KIGAM/ISGeo regular training course on Aspiring Geoparks - Development and Preparation

The KIGAM/ISGeo training course on “Aspiring Geoparks - Development and Preparation” was conducted from May 19 to 24, 2016 in Daejeon and followed by the 3rd CCOP-KIGAM-IsGeo Symposium on Developing Geoparks within East & Southeast Asia region on 25-28 May 2016 in Cheongsong, Republic of Korea. There were 17 trainees, including CCOP Member Countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam) and one staff of CCOPTS, together with other international and Korean students. This course is basically designed for Geopark, Geo-heritage, or National Park-related personnel who want or need to develop Geoparks especially in non-Geopark Southeast Asian countries.

This course was made available for geologists and Geopark, Geo-heritage, or National Park-related officers who wants to develop or to share their experience and knowledge on Geopark. For this purpose, this course comprised a module on “How to develop Geoparks” and touches 4 factors of Geoparks: 1) Science, 2) Education, 3) Geotourism, and 4) Sustainable Development, instructed by Prof. Arthur Abreu Sá (University of Trá-os-Montes e Alto Douro) and Dr. Soo Jae Lee (Korea Environment Institute).    Also included in the course is an introduction of Strategy for Global Geoparks planning and promotion (Science, Geotourism & Education, Management systems/models, Sustainable development). There was also plenary discussion between instructors and trainees on difficulties and problems among Geopark-developing countries.

In overall evaluation, the training course has been successfully organized and reached the targets and benefited all the attendees. Advanced courses for the network are recommended for consideration of future plans.