Natural stones are the main material used in architectonic heritage. This is the fifth edition of our session, dealing with those natural stone types that have achieved important use and have been accorded significant recognition in human culture. Their recognition will promote public and policy-maker interest in stone built heritage, encourage the use of local natural stone and ensure the availability of the natural stone required for the maintenance of the built heritage and the quality of new buildings. This session is promoted by the newly recognized Heritage Stone Resource Subcommision, an IUGS subcommission within the Geoheritage Commission. It encourages contributions for the proposed thematic issue: natural stones and heritage and its potential application and information on possible stones from all over the world. We will as well accept contributions on issues related to the importance of using original natural stones in the restoration and conservation of historical buildings, and other issues associated with natural stones and geoheritage, such as historical quarries and quarry landscape.

Contributions from previous EGU editions are now published in highly rated journals; Geological Society of London Special Publications (SP407: Global Heritage Stone: Towards International Recognition of Building and Ornamental Stones), Episodes Special Issue on Heritage Stones (volume 38-2, June 2015) and Geoscience Canada (volume 43(1), March 2016). Selected contributions in EGU 2017 will be considered for publication in the journal Geoheritage (Springer)