New educational video series on Icelandic eruptions recognised in three of the UK’s most prestigious Geography educational awards
A University of Leicester volcano expert is part of a team that has won a trio of awards for a series of videos on Icelandic eruptions, and how scientists forecast and manage them.
‘Isle of Fire | Lessons in Volcanic Hazard Management from Heimaey to Grindavik’, an educational video series for secondary schools, developed in collaboration with leading volcanoes experts and communities in Iceland, has received national acclaim with multiple awards from the UK’s Geography teaching community.
Developed by the open-access educational outreach project Time for Geography, Isle of Fire provides an unprecedented 50-year perspective of one of the most important eruptions in the history of volcanic hazard management: the 1973 eruption on the island of Heimaey in southwest Iceland. With current volcanic activity on the Reykjanes peninsula threatening major population centres for the first time since 1973, Isle of Fire illustrates how knowledge gained through this unique long-term case study directly informs eruption forecasting and modern hazard management strategies.
The University Leicester contributed to the series through the involvement of Dr Marc Reichow from the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, who provided expert input on volcanic processes and hazard response. He also appeared on screen in the first two episodes, helping to explain key scientific concepts and their relevance to current volcanic activity.
“I was honoured to be invited to take part in this series and glad to contribute my expertise to help create it. Professionally filmed by the Time for Geography team, the videos are truly inspirational, portraying volcanic eruptions from multiple angles and showing their wider impacts beyond land destruction. The high student engagement in the workshops highlights the significance and success of this important initiative,” says co-presenter Dr Marc Reichow.
“The key to this project were the invaluable contributions of a unique collaboration of leading volcanologists and hazards experts, as well as those who were there at the time, experiencing, filming and photographing the eruption. This enabled us to bring the events and their scientific significance to life on screen, with previously untold stories, never-before-seen footage and new insights,” says series producer and presenter Dr Rob Parker.
The series is underpinned by four years of published academic research by co-presenter Dr Rhian Meara, Swansea University, and significant contributions from a wider community of volcanoes experts: co-presenter Professor Janine Kavanagh uses cutting edge laboratory techniques to recreate the eruption in the University of Liverpool volcanoes laboratory, co-presenter Dr Marc Reichow, University of Leicester provides expert insights into the physical process of the eruption, and co-presenters Dr Jane Boygle and Dr Iestyn Barr, Manchester Metropolitan University show how lessons from Heimaey enable communities to manage real volcanic crises today.
As a definitive case study to support Geography teaching in secondary schools, the series has been recognised with the following awards:
The Geographical Association 2025 Silver Publishers Award: The entire series was recognised with this rare commendation for resources of exceptional quality deemed to make a significant contribution to geography education.
The Geographical Association 2025 Highly Commended Publishers Award: A virtual student conference based around the series was recognised with this award for significant contributions to geographical education and professional development.
The Scottish Association of Geography Teachers 2024 Resource Award: As Time for Geography’s flagship project of 2024, the Isle of Fire series was recognised as part of this wider award celebrating Time for Geography’s impact on Geography education in Scotland.
This open-access, feature-length series is made possible thanks to the fantastic support of Time for Geography’s community of partners, with special acknowledgement to education travel partner Rayburn Tours who facilitated an intensive campaign of filming to capture the physical and human geography of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, rich in volcanic processes and landforms.
“We would like to thank the community of Vestmannaeyjabær for their fantastic support and valuable contributions to this project. It has been a privilege to help bring Heimaey’s story to life for a new generation in school classrooms.” says series co-author and presenter Dr Rhian Meara.
- Isle of Fire | Lessons in Volcanic Hazard Management from Heimaey to Grindavík
Explore the eruption’s causes, impacts, and the responses to it, and how lessons learned in the days to decades following this event have helped us better predict, prepare for and manage volcanic eruptions today.