Co-chaired by Eric Losang and Vít Voženílek, the session examined print and digital atlases as tools for communicating environmental and social data. It praised the Atlas of Sustainability for presenting scientific information through accessible, policy-relevant visual narratives, and discussed interactive mapping, real-time data, user-centered design, and tensions around authority and coherence in participatory cartography. It proposed further collaboration and invited future-session proposals on thematic and national atlases and their use in higher education.
The ICA Commission on Atlases published The Atlas Cookbook – 10 ingredients how to edit an atlas, a management-level guide for initiating and delivering atlas projects. Its ten chapters cover organization and marketing, editorial work, atlas use, content, data management, multimedia, interface and layout, map design, interactive functions, prototyping, and evaluation. Addressed to atlas makers and cartographers, it applies chiefly to digital technologies but also to print; a free digital edition and 200 printed copies were produced.
The ICA Commission on Atlases announced a workshop for 12–13 December 2019 at the Technical University of Munich to discuss a proposed UN Sustainability Atlas, atlas-definition criteria, an “Atlas Cookbook,” and a planned 2020 Madrid meeting. A separate report records that the Commission on Cartography and Children co-organized a specialist workshop and three technical sessions at ICC 2019 in Tokyo, and coordinated the Barbara Petchenik Children’s World Map Awards exhibition and judging.
The ICA Commissions on Atlases and on Education and Training announced a joint meeting and workshop, “Atlases and Education – Concepts for the Future,” at ETH Zurich on 1–2 September 2016. The planned programme combined keynote and state-of-the-art presentations with discussion of future atlas and educational concepts, alongside visits to Zurich’s map library and local sites.
At the Beijing workshop on borderlands modelling, held 5–6 December 2013, Atlas Commission chair Peter Jordan welcomed participants and led a cartographic session; attendees advocated multidisciplinary use of cartography, geoinformatics, GIS and remote sensing. The Early Warning and Crisis Management Commission reported presentations and workshops in Budapest, Kaifeng, Kuala Lumpur, Wuhan and Novosibirsk, and contributions to The Value of Geoinformation for Disaster and Risk Management. Malaysian discussions addressed vulnerable groups, geospatial infrastructure and European programmes, with a future commission meeting there proposed.
In Leipzig, the ICA Commissions on Atlases and the History of Cartography and the Joint IGU/ICA group on toponymy organized a seminar on historical maps, atlases, and place names. Seventeen papers addressed place names in atlases, cartographic place-name research, and names on old maps, prompting cross-disciplinary discussion. The report states that proceedings were planned for open-access publication in the forum IfL series.
The ICA Commission on Atlases announced three events for late 2012. A Kiev conference on 13–14 September was to examine national and regional atlas concepts, border-region thematic mapping, and paper and electronic production; a Guangzhou workshop on 15–16 November would address city atlases. At Vienna’s SOMAP 2012 symposium on 22–23 November, the Commission planned a special session presenting new atlases from Central Europe and beyond within a wider programme on service-oriented mapping.
This December 2012 ICA newsletter section surveys commission meetings, workshops, publications, and plans across map projections, remote sensing, accessible and mountain cartography, web and open-source mapping, user studies, and toponymy. Reports record 2012 events in Bulgaria, Chile, China, New Zealand, Austria, and the United States; outputs included conference proceedings, training materials, laboratories, and a forthcoming tactile-cartography book. Proposed work included a practical projection guide, 2013 joint workshops, mountain-workshop proceedings, and preparations for International Map Year 2015.
On 2 July 2011, the ICA Commission on Atlases held a pre-ICC workshop at the Institut Géographique National in Vincennes, France. Fifteen presentations reviewed new or updated national, regional, city, thematic and school atlases, including digital and online projects from Switzerland, Spain, Germany, China and the Czech Republic, as well as new instalments of the Atlas of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
The ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases announced a workshop in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for 20–23 October 2010, organized with Gadjah Mada University and other Indonesian institutions. It would address recent directions in national-atlas cartography and examine how national, regional, city, and school atlases convey spatial identity through themes, layout, symbols, language, and place names. Part II of the National Atlas of Indonesia was also scheduled for presentation.
The ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases co-organized an atlas workshop and mapping seminar in Yogyakarta on 20–21 October 2010. Presentations addressed atlas information systems, national and regional identity, development planning, transnational thematic mapping, and standardization of tactile-map symbols; Volume II of the National Atlas of Indonesia was also presented. The Commission additionally co-organized the Adriatic Forum conference in Vienna on 23–24 September, where atlases were discussed as representations of regional development.
The ICA Commission on National and Regional Atlases announced an open meeting in Algiers for 8–9 October 2009. The planned first day would examine an Algerian national atlas project and comparable experience from other countries; the second would review Commission projects, chiefly progress on the Cookbook. Additional papers on expertise and experience in national atlas production were still being invited.
The ICA Commission launched a website listing its members, meetings, agenda, and links to online atlases, while requesting more link contributions. At a joint CNRA–UNGEGN meeting in Timişoara, Romania, on 9–13 September 2008, participants discussed exonyms, geographical names, and a practical guide for atlas editors. A workshop established a ten-chapter structure and identified authors for most chapters; harmonization was planned for the October 2009 meeting in Algiers.
At the ICA General Assembly in Moscow on 9 August 2007, Peter Jordan succeeded Timothy Trainor as commission chair. The commission decided to devote the next four years to preparing a methodological “cookbook” for editors of national, regional, city, and thematic atlases. An editorial board was formed to plan contents and recruit authors by January 2008, while a new website, including links to web atlases, remained under development.
For 1995–1999, the Commission on National and Regional Atlases proposed promoting atlas and atlas-information-system design, production, and use through demonstrations, guidelines, and recommendations. It also planned to develop new design and dissemination tools, exploring multimedia access and evaluating CD-ROM, online services, and other formats for integrated geographical data.
The Commission reported that proceedings of its Madrid seminar were published in June 1993 and that it had produced “Technical and Organisational Approaches to National and Regional Atlas Production.” It also participated in the Visegrad seminar. Bengt Rystedt prepared “National and Regional Atlases: the Electronic Era” for the 5th UN Regional Cartographic Conference for the Americas in January 1993, while a South American seminar was planned for August 1994.
The CNRA organized a session on national and regional electronic atlases at the 1994 ACSM/ASPRS Conference in Reno. Presentations reviewed technological and publishing trends, participatory tools, user needs, funding and marketing, an educational Ohio atlas, a nonprofit atlas-authoring system, and a proposed U.S. national atlas program. The papers were slated for a special issue of Cartographic Perspectives, while a joint seminar in India was proposed before the Barcelona Conference.
At its first meeting in Madrid, 18–22 May 1992, the CNRA reviewed national and regional atlas projects and discussed editorial practice, marketing, databases, automated production, electronic atlases, and educational use. It appointed Eva Siekierska deputy chair and Timothy Trainor secretary, and formed working groups on electronic atlases and on GIS and databases. Position papers were planned for Cologne in 1993, alongside a joint workshop in Visegrád; Spain’s IGN also intended to publish bilingual proceedings and conclusions.
For 1991–1995, the Commission proposed international collaborative study and reporting on thematic atlas cartography, editorial work, administration and financing, traditional and emerging production techniques, atlases as geographic information systems, national atlas databases, and PC atlases. B. Rystedt of Sweden was named chair, with Arpad Papp-Vary as executive supervisor.
At its 8–12 August 1990 Beijing meeting, the National Atlas Commission brought together about 40 participants from nine countries. Six sessions covered national reports, thematic and regional atlas compilation, electronic atlases, production systems, atlas information systems, and environmental applications; participants also examined more than 65 Chinese atlases and visited two Chinese Academy of Sciences institutes. About 45 papers were prepared. Members agreed to publish ICA-sponsored proceedings and planned further work on a six-chapter final report, with a 1991 meeting scheduled for Leipzig or, alternatively, Madrid.
At its 11–15 March 1989 working meeting in Stockholm and Kiruna, the National Atlas Commission heard reports from ten countries and examined technical requirements, data formats, identification codes, electronic atlases, database structures, and Swedish production facilities. It provisionally named Eva Siekierska deputy chair and outlined a Budapest technical report. The document also lists proposed Population Cartography workshops and symposia in London, Budapest, Italy, Mexico, and Bangkok.
The Commission reviewed proceedings from its first Swedish meeting, national atlas reports, and technical papers on automated production, geocoding, geographic information systems, and electronic atlases. It planned to distribute the edited proceedings in January 1990 and prepare a final report offering guidance on the transition from traditional to information-technology-based atlases, with a draft due at the 1991 ICA conference in Bournemouth. Its next meeting was scheduled for 8–12 August 1990 in Beijing.
The Commission scheduled a meeting in Stockholm for 11–15 March 1989 to prepare a technical report for the 14th International Cartographic Conference, covering national atlas production, technical systems and electronic or interactive atlases. The Inventory of World Topographic Mapping was organized as three planned volumes for publication between late 1988 and the end of 1990. Country entries compiled mapping-agency details, geodetic data, map series, references, monochrome map extracts and coverage index sheets, while generally excluding hydrographic, aeronautical and separate military editions.
For 1987–1991, the Commission on National Atlases, chaired by Dr. B. Rystedt of Sweden, was tasked with informing ICA members engaged in national atlas production, documenting technical facilities and their current uses, identifying gaps in new techniques, and encouraging further atlas production.
The IGU/ICA Joint Working Group on Environmental Atlases, chaired by D. P. Bickmore, set out plans to prepare a pilot design study, with examples, for a Digital World Base Map for Environmental Science. It also proposed presenting the plans at international meetings of related disciplines and submitting a final report to the next ICA and IGU congresses.
The IGU/ICA Joint Working Group on Environmental Atlases cancelled its planned August 1984 meeting in Caen and proposed instead to meet in Zurich, Switzerland, alongside the symposium on Geographical Data Sensing and Processing.
Chaired by F. Vásquez Maure of Spain’s Instituto Geográfico Nacional, the IGU/ICA Joint Working Group planned to continue publishing reviews and essays on environmental maps. It also proposed investigating ways to represent environmental conditions and factors, developing databases for environmental information, and establishing exchanges among IGU and ICA commissions and working groups addressing related subjects.
At its first meeting in Madrid, 10–13 October 1977, the IGU/ICA Joint Working Group on Environmental Atlases established its future scope and links with related bodies, determined principal conclusions, and discussed an initial set of regional atlases. Chaired by F. Vazquez-Maure, it planned its next meeting for London on 24–26 April 1978; the document also records Eila M. J. Campbell’s appointment as chair of the UK Cartography Sub-Committee.
The joint ICA–IGU working group, chaired by F. Vasquez Maure, proposed to collect documentation on environmental atlases and relevant maps in national, regional, and urban atlases; compare their subjects and techniques; develop production guidelines linked to national and regional atlases; and publish the results. Its initial planned tasks were to gather information on such atlases and maps and investigate the precise meaning of “environmental map.”
At its Leipzig meeting on 23–30 September 1974, the Commission heard papers on national-atlas issues and atlas projects in several European countries, including the German Democratic Republic’s atlas then in production with more than 100 maps. It discussed expanding environmental, regional, and urban mapping; assisting developing countries with atlas preparation; and encouraging cross-border atlas cooperation. The next meeting was planned for Yerevan in July 1976.
By А. Б. Багдасарян· Известия Академии наук СССР. Серия географическая(1): 131–133
Meeting in Leipzig on 23–30 September 1974, the IGU commission reviewed current and proposed national and regional atlases and discussed environmental, economic, social and cultural mapping, standardization, bibliographies, and international cooperation. Edgar Lehmann advocated planning atlases, new map types and computer use; participants also debated the definition of a regional atlas and proposed forecast maps. For its July 1976 meeting in Yerevan, the commission recommended discussion of environmental, cross-border, superregional and urban atlases.
By J. J. Klawe· Newsletter of the Canadian Committee for Geography 2(4): 2-4
At its Leipzig meeting of 23–30 September 1974, the IGU Commission reviewed national, regional, economic-planning, and urban atlas projects, including completed Belgian and Hungarian works and atlases still being produced or planned in the GDR, Poland, Spain, and West Germany. Discussion prioritized environmental and urban mapping, greater attention to regional atlases, assistance to developing countries, and cross-border cooperation. The Commission planned to meet next in Yerevan in 1976; the reporter praised the organization but found most technical visits insufficiently detailed.
Chaired by Edgar Lehmann, the Commission set out tasks for advancing national and regional atlas work through international cooperation, especially among neighbouring countries. It proposed improving and standardizing principal and model map types, systematically reviewing newly published atlases, maintaining a current bibliography, and assisting countries in creating atlases.
By Jacqueline Beaujeu-Garnier· Annales de Géographie 432: 152-154
At the 1968 New Delhi congress, the Commission held meetings and reviewed atlas maps and production. It examined Spanish and U.S. national atlases in preparation, reports on Soviet and Japanese atlases published in 1967, Indian mapping, and a South Asian historical atlas planned for 1971. Discussion emphasized technical and economic constraints, cartographic generalization and symbolization, while reports on expanding French regional atlases accompanied a Moscow proposal to standardize their preparation.
By Maurice E. Dumont· Bulletins de l'Académie Royale de Belgique 56: 633-635
At its Madrid plenary meeting (27–30 April 1970), the Commission reviewed national and regional atlas work, including satellite-based and computer-produced mapping, urban atlases, statistical modelling, and atlas comparability. It drafted a final report and future guidelines for review at the 1972 Montreal congress. The meeting proposed a world thematic atlas as a long-term goal, guidance for urban atlases, continued Polish bibliography work under Kondracki, and quicker bibliographic updates by Rado with members’ assistance.
By A. B. Baghdassarian; V. A. Avetissian; Z. A. Valessian; A. S. Pogossian; A. A. Tamazian· Abstracts of Papers: 21th International Geographical Congress: 379
Following presentation of a preliminary programme in Paris in 1966, the IGU working group analysed more than 100 national atlases and recommended a standardized water-resources section comprising five maps: surface water, groundwater, water use and consumption, present economic water balance, and future economic water balance. It allowed supplementary country-specific maps and reported that standard legends had been developed from materials on mountainous Armenia.
By E. Haack· Petermanns geographische Mitteilungen 111(2): 159-160
Meeting in Paris and Lyon, 26–30 April 1966, the IGU Commission on National Atlases reviewed 16 national progress reports covering atlas organization, production, content, scales, and sample maps. It also examined draft recommendations for standardizing major map themes and legends, noted growing production of regional planning atlases, and revised its 1964–68 work plan. Members were asked to promote atlas production, continue analyses and bibliography, expand international cooperation, and deepen unfinished studies before the 1968 meeting in India.
By Unknown· Bulletin de nouvelles de l'UGI 17(2): 53-56
At its fifth plenary meeting in Paris and Lyon, 25–30 April, the Commission heard 17 reports on national and regional atlas projects, reviewed an Australian report, and displayed completed and developing atlases. It highlighted the completed Atlas of Czechoslovakia and the first part of Spain’s National Atlas. Nine research papers discussed proposed map contents, standardized legends, correlations between physical-environment maps, and map–text relations; most studies remained unfinished. The agenda also included planning work through the 1968 New Delhi congress.
By Unknown· Bulletin de nouvelles de l'UGI 16(2): 73-76
At its London plenary meetings on 22–24 July 1964, the IGU Commission on National Atlases drafted its 1965–1968 work plan. It proposed supporting national and regional atlas production, standardizing subjects and legends for major map types, systematically reviewing published atlases, and updating the bibliography. Members were assigned to atlas projects and specialist groups, while exchanges and exhibitions were planned for the 1966 plenary and the 1968 International Geographical Congress in New Delhi.
The UGI Commission on National Atlases met in Budapest on 7–12 September 1962 to review national and regional atlas projects and methodological work, including Czechoslovak preparations and industrial mapping. It refined recommendations for standardizing atlas content, legends, statistics, and commentary—using Sališčev’s Les atlas nationaux as an adaptable model—and proposed better international exchange, documentation, periodic updating, and support for regional atlases. Working groups were established on population, critical atlas reporting, notes and commentaries, and statistics and industrial maps.
By Unknown· Bulletin de nouvelles de l'UGI 12(1): 42-43
Chaired by Moscow University cartographer Konstantin A. Salichtchev, the commission was tasked with supporting national atlas preparation and improving scientific standards through international cooperation. Its proposed work included standardizing major-map plans and legends, reviewing published regional atlases and national coordination practices, expanding international use of atlas documentation, and studying systematic updating, especially for rapidly changing information.
By Aldo Sestini· Rivista Geografica Italiana 67(4): 437–450
Aldo Sestini’s report surveys the population-map, thematic-map, and national-atlas exhibitions organized for the XIX International Geographical Congress in Stockholm. It compares mapping conventions and national contributions, finding no fundamentally new population-mapping methods and stressing execution, geographic context, and clear symbol scales. The atlas section assembled more than forty complete, sampled, or still-publishing works from nearly thirty states. Sestini advocated greater consistency in core subjects and representation, noting that the IGU Commission on National Atlases appeared to be pursuing this goal.
Meeting in Moscow on 11–21 August 1958, the IGU Commission on National Atlases reviewed national atlas projects and completed map sheets, and discussed atlas purposes, content, improvement, and work plans. Its resolution advocated greater standardization for comparative research and proposed monographic studies, a bibliographic centre, national advisory work, and a permanent secretariat. Chairman Prof. Salischtschew was asked to submit a summary report to the Stockholm congress.
By Срећко Николић· Гласник Српског географског друштва 39(1): 61–64
Established by the International Geographical Union in 1956 and chaired by K. A. Salishchev, the commission met in Moscow and Leningrad on 10–20 August 1958. It reviewed national-atlas projects and reaffirmed goals of improving quality, standardization, and map comparability. Proposed tasks included analysing existing and planned atlases, creating a bibliographic centre and Moscow State University secretariat, providing consultations, and preparing a report and exhibition for the Stockholm congress.
By Г. Н. Башлавина· Геодезия и картография(1): 61-66
The Commission’s first plenary meeting, held in Moscow on 11–20 August 1958, reviewed national-atlas projects in Belgium, India, Canada, Poland, the United States, France, Sweden, Britain, and the USSR, alongside studies of projections, scales, and thematic mapping. It debated atlas purpose, content, comparability, and production standards, and accepted K. A. Salishchev’s proposed definition and core sections. For the 1960 Stockholm Congress, it planned a comparative monograph with recommendations, bibliographic work, publications, consultations, and a Commission report.
Meeting in Moscow in August 1958, the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases examined how differences in map selection, mathematical frameworks, indicators, and representation hindered comparison among national atlases. Participants heard methodological reports and accounts of completed or planned atlases from several countries, moved toward common views on atlas purpose, content, and improvement, and approved Professor K. A. Salishchev’s plan for the commission’s future work.
Olof Hedbom reports on the IGU National Atlas Commission meeting in Moscow, 10–20 August 1958. It surveyed atlas projects worldwide—from completed editions to serial publications and planned works—and prepared for the 1960 Stockholm congress and exhibition. Participants set source citations, brief methodological notes, and multilingual headings as minimums, while favoring fuller map commentary. They praised Atlas över Sverige’s text and technical quality and asked Sweden to summarize national-atlas cartographic techniques for the commission’s 1960 report.
By Unknown· Bulletin de nouvelles de l'UGI 9(2): 62-63
The Commission on National Atlases planned to meet in Moscow from 1 to 20 August 1958. The excerpt identifies one of four agenda items: reports on national-atlas compilation in different countries, covering each atlas’s intended purpose, programme, and the current state of research.
By Benoît Brouillette· The Canadian Geographer 3(12): 48
This brief notice records Canadian participation in international geographical activities. N. L. Nicholson travelled to the Soviet Union for a meeting of the nine-member IGU Commission on National Atlases and visited geographers and research institutions in Moscow and Leningrad. It also notes that J. D. Chapman represented the Canadian Association of Geographers at British Association geography meetings in Glasgow that August.
By О. А. Евтеев· Геодезия и картография(10): 77-79
At its first plenary meeting in Moscow, 11–20 August 1958, the IGU Commission on National Atlases brought together participants from 16 countries to review national and regional atlas projects and discuss atlas purposes, content, cartographic methods, and preliminary studies. It endorsed K. A. Salishchev’s research plan and G. A. Ginzburg’s recommendations, then approved priorities including a comparative monograph, bibliographic centre and bibliography, project consultations, and a secretariat at Moscow University.
By Unknown· Bulletin de nouvelles de l'UGI 8(1): 7
This bilingual notice lists the composition of the Commission on National Atlases, chaired by Moscow University cartography professor Konstantin A. Salichtchev, with members based in the United States, India, Poland, Sweden, and England. It reports no activities, decisions, or publications.
Looking for studies on a specific country? Country-specific literature is listed on each national atlas page.
