TAG 166 - Geological Society of Australia

Extra-conferenceGSA-sponsored sessionOn 8 August, during the IGC week at QUT, the GSA facilitated an internationalinformation session entitled ‘State of the art in the disciplineof geoheritage’, which attracted 22 geoscientists from around the worldwho practice in the arena of geoheritage. Countries represented at thesession included Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Hong King,China, Iran, Portugal, South Africa, Uganda and Romania, with apologiesfrom Prof Shrikant Limaye from India. The event was sponsored by GSA,GSA (Qld Division) and QUT (see ‘Further Information’, below).Symposium overviewA strong ProGEO presence from Europe and many presentations fromother countries across the globe, with sessions running over three fulldays, made this the biggest international gathering to meet in Australiato discuss the three aspects of geoheritage, geoparks and geotourism.Total attendance at sessions, with numbers up to 80 at a time, can onlybe described as excellent.In the geoheritage, geoparks, and geotourism sessions, convened byBernie Joyce and José Brilha, there were 44 oral presentations, includingkeynote presentations by Kevin Page (Plymouth University, UK), PatrickMcKeever (UNESCO), Ross Dowling (Edith Cowan University, WA) andJonathan Tourtellot (National Geographic). There were also 15 posterpresentations.Sessional Chairs were José Brilha, Margaret Brocx, Bernie Joyce, LarsErikstad, Kevin Page, Patrick McKeever, Changxing Long, Ross Dowlingand Angus M Robinson.Future of geoheritage in Australiaand internationallyThe last day concluded with a session entitled ‘Final discussion and plansfor the future’ led by José Brilha.The organisation at the 2012 Brisbane IGC of a symposium includingthe trilogy of geoheritage, geoparks and geotourism can be considereda successful model that should be implemented at the next IGC.Geoconservation is an emergent geoscience. Funding agenciesshould increase support for research projects on geoconservation andacademic institutions should consider this research as important as theresearch done in any other geosciences.Although geoheritage is a recent geoscience, there is already a vastamount of scientific knowledge published during the last few decades.All of this knowledge should be used to support new studies on geoconservationwith no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’, which sometimeshappens, particularly in countries with no tradition of geoconservation.Any geotourism and geopark project should be founded on a strongknowledge of geoheritage, including a proper inventorying and assessmentof geosites.Geotourism and geoparks can in turn provide geoheritage workerswith responses from the public, and also greater security of individualgeosites and the landscape.Geoparks are an excellent tool to develop geoconservation, geoeducationand geotourism, at the same time promoting sustainable localdevelopment. In spite of the rapid expansion of geoparks all over theworld there are still continents where efforts should be made to promotethe geopark concept and the growth of the Global Geoparks Network,assisted by UNESCO.We should all now plan how best to work towards the next IGC inCape Town, South Africa, in 2016.And we must continue to support our international journal Geoheritage.Locally, some points Australian geoheritage workers can considerfor the future are:l cooperating with geotourism groups through the GSA’s GeotourismSubcommitteel reviving Divisional Subcommittees for Geological Heritage acrossAustralial taking part in upcoming international conferences on geoheritagel working with State governmentsl working with the Australian Heritage Councill working with the Kanawinka Geopark and the Australian GeoparkNetwork Committee.ConclusionThe last day concluded with a session entitled ‘Final discussion and plansfor the future’ led by José Brilha.Congratulations to all participants, from Australia and overseas, onan outstanding Symposium 1.1 — Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism.The sessions at the IGC have provided a major boost to futuregeoheritage work in Australia.Thanks also to those who planned the sessions over several years,reviewed oral and poster presentations, gave keynote addresses andchaired sessions. Thanks to Ross Dowling with the geotourism sessionsand Patrick McKeever with the geoparks sessions, Lars Erikstad (NINAand the Natural History Museum, Oslo, Norway), Changxing Long (GlobalGeoparks Bureau, China) and Angus M Robinson (GSA GeotourismSubcommittee Chair, Australia). And special thanks to Margaret Brocx(National Convenor for Geoheritage, GSA) for the major contribution shemade to the planning and smooth running of the symposium.A full conference report is being prepared by Ian Lewis and will bepublished in the journal Geoheritage.Manuscripts are being solicited for a special volume of Geoheritageand should be uploaded now to http://www.springer.com/earth+sciences+and+geography/geology/ journal/12371.Further informationIGC Geoheritage Symposium 2012 website at http://web.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/Joyce/heritage/IGCGeoheritageSymposia2012.html.A link to the Final Program Geoheritage Symposium is available athttp://web.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/Joyce/heritage/Geoheritage%20Symposia%2027.09.12.pdf.The main geoheritage site also includes photographs from theconference (to be updated as further material becomes available), newspaperreports, links to information about the GSA-sponsored sessions atQUT, conference field trips and other IGC-related material, publicationsof interest on geoheritage in Australia, some of the email news sent outbefore the meeting, and websites on geoheritage work in Australia.Articles in The Australian Geologist are:TAG 160 (September 2011, p 14)TAG 163 (June 2012, p 21–22, 37–40)TAG 164 (September 2012, p 18–19)TAG 165 (December 2012, p 16–17, 40)BERNIE JOYCEUniversity of MelbourneTAG March 2013| 41