Geoeducation

Although the science of palaeontology is not only of extreme importance for the progress of earth sciences, but it can also send us in fantastic voyages into the past of the planet, the interest of the general public in the past history of life on Earth is very low. This is due to individual, rather than coordinated efforts to promote palaeontology, inappropriate use of media and inadequate means of communicating palaeontology
to the media, as well as to the lack of a joint front of palaeontologists that would enable a unitary public
perception of this science. Studies related to the promotion of geosciences show the necessity to adapt the interpretation of geological and palaeontological facts to the personal experience of the public and to challenge the public to discover the connection between the lost worlds and the present world, by integrating the message in a social-economic context. Such an approach is proposed by geoparks, where the geologic
information enables to construct three temporal dimensions for the same territory: past, present and future.
This way, the public is informed on the practical role of rocks and fossils in direct relation to modern issues like climate change and human impact. Therefore, the geoparks represent strong territories for interdisciplinary research, where palaeontology, education, collaboration with universities and museums, social-economic development and geotourism represent an effective means for geosciences promotion on a global scale.

If we find ourselves in any part of the world, the basic way of communication with other people is to know a language or group of languages and linguistic dialects, which are specific (characteristic) for particular area or territory. Without language and skills in communicating with other people, it's actually impossible to achieve a certain intention, progress or ability to understand different people and cultures around the world. Knowing the basics of a certain language can make life in a some area much easier and simpler in terms of work, education, socializing, everyday communication or other activities. Mistakes in communicating with people from different parts of the world can lead to misunderstandings, or in some cases loss of human life, as is clear from numerous examples over the past. Language and linguistic literacy are the primary goals of every educational system in the world, and the ways of pedagogical and practical application in geography are clearly expressed through linguistic geography (geolinguistics).

Photography is a very important way of showing a certain place, concept, phenomenon or event. It can present a moment in a very effective way and show it from different angles. The power of photography is best illustrated by images that are several hundred years old, as proof of some (past) time. They have historical, cultural, social, personal, but also geographical significance. Pictures and photographs can be said to be timeless and unrestricted, especially if they are well preserved. What a map cannot show or define certain words in geography, it can be a picture or a photo. It has a practical, pedagogical and educational intention in the presentation of geographical concepts, so in this paper we will look at the presentation of the basics of photographic geography.

The continuous and cooperative work of specialists and enthusiasts from universities, research institutions and non-governmental bodies has for more than 60 years allowed identification and formal recognition of protected areas for 200 geological sites and for more than 250 of geomorphological, speleological and landscape areas. 25 of these are considered to be of international importance and to characterize the geological heritage of Romania.

Geotourism is a type of qualified tourism promoting geosites related to the geological outcrops and relief
elements, such as river channels. Examples of these landforms with high educational values can be seen in the Białka
and Skawa riverbeds. However, an important element in the description of such geosites (geomorphosites) is their
educational values, which make it possible to clearly determine their suitability and possible use in geotourism. The
assessment methods are the only methods of evaluating these values. But they are subjective, and the results of the
analyses carried out on them largely depend on the knowledge and experience of the evaluator. In this paper, four geomorphosites
have been assessed using the triangulation expert method. All described geomorphosites have received
a high educational value, and the highest had the Białka Gorge.

In the present time, we are facing new challenges that require us to review the role of Geology to the material, cognitive and ethic progress of humankind. The vertiginous population growth, urban sprawl, increasing demand for solid, liquid and gaseous geosphere, the collapse of the ecosystems that support life and the climate change replace Geology as one of the most important contemporary sciences. We need to review procedures, analytical scales and contribute to civilization process. Essentially, we need Geology help develop a deep Geoethic on the use of land resources, care with the geosphere and mankind sustainability. The Geoethic emerges as a new understanding that cleaves across all geological activities, whether of scientific practice, or the practice of exploitation of natural resources, and or also the knowledge of how geodynamics affects cities and human activities and vice versa. At the root of contemporary environmental and urban problems, whether planetary or local, is how the city is perceived by its inhabitants, managers and intelligentsia. The ascent of urban realm in the next 30 years is expected to almost duplicate the nowadays 3.6 billion inhabitants. The central challenge for the geology and Geoethics is to consider the many problems due to the complex relations between the large urban needs and geolandscape transformations. The main goal of this chapter is to describe the ascent of cities’ scales – from city and megacity to megalopolis and ecumenopolis – in order to describe connections between the physical world-city and the superficial components of the Earth systems. The techno-urbansphere is defined as the urban physical totality, which includes the man-made system and the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere’s portions transformed by it. Due to geologic scale of the techno-urbansphere, it is not possible to observe it by a citizen without technical and Earth science concepts and instruments. To offer to citizens and decisions makers accurate instruments to understand the nowadays urban geocomplexities, thematic surveys of the urban physical totality are very important. This possibility is illustrated by the Environmental Atlas of Porto Alegre case, which triggered new looks in urban environmental management and education in Porto Alegre city, Southern Brazil.

The themes of geodiversity and geoconservation arise in the XXI century as contributions of geosciences to sustainable development. Due to gigantic urban realm, social and environmental collapses, and intense occupation of the geosphere, became urgent the culturalization of issues related to Earth, especially of their conservation. In this context, the geodiversity concepts and its ecosystems functions had been proposed as well as strategies and methodologies for applying geoconservation. Although older, geoconservation strategies gained ground in the environmental and patrimonial management from the 1990’s. Since then, different methodological proposals had been constructed in order to provide technical and scientifically support for such actions. This paper presents methodological contributions to integrated assessment of geological units from the analysis of six thematic maps of Porto Alegre city and from the proposition of a matrix constituted by 12 geolandscape indicators appli...

GEOEDUKACIJSKI POTENCIJAL JANKOVCA NA PAPUKU
Geoedukacija je relativno nov pojam u svijetu i Hrvatskoj, a podrazumijeva edukativne aktivnosti vezane uz geoprocese i georesurse u krajoliku te njihove međuodnose s ostalim sastavnicama okoliša. U ovom je radu kroz metodologiju inventarizacije i evaluacije geolokaliteta određen geoedukacijki potencijal šireg područja Jankovca na Papuku. Korištena metodologija obuhvaća terenski rad na kojem su inventarizirani potencijalni geolokaliteti i kabinetski rad tijekom kojeg je kroz kvantitativnu procjenu određena njihova prirodoznanstvena, socioznanstvena i didaktička vrijednost te ograničenja korištenja. Najveći geoedukacijski potencijal utvrđen je za dolinu Jankovac, a velik potencijal imaju i slap Skakavac i dolina Kovačice te vidikovci Ivačka glava i Nevoljaš dok speleološki objekti bilo zbog smanjenje prirodoznanstvene vrijednosti ili zbog dostupnosti imaju umjereni do manji geoedukacijski potencijal.  Taj bi se potencijal mogao iskoristiti kroz poučnu stazu koja omogućuje posjetiteljima učenje na licu mjesta, a prilagođena je za amatere, ali i za učenike.

GEOEDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL OF JANKOVAC, PAPUK MTS., CROATIA
Geoeducation is relatively novel term in world and Croatian science. It entails educational activities that involve teaching amateur visitors of natural areas about landscape geoprocesses and georesources as well as their interactions with other components of environment. Paper presents method for inventory and evaluation of geosites to determine their geoeducational potential on the case study of wider area of Jankovac on Papuk Mts., Croatia. Methodology involved fieldwork undertaken to identify and inventorize potential geosites, which were then subjected to quantitative evaluation by which their natural and social scientific and didactic value as well as the use limitations were assessed. Results showed that Jankovac Valley has the greatest geoducational potential and is followed by Skakavac waterfall and Kovačica Valley. Significant potential is also determined for panoramic viewpoints on Ivačka Glava and Nevoljaš peaks while caves have moderate to low geoeducational value due to inaccessibility and deterioration. Determined geoeducational potential could be exploited by setting educational trail, which will enable visitors to learn about landscape on spot and would be adjusted for amateurs and students.

INVENTARIZACIJA I EVALUACIJA GEOMORFOLOŠKIH LOKALITETA U PARK-ŠUMI JANKOVAC

U sklopu održivog razvoja prostora geomorfološka raznolikost postaje sve značajniji resurs. Geomorfološki lokaliteti mjesta su istaknute znanstvene, edukativne, ekonomske, kulturne i ekološke vrijednosti te predstavljaju resurse koji, međutim, često nisu adekvatno ili uopće iskorišteni u razvoju prostora u kojem se nalaze. Budući da se Park-šuma Jankovac na Papuku, koja je zaštićena zbog velike bioraznolikosti, odlikuje i iznimnom geomorfološkom raznolikošću, u ovom se radu utvrđuje intrinzična i upotrebna vrijednost njenih geomorfoloških lokaliteta kao i potreba za njihovom zaštitom. Metodološki okvir obuhvaća inventarizaciju, procjenu statusa geomorfolokaliteta i geomorfološkog resursa za korištenje u geoedukacijske i geoturističke svrhe. Evaluacijom je izdvojeno osam geomorfoloških lokaliteta velike postojeće i upotrebne (geoturističke i geoedukacijske) vrijednosti koji predstavljaju važan resurs za održiv socioekonomski razvoj lokalne i regionalne zajednice.

INVENTORY AND EVALUATION OF GEOMORPHOLOGICAL SITES AT FOREST-PARK JANKOVAC

Geomorphological diversity is becoming a resource of sustainable development all around the world. Geomorphological sites are places of exceptional scientific, educative, economic, cultural and ecological values and represent resources that often are neither adequately nor even at all utilized in development of region in which they are located. Although Park-forest Jankovac on Papuk Mts. is protected because of its great biodiversity, it is also characterized by exceptional geomorphological diversity. Thus this thesis attempts to determine intrinsic and use value of its geomorphological sites as well as their need for protection. Methodological framework includes inventory, geomorphosite status assessment and evaluation of geomorphological resource for geoeducational and geotouristic purposes. Evaluation has established eight geomorphological sites of great existing and geoeducational and geotouristic value that represent important resources for sustainable socio-economic development of local and regional community.

In the present time, we are facing new challenges that require us to review the role of Geology to the material, cognitive and ethic progress of humankind. The  vertiginous population growth, urban sprawl, increasing demand for solid, liquid, and gaseous geosphere, the collapse of the ecosystems that support life and the climate change replace Geology as one of the most important contemporary sciences. We need to review procedures, analytical scales and contribute to civilization process. Essentially, we need Geology help develop a deep Geoethic on the use of land resources, care with the geosphere, and mankind sustainability.
The Geoethic emerges as a new understanding that cleaves across all geological activities, whether of scientific practice, or the practice of exploitation of natural resources, and or also the knowledge of how geodynamics affects cities and human activities and vice versa. At the root of contemporary environmental and urban problems, whether planetary or local is how the city is perceived by its inhabitants, managers, and intelligentsia. The ascent of urban realm in the next 30 years is expected to almost duplicate the nowadays 3.6 billion inhabitants. The central challenge for the geology and Geoethics is to consider the many problems due to
the complex relations between the large urban needs and geolandscape transformations.
The main goal of this chapter is to describe the ascent of cities’ scales — from city and megacity to megalopolis and ecumenopolis—in order to describe
connections between the physical world-city and the superficial components of the Earth systems. The techno-urbansphere is defined as the urban physical totality, which includes the man-made system and the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere’s portions transformed by it. Due to geologic scale of the techno-urbansphere, it is not possible to observe it by a citizen without technical and Earth science concepts and instruments. To offer to citizens and decisions
makers accurate instruments to understand the nowadays urban geocomplexities, thematic surveys of the urban physical totality are very important. This possibility is illustrated by the Environmental Atlas of Porto Alegre case, which triggered new looks in urban environmental management, geoethics and geoeducation in Porto Alegre city, Southern Brazil.

In the present time, we are facing new challenges that require us to review the role of Geology to the material, cognitive and ethic progress of humankind. The vertiginous population growth, urban sprawl, increasing demand for solid, liquid, and gaseous geosphere, the collapse of the ecosystems that support life and the climate change replace Geology as one of the most important contemporary sciences. We need to review procedures, analytical scales and contribute to civilization process. Essentially, we need Geology help develop a deep Geoethic on the use of land resources, care with the geosphere, and mankind sustainability. The Geoethic emerges as a new understanding that cleaves across all geological activities, whether of scientific practice, or the practice of exploitation of natural resources, and or also the knowledge of how geodynamics affects cities and human activities and vice versa. At the root of contemporary environmental and urban problems, whether planetary or loca...

Lagos Live Science Centre (CCVL) integrates the Ciência Viva Centres network which main objectives are the dissemination of scientific and technological education and literacy. Besides the
activities within the Centre, the CCVL offers different geological field visits both for formal education (schools) and informal education (tourists). The scientific subjects of these visits cover aspects of both
Geology and Paleontology from Natural Heritage of southern Portugal. Several Algarve’s beaches and cliffs could be visited within this CCVL educational offer, always guided by professionals, offering
school teachers the opportunity to complement the curricula and to provide the tourists with a different natural perspective of Algarve.