Az Interreg Dunai GeoTúra Projekt munkaértekezlete Romániában

2018. február 12–15. között a romániai Hátszeg-vidéki Dinoszauruszok UNESCO Geopark fogadta az Interreg Dunai GeoTúra Projekt partnereit 8 országból, köztük két magyar partnert (a Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Geoparkot alapító és fenntartó Balaton-felvidéki Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság és a Bakony és Balaton Térségi Turisztikai Nonprofit Kft. képviselőit). A projekt alcíme mutatja a célt és a kihívást, amellyel a partnerek szembesülnek: „A földtani örökség hasznosítása dunai geoparkok fenntartható és innovatív turisztikai fejlesztésében”. A projekt a Duna Transznacionális Programból, az Európai Regionális Fejlesztési Alap támogatásával, az Európai Unió és a Magyar Állam társfinanszírozásával valósul meg.

A vendéglátó geoparkban töltött első napokon a partnerek egy közös geotermék-fejlesztő tréningen vettek részt. Romániából meghívott vendégelőadók és Carlos Neto de Carvalho, az egyik társult stratégiai partner, a portugál Naturtejo UNESCO Geopark részéről érdekes és inspiráló, már jól bevált ötleteket mutattak be a geoparkok új geotermékeinek fejlesztéséhez. Minden geopark kidolgoz egy, a „geoKultúra” vagy „geoOutdoor” témáknak megfelelő geoterméket, hogy ezzel is erősítse a geoparkok elért eredményeinek terjesztését, illetve elősegítse a helyiek bevonását. Ezen kívül egy szakmai kirándulásra került még sor a hátszegi geoparkban, hogy a résztvevők jó gyakorlatok példáján vitassák meg a földtani szemléletformálás és közérthető ismeretterjesztés lehetőségeit. A Hotel Ferdinandban és a városházán minden rendelkezésre állt a munkaértekezletek és műhelymegbeszélések zökkenőmentes lebonyolításához. A találkozó kimondottan sikeres volt, így minden partner elégedetten utazhatott haza. A projektcsapat ezúton szeretne köszönetet mondani a hátszegi szervezőknek, beleértve minden segítőjének és partnerének.

A projekt legfontosabb eredménye a közös „Dunai Geotúra” lesz, melynek célja, hogy erősítse az együttműködést a geoparkok régiói között, és egy innovatív geoturisztikai termék létrehozásával növelje a geoparkok ismertségét és a látogatók számát. A tapasztalatok megosztása, innovatív geoturisztikai termékek és új bemutatási módszerek tesztelése szükséges a helyi lakosság bekapcsolódásának, illetve a geopark menedzsment-kapacitásának erősítéséhez, és a minőségi szakadék csökkentéséhez a Duna-régió és az EU más, fejlettebb geoparkjai között.

További információ a projektről és a szervezőkről:

http://www.interreg-danube.eu/danube-geotour/
http://en.hateggeoparc.ro/
http://en.unibuc.ro/

The Second International Geopark Camp in Muskau

Greative  geopark camp on the German-Polish border with the participation of students from the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark

The second international geopark camp was organised in August 2016 for 15-17 years old students in the in the Muskauer Faltenbogen/Łuk Mużakowa UNESCO Global Geopark. The theme of the camp this time was ’handcrafts meet geology’. During the camp youngsters from three nations, including 7 students and a teacher from the Balatonalmádi Dual Language School got acquainted with the geological and cultural sites of the geopark. An officer from the Bakony–Balaton Geopark organisation also travelled with them.

The camp spotlighted every day another raw material (coal, glass sand, clay, iron and wood). The participants learned about the original materials, about their old and modern usage and they could try pottery, glass grinding, basket making and blacksmithery. Students made their own crafts and took them home to remember each day of the camp.
During the evenings the students made presentations about their geoparks. Besides handcrafts workshops, participants hiked, visited exhibitions and museums: railway history exhibition, narrow gauge railway, the UNESCO World Heritage Muskauer Park/Park Mużakowski in Bad Muskau, a functioning lignite quarry, chocolate manufature, old brick factory, flora and fauna of River Nieße on the border, lakes on the previous mining area, open-air museum, ethnography museum, rafting tour and sightseeing in Berlin.

Muskauer Faltenbogen/Łuk Mużakowa Geopark

is recognised as one of the most scenic push moraines in Middle Europe. Its characteristic horseshoe shape was formed some 340,000 years ago as the "Muskauer glacier" advanced from the thick inland ice sheet which covered half of Europe at that time. The load from the ice cover caused subsoil compaction down to a depth of about 300 metres while deforming the horizontal successions of sand, gravel, clay and lignite beds. The unconsolidated rock masses in front of the glacier piled up to form a terminal moraine of some 150 m above today's ground level. The inland ice of the more recent glacial periods flattened the moraine down to today's level, but not entirely, as can be seen from “High Hill” (Hoher Berg) near Döbern (183 m) or the so-called “Dragon Hills” (Drachenberge) near Krauschwitz (163 m).
The Muskau Arch, although initially shaped long time ago, has remained an ever changing landscape until this very day. Today, the Muskau Arch is a picturesque cultural and post-mining landscape full of many and varied lakes, and a natural area of forests exhibiting significant ecological diversity. This beautiful recreational landscape is crossed by a network of theme-based hiking and biking trails.

2017 is the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development

The United Nations (UN) has declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The resolution recognizes the importance of international tourism, and particularly of the designation of an international year of sustainable tourism for development, in fostering better understanding among peoples everywhere, in leading to a greater awareness of the rich heritage of various civilizations and in bringing about a better appreciation of the inherent values of different cultures, thereby contributing to the strengthening of peace in the world. The International Year (IY 2017) aims to raise awareness on the contribution of sustainable tourism to development among decision-makers and the public, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change.

The European Geoparks Network became silver partner of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, 2017 (IY2017).

The EGN's aim is to promote the European UNESCO Global Geoparks as sustainable tourism destinations to the International Tourism market, to promote Geoparks and build new links with the tourism market, raise the profile and visibility of the UNESCO Global Geoparks among the main players in tourism industry, to promote Geoparks collectively through this UNITED NATIONS’ initiative operated by the World Tourism Organization.

Watch the new EGN promotional video dedicated to the International Year of Sustainable Tourism 2017:

promotional video

A Hellow Wood project inpired by fossils

The Hello Wood architecture and educational platform organised its workshop in Csopak for the fourth time this summer with student and professor teams from Hungarian design and architecture universities. The workshop was supported by the local government of Csopak, a village near Lake Balaton, located within the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark. The teams designed and built nine installations in the village. The workshop is a unique experience where people with different cultural and professional background and from different generations work together. The wooden installations serve the residents and visitors for long years according to plan and visually enrich the village.

The team of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics designed and built one of the installations, located in the park of the Balaton-felvidéki National Park Directorate, near the Dormouse Circuit. It is called ’Ammoniterrace’ as it remebles to an ammonite and at the same time offers a possibility to have a rest on it.

The Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, founded by the national park directorate, is an area exceedingly rich in ammonite fossils, also by international standards. The shape of the wooden structure recalls the negative imprint of the fossilized, spiral like house of the ancient marine animal. We can also discover the Fibonacci Spiral in this shape, present in nature in many places.

Ammonites, these cephalopods with calcareous shell lived in high numbers in Mezozoic seas. They became extinct 66 million years ago, at the same time as dinosaurs. The fossils – well preserved, thanks to the outer calcareous shell – resemble snails at first sight, although in fact their living relatives are nautiluses, octopuses and squids.

Visit: the installation can be visited during the opening hours of the park of the directorate:
Csopak, Kossuth u. 16., Monday–Thursday:: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm, Friday: 7:30 am – 13:30 pm.

Design and building: teachers and students of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Team leaders: Márton Nagy, Péter Lassu, Tibor Pálóczi
Team: Fruzsina Ács, Zsófia Berczi, Blanka Gáspárdy, Detti Kolossváry, Simon Kőszegi, Dóra Nagy, Csaba Pintér, Zsófia Sörényi, Zsófi Telek

The other eight installations can be visited in the village (map, universities).

Short videofilms about the workshop and the building of the Ammoniterrace:

Video about the workshop.

Video about installing the Ammoniterrace.

The 'Ammoniterrace' appeared on the cover of the Építész Közlöny, a Hungarian Architecture Magazine.