SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND CREATIVE LIFE IN GEOPARKS

Eastern Partnership

CONFERENCE ON GEOPARKS, GEO-EDUCATION

AND GEO-TOURISM 2022, September 5

Příbram, Czech Republic

Creativity – ceramics, dancing, …

Cohesion – peace, joy, …

Safety - food, warmth, …

Destruction - wars, explotation, …

Inquisition - fear from progress, …

Fire of imagination and emotion in people‘s hearts and brains should be nourished and inspired through shared and transmitted knowledge – to create values, not to destroy them

What are geoparks?

Territory

• significant from a geoscientific point of view

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• attractive for visitors and usable for educational purposes

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• managed by a responsible, inquisitive and creative community

Creative tourism forms and activities�Need for change from mass tourism to Special interest tourism

• Geotourism (= learning about and enjoying the Earth in all its aspects – abiotic, biotoc and cultural, including activities as georafting or geo-gastrotourism)
• Cohabitation tourism
• Communite tourism
• Volunteer tourism
• Astrotourism
• Slow tourism
• Ethnotourism
• Darktourism
• Teambuilding
• Ecotourism

…

Ecosystem as a natural capital for local economic activities based on shared / transmitted knowledge and personal creativity

The transgenerational transmission is the verified way of training!

The support for local traditional and emerging institutions is needed.

Creative economy based on local knowledge and ecosystem services (ES)

• ES – market externalities which should be internalized (problematic calculated in the price)
• Traditional practices of ES use reflect and respect their values

• An indicator of success is the diversity of the local economy, nature and culture
• E.g. tourism should not be a substitute but a complementary activity, only then can it support the authenticity, stability and self-sufficiency of the territory (endogenous development)

Geo-bio-cultural (holistic) approaches

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Geo-bio-cultural heritage = Earth heritage

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=

knowledge, innovations and practices of local and indigenous communities that are collectively held and inextricably linked to, and shaped by, the socio-ecological context of communities

Conventional training may not work, the gradual and mutual!!! learning on personal basis is desired!

Local and indigenous knowledge (LIK)

Intangible heritage matters!

Human rights matter! Violation has to be prevented!

Creative economy could help to remediate kind of neocolonialism …

Creative economy could help to reactivate indigenous identity.

However! Danger of commercialization /staging!

Geoparks, geotourism and ecosystem services

C

B

A

Geotourism – Mother Earth tourism - Pachamama tourism

Authenticity matters

Local handcrafts – authenticity and creativity

Ecosystem services and geofood

= productive and cultural services of Mother Earth

Ecosystem services and geofood

= productive and cultural services of Mother Earth

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• Deep Seawater geoproducts Muroto UGGp

Ecosystem services and geofood

= productive and cultural services of Mother Earth

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Local creativity and emotion matter!

Ecosystem services and geofood

= productive and cultural services of Mother Earth

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Community traditions matter!

Community production matters!

Cohabitation tourism - tourists are not the better class …

How to progress?

• Encouragement of the interest and creativity of local (especially young) people in learning about Earth resources and traditions that are beyond their livelihood (DNA of their local products)

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• Cooperation of national and local authorities with the academic and private spheres - certification and cheap training, priority support for local knowledge based activities

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• Promotion of benefits of traditional knowledge for the self-sufficiency of the community

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• Support for research and local coordinators of the LIK documentation, transmission and use

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We have hotels of thousand stars! Look on the sky outside!

Thanks for your attention!