The Societal Embedding of Geoparks: A Critical Research on Landscape Values in Geoparks

UNESCO Global Geoparks are set to implement holistic management of areas of international geological significance and to achieve endogenous regional development. The management of geoparks requires the involvement of all relevant stakeholders and authorities. However, the strategies when establishing geoparks are often based on the visions of scientists and policymakers, with limited opportunities for other stakeholders to collaborate in the development process. Problems have arisen regarding the aspects and extent to which the officially stated values are recognized and understood by the public, and whether geopark managers have sufficient knowledge of public perceived values and apply them in park management. This research focuses on the problem regarding the absence of public perceptions of landscape values in geopark studies, and aims to improve our knowledge about the influence of institutionalization and popularization of landscape in geoparks on local sustainable development. To achieve this, the project is grounded in the domain of critical heritage studies, while also benefiting from theories and concepts in the areas of perceived landscape values and mental maps, and views the public as active participants in perceiving and thereby conceiving landscapes. The project will apply the public participation GIS approach, combining narrative inquiries (e.g., storytelling and in-depth interviews) with specific groups of people, to map and analyse the differences and similarities of value perceptions among various stakeholders. These methods will help to recognize landscapes of special meanings for different groups, the conflicts of interest between them, and the opportunities to enhance consensus between these groups.