ProGEO – SIGEA
Geoheritage: Protecting and Sharing
7th International Symposium ProGEO on the Conservation of the Geological Heritage
3rd Regional Meeting of the ProGEO SW Europe Working Group
Bari, Italy
24-28 September 2012
INVITATION AND SYMPOSIUM VENUE
The Italian Society of Environmental Geology (SIGEA) and the European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage (ProGEO) organise the 7th International Symposium on the Conservation of the Geological Heritage. People (professionals, academics, students) dealing with nature conservation, geotourism, geoparks, education, management, sustainable development, planning and decision-making, and other topics related to the theme of "geoheritage" are invited to participate and encouraged to present their data/experiences by submission of short abstracts.
The Symposium will take place in Bari (Apulia, Italy) on September 25-26 2012, and will be held at the Sala Murat, Piazza del Ferrarese. It will be preceded by one day field-trips (two choices on September 24) and will be followed by a two days field-trip (on 27-28 September).
Bari is one among the biggest towns (metropolitan area) in southern Italy, served by the international airport "Karol Wojtyla" and also easily reachable by train and ship.
The main aims of the Symposium are:
- to discuss on land-use planning, threats and constraints;
- to discuss on recent developments in geodiversity assessment methodologies and geosites inventories in Europe;
- to discuss on legal frameworks supporting geoconservation strategies;
- to encourage a possible convergence between geoconservation and geotourism;
- to discuss on sustainable management policies and geosites exploitation within geoparks;
- to promote the best practices and lesson learned in geoparks for local development;
- to enhance geotourism and its potentials for regional development;
- to implement the most effective outreach methods for successful communication with public, decision- and policy-makers;
- to improve international cooperation and local initiatives for the education and science divulgation;
- to establish links between geoconservation specialists, mainly in Mediterranean area;
- to support special measures and guidelines for conservation of our shared geoheritage.