The 'Day of Geosites' in Germany - a Successful Promotion Tool for Earth Sciences

摘要

For more than 10 years, the annual "Day of Geosites" has been presented as a decentralised activity throughout Germany on the third weekend in September. Addressing the general public, this concept is designed to deliver many different insights into Earth history and the thrilling processes of its formation. Supervised by the major geoscientific societies in Germany and coordinated by the geological surveys of the federal states nationwide activity is carried out by a multitude of independent stakeholders. Each stakeholder may organise and present their own project, but only after the project was approved by the geological survey of the respective federal state. General guidelines, information posters and a web-based database are provided by the supervising institutions. After 10 years of experience, the Day of Geosites initiative can be considered to be successful, starting from approximately 200 participating projects in the first years to a new record in 2012, when more than 330 activities covered a wide range of different geoscientific issues. As an effective way to generate interest in geoheritage and the many facets of Earth Sciences, it is suggested that other countries could also develop a Day of Geosites.