Directions in Geoheritage Studies: Suggestions from the Italian Geomorphological Community

Abstract

In recent years, more and more attention has been focused on geological and geomorphological heritage. This has led to several investigations within the framework of conservation projects, both at administrative and scientific levels, involving national and international research groups whose purposes are the promotion of Earth Sciences knowledge and the conservation of geological heritage. This paper presents an overview of research and conservation projects in Italy, focusing mainly on geomorphological heritage. Members of the AIGeo Working Group on "Geomorphosites and cultural landscape" analysed the historical development of these research projects in order to identify possible innovation strategies to improve the awareness and knowledge of geodiversity and geoheritage of a wider public.

Nature-Based Solution Integration to Enhance Urban Geomorphological Mapping: A Methodological Approach

“…Therefore, recognizing the cultural dimension of urban geoheritage is essential for understanding its full significance within urban environments [5,7,8]. The inclusion of urban geoheritage in some urban geomorphological studies [9] and the development of methodologies [10] for its Land 2024, 13, 467 2 of 26 study have not been performed in many cases. Urban geomorphology should incorporate an urban geoheritage assessment to systematically evaluate and protect the cultural and natural assets represented by urban landforms and features shaped by natural processes within cities.…”

“…Urban geomorphology should incorporate an urban geoheritage assessment to systematically evaluate and protect the cultural and natural assets represented by urban landforms and features shaped by natural processes within cities. Geoheritage is the term for the valuable geological and geomorphological components of the landscape that should be preserved [1,7,[11][12][13][14][15]. Urban geoheritage refers to the collection of distinctive geological features, ongoing geological processes, and elements of the geological environment within urban areas and their immediate surroundings.…”

Informed Geoheritage Conservation: Determinant Analysis Based on Bibliometric and Sustainability Indicators Using Ordination Techniques

“…This intellectual freedom breeds continual invention of novel and hybrid inventory methods [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Geoheritage assessment methods have a certain level of inherited subjectivity that is subject to optimization [27][28][29][30][31]. In cases where geoheritage exists in specific areas, such as a growing city, decisions on what value can be considered have to be made.…”

Geohazards and Geomorphological Setting in Poznań Urban Area, Poland

“…In Poland, global warming induces changes in precipitation (Kożuchowski & Żmudzka, 2003;Ziernicka-Wojtaszek, 2006), an increase in the frequency of strong winds (Araźny et al, 2007;Lorenc, 2005), and sea-level rise (Kundzewicz, 2008;Rotnicki, 2009;Wiśniewski et al, 2011). In the present context of climate change, new investigations and action plans are needed for enhancing this valuable urban geomorphological heritage and protecting it from both natural hazards and anthropogenic activities (Bollati et al, 2015;Brandolini et al, 2019Brandolini et al, , 2020Faccini et al, 2020;Reynard et al, 2017).…”