Beyond Geodiversity Sites: Exploring the Educational Potential of Widespread Geological Features (Rocks, Minerals and Fossils)

Geosite and geodiversity site inventories are among the most important means of geological diversity conservation and promotion. However, there are other in situ geological features that have significant educational potential and are not included in many inventories, namely, localities of widespread rock types, common minerals and fossil-bearing strata. In this paper, a broad utilisation of these petrographic, mineralogical and palaeontological geodiversity elements for geoscience communication purposes is postulated, with a case study that focuses on the geological heritage of Poland. A simple quantitative framework for the evaluation of the educational potential of rock types is used for the assessment of preselected geological units on the geological map of Poland. The preferences of potential geotourists are estimated using the interactive web-based map. The promotional materials are written for the most distinctive rock types and geological units that scored the highest in the assessment procedure and/or were most frequently selected by users. This procedure stimulates geodiversity promotion in areas where few geosites and geodiversity sites are documented and no educational activities or interpretative facilities are available, potentially increasing the number of geotourism destinations. The rocks and minerals utilised here are exposed over large areas and can be sampled and studied by untrained collectors without any loss of geodiversity. Shifting the involvement of individuals interested in geosciences from extraordinary to more common rocky outcrops helps to protect the geological heritage and enhances conservation of the most spectacular features for future generations. Field activities such as individual searching and studying outcrops, in turn, play an important role in learning in geosciences, facilitating the acquisition of knowledge and encouraging interdisciplinary thinking. Future improvements could include expanding the applicability of the evaluation method, employment of a location-based learning approach #and more detailed studies of the preferences of potential geotourists.

Automated summary

This paper suggests a broad utilization of petrographic, mineralogical, and palaeontological elements for geological heritage conservation and geoscience communication. By evaluating and promoting geological features with educational potential, the number of geological tourism destinations can be increased.