Intensive Course: UNESCO Geoparks

UNESCO "Yangan-Tau" Global Geopark hosted an intensive course "Geoparks UNESCO Geoparks: Science, Local Communities, Sustainable Development" took place. The course was aimed to get acquainted with the activity of "Yangan-Tau" Geopark and to reveal the best practices in organizing and functioning of geoparks. Despite the fact that there are still only a few Geoparks in Russia, the interest in this area is only growing, as evidenced by the geography of the participants - Ulyanovsk Region, Moscow, the Republic of Crimea, and of course Bashkortostan. However, the most impressive delegation came from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the team of which included representatives of PAs, NGOs and public foundations. The Kyrgyz are very interested in the further promotion of sustainable tourism and the new direction of activities - geoparks.



The intensive course was not only an educational event, but also a platform to share experiences that have been developed in the field. For example, their rich experience in tourism and attracting the local population to the projects shared by representatives of Kyrgyzstan, where every year thousands of tourists come from around the world, about another tourist attraction - the Crimea and its geological monuments and the difficulties in implementing the project told staff HSE Daria Adayeva. Director of the Undorovsky paleontological museum Ilya Stenshin shared information about the geopark "Undoria" and the future prospects for sustainable tourism in the Ulyanovsk region.
The excursion program included visits to such sites as Mechetlino geological section, Kamaletdinov mosque, Kurgazak spring, visit center, ethnodom Urmanchino and many others. Thanks to this course participants got the most complete picture of the idea of the Geopark, its goals and organization.
Next similar courses will take place in the fall!

Pictures from the intensive course you can see here