Promoting and Interpreting Geoheritage at the Local Level—Bottom-up Approach in the Land of Extinct Volcanoes, Sudetes, SW Poland

Abstract

This paper reviews recent developments focused on the promotion of geoheritage in the region of Kaczawskie Mountains and Kaczawskie Foothills in the Sudetes, SW Poland. Since ancient volcanic features are of primary interest, the brand name "Land of Extinct Volcanoes" is consistently used in territorial marketing, although geoheritage values cover much wider spectrum of geology and geomorphology. The scientific understanding of Earth history was long realized by restricted academic circles only, but since the 1990s, increasing attempts to develop regional tourist product based on geoheritage have been observed. They intensified in the twentyfirst century, with the bottom-up approach evidently taking over, although close, formalized collaboration with scientists is a distinctive feature. The long-term goal of the Local Action Group is to join the UNESCO Global Geopark network and step by step the relevant criteria are being fulfilled. The case of Land of Extinct Volcanoes illustrates the crucial role of local communities and local leaders in the long-term strategy of geoheritage promotion and geotourism development.

The untapped potential of scenic routes for geotourism: case studies of Lasocki Grzbiet and Pasmo Lesistej (Western and Central Sudeten Mountains, SW Poland)

“…In this context, it is regrettable that the idea behind the development of certified scenic routes in Polish tourism (not necessarily in a geotourism context) has not gone beyond academic consideration and that is, unfortunately, mostly quite old (the 11 th volume of the academic journal 'Problems of Mountain Land Development', Problemy Zagospodarowania Ziem Górskich, published in 1973 by the Polish Academy of Sciences, was almost entirely devoted to the topic). The use of landscape for the explaining of geological/geomorphological processes is currently implemented only in some parts of the Sudeten Mountains, the most attractive geotouristically, but also the most frequented by tourists (Giant and Stołowe Mountains; Migoń 2016;Migoń and Knapik 2013;Pijet-Migoń and Migoń 2019;Wojewoda 2011) where there is not necessarily a need to create new tourist routes (see: Kołodziejczyk 2019Kołodziejczyk , 2020b. On the other hand, the remaining parts of the Sudeten Mountains are almost undeveloped in this respect, including areas analyzed in this paper.…”

Geoparks and Education: UNESCO Global Geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara as a Case Study in Spain

“…According to Farsani et al, the landscape is one of the elements, together with geology, that contribute the most to learning about the local area when they do so through geoparks [34]. For instance, the studies undertaken by Swierkosz et al [77] and Pijet-Migoń and Migoń [78] point out that the presence of abiotic and biotic elements helps to learn about the landscape as well as the relationship between them. Therefore, the more outstanding features in most of the activities involved in the Las Villuercas educational project are the geopark itself, its geology, and its landscape.…”

Regional Geotourist Resources—Assessment and Management (A Case Study in SE Poland)

“…The bottom-up strategy is the most efficient for the promotion and development of geotourism, as well as actions aimed at establishing geoparks. This is exemplified by the activities of the Local Action Group Land of Extinct Volcanoes, encompassing 14 districts in SW Poland, aimed at promoting and educating the public about geoheritage assets [50]. Unfortunately, the attempts to establish such an organisation in Central Roztocze have not been successful so far.…”