Erling Kagge: ‘We are all explorers of the world’

The Spanish Geographical Society (SGE) has passed its first quarter of a century of existence, consolidating the long tradition of exploration in Spain. Founded in 1997, its main objective was to revitalise geography and travel, the exploration of the planet, the dissemination of scientific knowledge and ecological awareness.

In its almost three decades of existence, its cultural project has brought together people from all walks of life in the common interest of recovering the memory of the great Spanish explorers and discoverers, as well as making the world aware of the current contributions of Spanish geographers and travellers.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the annual awards, which are aimed at individuals and institutions from all fields of geographical research, including historians, palaeontologists, doctors, adventurers and philosophers. The awards ceremony has already become an essential event in the cultural life of Madrid and Spain. This was emphasised by the president of the SGE, Juan Ignacio Entrecanales, when he declared that ‘these awards are for all those who have a vocation to understand and change the planet we live on’. 

This was also endorsed by the first Spanish astronaut, Michael López-Alegría, and the fourth in the world with the most space flights behind him, as well as holding the NASA record for extravehicular activities outside the space station. Awarded the Prize of Honour, in his opinion, ‘we are experiencing a turning point in manned space flight’ with the incorporation of numerous private companies. 

The Norwegian Erling Kagge, International Prize, went further: ‘We are all explorers of the world, but the inherent impulse to discover for ourselves what lies beyond the horizon is being domesticated’. For him, the first person to complete the three-pole challenge (North Pole, South Pole and Everest), his great discovery was the transformative power of silence during his solo walk across the South Pole for fifty endless days and nights. There he discovered the power of silence itself, because ‘the brain is bigger than the firmament’. 

Mountain athlete Kilian Jornet, winner of the Trip of the Year Award, advocated turning sporting activities into scientific acts. Author of the extraordinary feat of completing the ascent of the 82 mountains over 4,000 metres in the Alps in less than 20 days, his experience was useful for physiological research to verify the human body's reaction to this type of extreme challenge. He also emphasised the environmental dimension of the project, recording the enormous magnitude of the changes that are taking place at a rapid pace in our mountain systems.

The SGE 2024 National Award went to the oceanographer, biologist and ecologist Xavier Pastor, who has dedicated a large part of his life to working at sea and defending it. Founder of Greenpeace Spain, he recognised that ‘the award gives me a few extra grams of political capital to try to continue influencing some political decisions, in times that are anticipated to be very difficult’.

The biologist and editorial director of the journal Nature, Erika Pastrana, is the winner of the Communication Award, for the merits of her publications, which constitute a large database open to researchers. Herself the daughter of a married couple of scientists, Erika Pastrana is considered one of the world's great popularisers of science, a member of the select group of scientists who decide which research is to be disseminated on a mass scale. 

María del Carmen Martin Rubio, Research Award winner, specialising in the History of the Americas, is one of the leading experts on Inca Peru, having discovered, among other findings, the burial crypt of the last Andean monarch, Paullu Inca; the Cusco affiliation of the carving of the Lord of the Earthquakes, Sworn Patron of Cusco, and the real name of Macchu Pichu: Patallacta. He also found the book by Juan de Betanzos, thought to be lost, which was the starting point for much research into the Incas. 

A long and enthusiastic ovation from the packed auditorium of the Mutua Madrileña, where the ceremony was held, welcomed the award of the SGE 2024 Image Prize to the painter and sculptor Antonio López. In the work of this great and indisputable contemporary artist, his urban landscapes, afterlife physical space, are settings full of history, memory and a human presence that can be perceived on every street corner, on every illuminated façade and in the atmosphere of the city that breathes. In a time marked by immediacy, his work reminds us of the value of contemplation, of waiting, of the deep link with the environment. With his characteristic humour and modesty, Antonio López declared: ‘After everything I have seen here today, so fantastic, I think my adventure has taken place in just a few rooms’. 

Finally, the recovery of the Iberian lynx was recognised with the Initiative/Business Award, as an example of how cooperation and commitment between people and institutions can reverse the fate of species threatened with extinction. The effort has made it possible to increase the population from just 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022, and even to estimate the lynx population at 2,000 today. Moreover, as it is a native and unique species of the Iberian Peninsula, its conservation generates the simultaneous maintenance of a rich biodiversity of fauna and flora.

As a common denominator, all the winners defended the importance of science and scientific dissemination for the preservation of the environment and a more innovative future, while encouraging the Spanish Geographical Society to continue along the path it began at the end of the last century.