On the basis of Article 51 of the Law on higher education (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 119/06-UPB3) and the Measures for the accreditation of higher education institutions and study programmes (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 101/04) the Senate for accreditation with the Council of Higher Education of the Republic of Slovenia at its 4th meeting on 16th November 2007, adopted or gave consent to the university BA double major study programme Geography (Decree No. 2/81-2007dated 20th November 2007).

To advance to the second year, the student must collect at least 24 ECTS and the number of ECTS set by the second selected programme. To advance to the third year, the student must complete all obligations of the first year, the obligations determined by the study programme for the courses of the 2nd year in the amount of at least 24 ECTS and the number of ECTS set out by the second selected programme.

The programme does not contain parts that can be completed individually.

The basic objectives of the study programme are as follows: - training of professionals who will with the proposed study programme acquire knowledge, skills and abilities, which are according to international standards considered to be fundamental in the field of geography; - training of personnel who will be able to identify and analyze current processes and situations in the region and to transfer these discoveries into documents and actions, which are significant for the development of our community; - training of personnel who will be able to critically evaluate social, economic and ecological conditions in the region with the intention to the establish a sustainable economic and social development; - deepening the knowledge of spatial structures at a global, regional and local level, especially in the Slovenian territory and its northeast part; - training of professionals who will with the completion of this study programme be able to successfully enter graduate master's study programmes in the field of geography and related spatial sciences.

Graduates from the study Geography will acquire the knowledge and skills to work in the following areas: - public administration: the domain of social activities, economic activities; for example administrators for the environment and spatial planning in the municipalities, regions and national institutions, administrators in the field of social activities, economic activities; - statistical activity: e.g. analysts at statistical institutions, financial institutions (in the field of the real estate market), administrative services (in sections of the economy); - the protection of nature and the environment, e.g. administrators in Institutions for the protection of the natural and cultural heritage, the designers of environmental impact assessments; - social activities: e.g. processors of materials in libraries, professional colleagues; - journalism; - tourism: e.g. tourist guides, organizers of trips and excursions; - research institutes: researchers and professional collaborators at institutes and faculties; - diplomacy. In the course of the study, graduates of the study programme Geography gain a wide range of knowledge, both from the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, statistics, cartography and information science, making them employable in a number of areas of work.

The study programme mostly consists of learning units with three basic content fields of geography: courses in the field of physical geography, courses in the field of social geography and courses in the field of regional geography. The study programme includes learning units covering the fundamental geographical courses, methodological and applicative courses, and elective courses associated with all of the aforementioned areas. Learning units are in the proposed curriculum related in the following way: a) Vertical integration The first year as a basis for upgrading in other courses includes the subject Introduction to Geography. Compulsory core subjects in the field of natural geography (Climatogeography, Geomorphology, Hydrogeography, Geography of Soil and Vegetation) and social geography (Population Geography, Economic Geography, Social and Cultural Geography) are mostly included in the first and second year, while areas of regional geography (Geography of the Slovenian Landscapes, Regional Geography of Europe) are reserved for the third year. All these courses provide students with fundamental professional skills which are through additional contents and project work upgraded in the framework of the elective courses. b) Horizontal integration The elective courses (Anthropogenic Climate Changes, Sustainable Water Regulation, Transport Geography, Rural Geography, Tourist Regions in Europe, etc.) are related to the courses offered in the same or in the lower year. They help students expand their fundamental knowledge and acquire additional specialist knowledge and skills. Most of them make use of project work. In the case of applicational courses students acquire specific skills, since their contents are both horizontally and vertically integrated with individual fundamental geographical courses. The student completes the double major study programme with the completion of all the study obligations required by the study programme in both parts of the study programme and by gaining at least 180 ECTS points, namely 90 ECTS in one part and 90 ECTS in the other part of the double major study programme.

The examining and grading system is regulated by the Statute of the University of Maribor: https://www.um.si/univerza/dokumentni-center/akti/GlavniDokumenti2013/Statut%20Univerze%20v%20Mariboru%20(NPB%203).pdf and the Rules on Examination and Grading at the University of Maribor, no. A4/2009-41 AG: https://www.um.si/univerza/dokumentni-center/akti/GlavniDokumenti2013/Pravilnik%202009.pdf. Accordingly, the methods and forms of examining and grading knowledge in the curricula are defined for each individual study unit of an individual study programme. Methods of continuous examining and grading of knowledge are encouraged, which enables students to continuously monitor their own progress and assess the acquired knowledge and skills. Depending on the individual study units and the order of their implementation, the individual obligations of students are mutually coordinated in such a way that some study units require more continuous work, others a greater amount of independent research work (preparation of a quality seminar paper); some units are completed with written or oral exams. All curricula are published in the catalogue of Bologna subjects: http://www.ff.uni-mb.si/dotAsset/46605.pdf In addition, students have access to AIPS UM (Academic Information Subsystem of the University of Maribor), which provides insight into the activities of individual students (exam records, detailed insight into the number of exam attempts and all completed and uncompleted obligations).

The main objectives of the study programme are as follows: — training of personnel who, upon completion of the proposed study programme, will acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities that are considered fundamental in the field of geography according to international standards, — training of personnel who will be able to identify and analyse current processes and conditions in the region and transfer these findings into documents and actions that are important for the development of our community, — training of personnel who will be able to critically evaluate the social, economic and ecological conditions in the region with a view to establishing sustainable economic and social development, — deepening knowledge of spatial structures at the global, regional and local level, especially in the area of Slovenia and its north-eastern part, — training of personnel who by completing the proposed study programme will be able to successfully participate in the postgraduate master's study programmes in the field of geography and related environmental sciences.

The general competencies of the graduate are: — ability of systemic thinking, which enables the graduate to be included in interdisciplinary groups for dealing with spatial problems in various fields of natural sciences and social sciences and in solving geographical and environmental problems, — development of ethical reflection in the field of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, — knowledge and use of the scientific apparatus, — independent acquisition and use of sources, knowledge, information, — ability to critically evaluate one’s own and other research achievements, — openness to alternative views and solutions; focus on realistically feasible solutions, — ability to independently plan and organize work tasks in various work areas, — ability to use information and communication technology, — ability to transfer knowledge into everyday practice, — ability to cooperate and work in a group, — ability to perform in front of an audience, in public, — learning competence and a sense of lifelong learning, — ability to work in various institutions from the local to the state level, work in planning institutions, commercial companies, in the field of tourism and transport activities, and in the media in the field of information related to geography and environment-related information.

Students acquire the following subject-specific competencies through the programme: — knowledge and understanding of basic theoretical and philosophical starting points of geography, — knowledge of the historical development of geography and the structure of the science of geography, — ability to connect geographical knowledge with the knowledge of other natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, — understanding the general structure of geography and the connection between its sub-disciplines, — understanding the socially applicative value of geography, — ability to independently interpret a research text in the field of geography and related sciences, — mastery of basic geographical methods, procedures and spatial processes, connection with various scientific disciplines,

The university double-major study programme Geography can on the basis of Article 38 of the Law on Higher Education be entered by: 1.) anyone who has passed the Matura examination (Secondary School Leaving examination); 2.) anyone who has completed the professional Matura exam in any secondary school programme and passed the exam in one of the Matura subjects: geography, history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, physics, biology or chemistry; the chosen subject should not be one the student has completed in his/her professional matura exam; 3.) anyone who has prior to 1 June 1995 completed a four-year secondary school program.

If enrolment is limited, the selection criteria applying to the candidates referred to in points a) and c) are: result achieved in the matura exam or the final examination - 60% of points, overall success in the third and fourth year - 40% of points and the selection criteria applying to the candidates referred to in points b) are: result achieved in the vocational matura exam - 40% of points, overall success in the third and fourth year - 40% of points, result achieved in the matura subject - 20% of points,

Candidates may transfer to the study programme in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Criteria for Transferring Between Study Programmes (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no.: 95/10, 17/11, and 14/19). If candidates fulfil the admission requirements of the study programme and criteria for the transfer, the year of study they are to be enrolled in and study obligations required for completion of the new study programme are laid down. Candidates may transfer to the study programme provided they fulfil the following criteria: - they are transferring from a study programme leading to the acquisition of comparable competences or learning outcomes; - at least half of the study obligations evaluated according to ECTS credit system of the previous study programme relating to compulsory courses of the new study programme are recognised.

Students may have recognized the knowledge and skills acquired before enrolment in various forms of formal education, which the candidate demonstrates with certificates and other documents that show the content and scope of the student's work. During their studies, students may have their obligations recognized as fulfilled on the basis of submitted documents from the field of non-formal education (project, study, publications, inventions, patents and other copyright work). The candidate submits the application for recognition of knowledge and skills to the Commission for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Arts, which decides on the basis of the opinion of the Department of Geography. When recognizing knowledge and skills acquired before enrolment in the study programme, the Rules on the Recognition of Knowledge and Skills acquired before enrolment in the study programme are observed: http://www.uni-mb.si/dokument.aspx?id=12762

The student completes the study when they complete all the obligations set out by the study programme and thus collects a total of at least 180 ECTS, meaning 90 ECTS in one and 90 ECTS in the other part of the dual-specialization study programme.