[M-ZZ45] Geoparks and Sustainability

[MZZ45-P17] Review of Signboards in the San'in Kaigan UNESCO Global Geopark - Activities of the Signboard Working Group and Expected Effects -

*Noritaka Matsubara^1,3, Kyoko Kanayama^2,4, Kazuya Ando^2,4, Yuki Fujihara³ (1.Graduate School of Regional Resource Management, University of Hyogo, 2.San’in Kaigan Geopark Museum of the Earth and Sea, 3.San'in Kaigan Geopark Promotion Council Secretariat, 4.Tottori Prefectural Government)

Keywords:geopark, sustainability, Signboards, UNESCO

The San'in Kaigan UNESCO Global Geopark (San'in Kaigan UGGp), which is located in the Sea of Japan side of the Kinki and Chugoku regions, has the formation of the Sea of Japan as its main theme, and it has 53 geosites and 115 points of interest. One of the main goals of the Geopark is to help people in this region understand the importance of the Earth and various phenomena, the geoscientific characteristics of the region, and the relationship between the characteristics of the local culture and nature, through geotourism and educational activities. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to have easy-to-understand and appropriate explanations at each geosite, and signboards are the most important local and direct tool. On the other hand, there is no unified ideal design for signage in Geoparks, and it is difficult to unify the design because the content to be explained and its level of difficulty differ depending on the site. In the San'in Kaigan UGGp, which consists of three prefectures and six cities and towns, the installation of signage at each site has basically been carried out by each prefectures, cities and towns, and it cannot be said that a clear concept for the signbords has been made. In this situation, there was a call for a unified design for the San'in Kaigan UGGp, and in 2023, the San'in Kaigan Geopark Promotion Council established a Signboard Working Group to create a unified design that would make the content easier for the people to understand and unity as a San'in Kaigan UGGp site. The members of the Signboard Working Group consisted of geopark specialists, museum curators, Ministry of the Environment staff (national park managers), Geologist of University of Hyogo, conservation and protection division chairmen, guide division chairmen, and geopark secretariat staff, and when necessary, cultural property staff from prefectural, city and town boards of education and cultural property surveyors from the Agency for Cultural Affairs were also added to the group. In creating the basic design, the San'in Kaigan UGGp visited the Lesvos Island UGGp, with which it has a sister partnership, to investigate the design and content of the signs and their installation locations. During the discussions of the signboard working group, it was suggested that displaying the UNESCO logo prominently would not only help tourists to recognise that this is a UNESCO-designated site, but would also be a good opportunity for local residents to become more aware that they live in an area designated by UNESCO. In the 2022 revalidation mission by UNESCO, the site was pointed out for its trade in geological products, and it was decided that the UNESCO ideals had not been sufficiently incorporated into the site's signboards to date, we reflected on the fact that we had not been able to convey the UNESCO ideals, and we made a point of actively displaying the UNESCO ideals and our opposition to the unsustainable trade in geological items. By the end of 2024, we had updated and newly installed several signs, so we will report on the progress of the discussions and the expected effects.