WHEN: Until Friday 2 July (daily 10am-5pm)
WHAT: The Creative Compass
The compass and imagination have been essential tools for geographers, explorers and travellers over the centuries; resulting in maps and illustrations of encounters and 'discoveries' that connect the world's peoples, places and environments. Now, the RGS's collections of over a million maps and atlases, the earliest dating back 400 years, have provided starting points for artists Agnes Poitevin-Navarre and Susan Stockwell's new commissions. Their engagement with the Society, and its collections, reveal the map and mapping as a format through which to explore the power, authority and hidden narratives that histories of mapping have produced.
WHERE: Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), 1 Kensington Gore, LONDON, SW7 2AR (Tube: South Ken)
PRICE AND INFO: Free. Find out more on the Royal Geographical Society website

WHEN: 12-14 July
WHAT:Boundaries and Water workshop at the International Boundaries Research Unit
In one form or another, water – or the absence of water – plays a major role in nearly every international boundary setting. Three quarters of the world’s land boundaries follow rivers for at least part of their course, and many also pass through lakes and/or swamps, creating numerous practical boundary-making challenges. There are more than 260 international river basins and at least 273 transboundary aquifers, many of which are not being managed or shared responsibly. The effects of climate change pose even greater challenges for transboundary water management strategies. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in 2008: “The consequences for humanity are grave. Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.” This innovative workshop is designed to assist governments in developing effective strategies for both the delimitation of international boundaries in fresh watercourses and the peaceful management of transboundary waters.
WHERE: IBRU, Durham University, DURHAM, DH1 3LT
PRICE AND INFO:  £1,650 (including accommodation and meals). For more information go to the IBRU website

WHEN: Wednesday 28 July (2.30-4pm)
WHAT: Libyan Collections Display
Part of an ongoing series of Collections Showcases led by the RGS collections team, these daytime events are the ideal way to learn more about and see highlights of the Society's unique collections. This particular event is a chance to explore the Society's Libya-related collections. From selected photographs by Rosita Forbes, one of England's first female explorers, to nineteenth century maps and rarely-seen 1920s lantern slides by British desert fanatic Ralph Bagnold, this is a perfect opportunity to view this diverse collection at first-hand.
WHERE: Meet at the Exhibition Road reception at 2.30pm, Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), 1 Kensington Gore, LONDON, SW7 2AR (Tube: South Ken)
PRICE AND INFO: Free to members and educational users, non-members need to pay £5 in advance. For more information or to book a place call 020 7591 3044 or email showcase@rgs.org

WHEN: 24 July - 31 October
WHAT: Volcano: Turner to Warhol
Coincidentally opening just as Iceland's disruptive volcano subsides, this exhibition celebrates the extraordinary artistic outpourings that volcanic eruptions have triggered over the past five centuries. The exhibition includes early engravings, showing imagined cross-sections of the fiery centre of the earth, to an explosive series of paintings by Joseph Wright, Andy Warhol, and J M W Turner (who never actually saw an eruption for himself but instead was inspired by first-hand accounts and diagrams in adventurers' notebooks).
WHERE: Compton Verney (nr STRATFORD-UPON-AVON), Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ
PRICE AND INFO: £8 for adults, £6 for concessions, £2 for children aged 5 to 16, free for under 5s. Admission price allows access to all the gallery's permanent exhibitions too. For more information call 01926 645500 or take a look at the Compton Verney website