Looking forward, looking backward

In Greek mythology, Janus is the deity with two faces gazing in opposite directions whose parents were Terra Mater and Caelus—‘mother’ Earth and ‘father’ Sky. Janus helps us think about and feel our way through beginnings, transitions, endings, bridges, and passages. These moments and portals are powerfully spatiotemporal and always intrigue me. Little wonder, then, that I might draw on this mythology as I think both about the year that has been and this last issue of the journal for 2021 and about the year to come.

Tis a liminal space and, I hope, an exciting one. On that basis, I want to share two initiatives that were just launched in October as a collaboration involving the journal, Wiley, and the Institute of Australian Geographers.