Cátedra UNESCO en Geoparques, desarrollo regional sostenible y modos de vida saludables: Una nueva herramienta para desplegar capacidades en pos de la implementación global de geoparques

SA. A.; ACEÑOLAZA, G.F.; MEDINA, W.; BELLOS, L.I.

San Miguel de Tucumán

Congreso; XX Congreso Geológico Argentino; 2017

Asociación Geológica Argentina

The development and implementation of international nature conservation policies and the increasing awareness of society to this need, led to the emergence of the Geopark concept in the mid-1990s. The number of territories belonging to the Global Geoparks Network under the auspices of UNESCO are presently 127, however, currently there is only one Geopark in Africa (Morocco) and four in Latin America (Mexico - 2, Brazil and Uruguay). Thus one of the key challenges of creating UNESCO Global Geoparks worldwide is to provide support to people so they can increasingly develop sustainable healthy lifestyles based on the interaction with nature. The UNESCO Chair on "Geoparks, Sustainable Regional Development and Healthy Lifestyles" is based at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal) and works in narrow cooperation with universities of Africa and Latin-America (where the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán is the only representative from Argentina). In this context, this UNESCO Chair provides an opportunity to build the capacity of its participants and beneficiaries, and aims to create dynamics and cooperative partnerships in order to develop initiatives leading to the implementation and affirmation of new Geoparks, that will also improve the circulation of information, especially between the partner?s institutions countries. The Chair holder and team are making efforts for enhancing the UNESCO Chair activities among academics, scientists, policymakers, professionals in different areas and local stakeholders and population.