The European Geosciences Union annual meeting is one of the two major geoscience assemblies, which gather each year thousands of scientists. The particularity of the EGU is that it has developed a well-attended geoheritage session. The most recent developments in standards, quantification, and assessment of geodiversity and geosystem services are discussed by an ever-growing number of participants. This session is now sponsored by all the main geodiversity / geoheritage commissions of the geoscience unions (IAG, IUGS, IAVCEI, Progeo). While scientific assessment methods are developing rapidly, there is a notable gap in that the actors who would employed these standards at an international level (World heritage, Geoparks, Man and Biosphere, Protected areas) are not generally present at such scientific encounters.
This is why it is essential to bring all actors together to:
- Discuss these standards and methods in a heritage context: are they applicable and adequate?
- How can scientists direct their research to respond to the needs of international assessors?
- How to reinforce the links and dialog between geological organizations and the heritage and nature conservation bodies?
Some avenues to explore could be the setting-up of joint sessions in both scientific or heritage policy meetings; the implementation of those standards and methods in thematic studies and assessment guidelines; peer-review of evaluations; or the greater presence of geological organizations in decision-making bodies.
We would like to have your views and knowledge on these topics that we will discuss during a dedicated EGU splinter meeting (2h) planned to take place on the first day of the conference, Monday 9th April 2018. We hope to bring together representatives from UNESCO, IUCN, IUGS, IUGG, IAG, IAVCEI, ILP, EGU, Progeo, International Union of Speleology, United Nation Nature Hazards program to interact with the scientists.