Secondary geodiversity and its potential for geoeducation and geotourism: a case study from Brno city

Geodiversity is considered to be the most important resource for geoeducational and geotourist activities. Usually the geoeducation and geotourism are developed within natural areas and they are based on the primary geodiversity (natural landforms). Nevertheless, so called secondary geodiversity or man-made/anthropogenic geodiversity (represented by the anthropogenic geosites as old quarries, pits or underground landforms) can be also viewed as a remarkable resource for these activities. Brno city is rich in these landforms; some of them already serve as excursion localities for the university students or they are used for recreation and leisure, some of them are unique (from the geoscience point of view) and they have also certain added values (historical, archaeological or ecological), however, their potential is not fully developed. The article presents examples of these geosites and outlines possibilities of the rational use for the geoeducation and geotourism purposes

Possibilities of evaluation of geomorphologic localities

Evaluation of the geomorphologic localities represents a significant part of some research oriented on inventory of landforms (environmental geomorphology). The principal parameters to evaluate are scientific or ecologic characteristics, in a minor extent aesthetic features or economic potential of the localities. The contribution presents possibilities of evaluation of the geomorphologic localities and concentrates on concept of “geomorphosites” which is used in some countries of the west and south Europe

Assessing geosites for geotourism development: Case studies from the Southern Part of Sri Lanka

Although Sri Lanka is known for its many geodiverse attractions, it has not fully recognized and capitalized on its potential to promote geotourism. This study evaluates the potential of two geotourism case study areas, Ussangoda and the Kudawella blowhole, in the southern part of the island which is well frequented by tourists. We provide a blueprint on how to assess the development potential of geotourism sites by employing three types of analyses: Firstly, we estimated the numerical value of various characteristics of the sites important for the development for geotourism, including their scientific, tourism, and conservation values along with the value added by other (non-geotourism) features. Secondly a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was performed which builds on the results from the numerical evaluation but provides a more in-depth narrative evaluation. Thirdly, the SWOT analysis can be extended and used to generate a threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths (TOWS) matrix which identifies the relationships between these factors and enables to select strategies by providing a succinct tabular overview as the basis for tourism development strategies. We exemplified this multi-step analysis on the Ussangoda and Kudawella blowhole and identified that both sites harbor significant potential as geotourism sites. A private–public partnership between communities and local authorities, as well as universities should be considered to develop geotourism in Sri Lanka