Project meeting in Wildalpen, Austria from 20th – 23rd September 2017

Last week the second get-together of the project partners took place in Austria. The UNESCO Global Geoparks Karawanken-Karavanke and Styrian Eisenwurzen had the chance to welcome the 11 project partners from 8 countries. The subtitle shows the goal and the challenge which the partners are facing: »Valorisation of geo-heritage for sustainable and innovative tourism development of Danube Geoparks« The project is co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF, IPA).

The main project result will be joint Danube GeoTour designed to strengthen cooperation between the Geoparks regions and act as an innovative tourism product to accelerate visibility and tourist visits in the geoparks. Sharing experiences, testing pilot Geotourism products and new interpretative approaches should increase local inhabitants' engagement, Geopark management capacities and lower the quality gap between Danube and other EU Geoparks.

During the first day in the Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke in Carinthia the partners had the possibility to learn more about GeoInterpretation during a workshop in the municipality Zell/Sele. A visit to the Geopark Information Centre in Bad Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla took place to explore various best practice examples for GeoInterpretation. In addition, the partners enjoyed three days within the heart of Austria at the UNESCO Global Geopark Styrian Eisenwurzen. In the Hotel Bergkristall Wildalpen the partners found everything they needed for their meeting and workshops. During “Capitalization” our parnters learned more about other Interreg Danube projects especially Danubeparks and ECOKarst (dtp.interreg-danube.eu). The Welcome Dinner at the Spring Water Museum Wildalpen and the field trip within the GeoVillage Gams were a welcoming diversion to see the different GeoSights within the Eisenwurzen.  In conclusion, every partner was satisfied concerning the successful meeting. At the end, we just would add many thanks to the organizers from Karawanken-Karavanke and Styrian Eisenwurzen including all their involved helpers and partners.

Visit of the Geopark Information Centre in Bad Eisenkappel, UNESCO Global Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke

Welcome Dinner and visit of the Spring Water Museum in Wildalpen, UNESCO Global Geopark Styrian Eisenwurzen

Group picture at the Hotel Bergkristall Wildalpen, UNESCO Global Geopark Styrian Eisenwurzen