serve as a model for international legal reform
geographical.co.uk
"The lines on our maps, and the names we give them, are not fixed truths but living artefacts of negotiation, memory and power" @dougspecht.bsky.social on cartography, geopolitics & territorial sovereignty @geographical.co.uk geographical.co.uk/news/digital...
Digital cartography on trial: Mexico sues Google for ‘Gulf of America’ label
Mexico sues Google over renaming the Gulf of Mexico ‘Gulf of America’, raising concerns about digital sovereignty and cartographic power
geographical.co.uk
In today's THE, I comment on why the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, is slashing funding in all the wrong places! www.timeshighereducation.com/news/course-...
Course cancellations ‘inevitable’ after ‘body blow’ funding cuts
Surprise reduction in funding for specialist provision will spark ‘brand new financial crisis brewed entirely in Whitehall’, critics warn
timeshighereducation.com
This argument is about more than naming rights – it reminds us of the extent to which maps don’t reflect but instead create and shape the world. geographical.co.uk/news/digital...
Digital cartography on trial: Mexico sues Google for ‘Gulf of America’ label
Mexico sues Google over renaming the Gulf of Mexico ‘Gulf of America’, raising concerns about digital sovereignty and cartographic power
geographical.co.uk
This week we celebrate 50 years since the University of Westminster launched the first BA Media degree in the UK. Follow our anniversary event for colleagues, alumni and students on Wed 21, and our international academic conference on Thu 22 and Fri 23 May, through the hashtag #UoWMEDIA50