International Geodiversity Day was celebrated this year at the symposium held in Tulcea, in the Danube Delta region, which was an inspiring choice for the event location in many ways. Here, some of Europe's oldest and newest land meet. The area is surrounded by ancient mountains, but at the mouth of the delta toward the Black Sea, new land continuously and rapidly accumulates, also creating new habitats for different species.
The place is in many ways dependent on the work done by geoscientists. The work of geoheritage and geoconservation researchers is important for the area’s vitality and especially for tourism. The region currently has an ongoing Cimmerian Dobrogea Geopark project, which aims to achieve official UNESCO Geopark status. The symposium was thus held in a place that aspires to be a model example of future resilience.
I participated in a symposium organized by the international ProGEO association. The symposium brings together geoscience researchers and practitioners. Participants are experts in geodiversity, geoconservation, geoheritage, and geoparks. It is relatively rare for a scientific event to gather such a diverse group to hear the latest news and developments in the field.
The event featured presentations on geosite inventory and assessment, geoconservation practices and situations in different parts of the world, geotourism and its successful practices, but also cautionary examples, such as how geopark status can be lost. Participants came not only from Europe but also from Brazil and South Korea.
I was there to speak about the significance of geodiversity in concepts that guide both research and policy-making, particularly in discussions related to resilience.
Natural diversity consists not only of biodiversity but also of geodiversity. It is common for the value of geodiversity to be seen only through biodiversity: for example, how different bedrock and soil characteristics or hydrological processes affect species in a particular area. Alternatively, earth and rock materials are reduced in general discourse to natural resources and raw materials, as in discussions related to mining. However, geodiversity has many values and functions, and like biodiversity, deserves protection based on its intrinsic value also.
While geodiversity has been recently incorporated into the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) agenda – for example, via the Key Geoheritage Areas and updating the definition of "nature" through the activity of ProGEO and researchers – and actively promoted in sustainable development contexts, its integration into resilience frameworks and policy-making remains limited. This gap is significant, as geodiversity offers crucial insights for building resilience.
Though limited, existing research on geodiversity and geoheritage has emphasized especially two perspectives relevant to resilience. First, considering geodiversity in environmental protection provides "insurance" against changes by preserving current and potential future habitats. This idea is central to the nature conservation strategy Conserving Nature's Stage, which focuses on protecting the physical template – the geodiversity – that underpins ecosystems.
Second, the promotion of geoscience education emerges as a key theme in resilience discussions. For example, better awareness of geohazards – from volcanic eruptions to harmful frost phenomena – helps communities prepare for and live with these hazards. However, new openings are emerging that expand geodiversity's role in resilience-building. For instance, post-pandemic urban planning has begun exploring how geodiversity could promote health and healthy behaviours.
Geoparks are in a way pioneers in geoscience education, but they are also good examples of promoting resilience more broadly. The European Geopark Network has used the term "territories of resilience" to describe itself, which perhaps has not yet received the wider recognition and awareness it deserves.
Community-based action is emphasized in geoparks, whether it's promoting tourism or protecting nature. They also always interweave geological, biological, and cultural values and meanings as equal components. This holistic approach makes geoparks good models for resilience research and practices.
On one conference day, we took a trip to one of the area's significant geosites, Agighiol geological reserve, where numerous Triassic ammonoid fossils are preserved. While searching for not only fossils but also beautiful weathering and erosion features in the field, with a little twinkle in my eye, I launched the concept of geohappiness.
Over the years, researchers have invented several geo-prefixed words when wanting to make the significance of geodiversity more visible in different contexts, from wider known concepts such as geotourism, geoeducation and geosystem services, to more niche concepts such as geostories or geomythology. Geohappiness belongs to this family but also reminds us how this work is done out of curiosity for nature and its wonders.
Spotting small, beautiful details in nature makes me sometimes ridiculously happy, and makes me appreciate nature and its wonders even more. Best of all, I got to share geohappiness with other geodiversity enthusiasts, like my University of Oulu colleagues Helena Tukiainen and Henriikka Salminen.
Writer of this blog post is Maija Toivanen, FRONT's postdoctoral researcher in Geography. She is a part of an internationally significant research group studying geodiversity at the University of Oulu. With FRONT's support, Maija Toivanen now aims to integrate geodiversity into scientific and public discussions about resilience.
The Exploring resilience blog discusses the current themes of research, teaching and development of resilience, i.e., crisis resistance and deepens knowledge about the management of global change, and possible solutions to the wicked problems of sustainability. The authors are researchers and experts in the field, and members of the cooperation networks of the University of Oulu’s FRONT PROFI7 research programme.