Geological and Cultural Heritage: Dissemination Experiences in Tuscany

Abstract

We report on some recent experiences of scientific dissemination activities on geomaterials carried out by a network of scientific organizations in Tuscany (Italy). The primary message we want to disseminate is that even the most “insignificant” rock (e.g., those constituting the bar or kitchen counter-tops) stores in their interior very useful information beyond the beautiful colors and their aesthetic appearance. These rocks can tell stories of very old geological periods on how they were formed. Their structures, texture and shape, as well as their chemistry and mineralogy provide clues to the reconstruction of geological events. Moreover, the rocks used in urban architecture and monuments are an inexhaustible archive containing a lot of historical and economic information on the development of a city and its surrounding area. The role of geologists, in this context, is to provide to the public, in clear and engaging language, the tools necessary to solve the puzzle (i.e., identify the most important types of rocks and rock-forming minerals, know their physico-chemical properties, their textures and structures and discover the environments in which they formed). A specific objective of this work is to stimulate an exchange between various research organizations (universities, public research institutions, museums, associations, etc.) and the civil society.

Linking Geoheritage and Traditional Architecture for Mitigating Depopulation in Rural Areas: the Palaeozoic Villages Route (Courel Mountains UNESCO Global Geopark, Spain)

“…At the same time, these deficits favoured the preservation of villages with a traditional architecture, laying the bases for sustainable rural tourism (Lane and Kastenholz 2015;Gao and Wu 2017). As traditional architecture is frequently preserved in stone, it provides a great opportunity to link cultural and geological heritages as a touristic resource for all public (Gordon 2018;La Felice et al 2019). To this end, many remarkable historical monuments preserved in stone were declared UNESCO World Heritage sites (Larsen and Wijesuriya 2015).…”