[O-06] [JJ] Geoparks in Japan -Lesson to be learned from the failure-

[O06-P35] Utilization of Oita Himeshima Geopark Center

Toshikatsu Chujo¹, *Yu Horiuchi¹ (1.Oita Himeshima Geopark Promotion Office)

Keywords:museum, center for geopark activity, visitor center, Amanohitotsune

New facility of Oita Himeshima Geopark Center is built in 2017. This facility is a single-story wooden building with total floor area of 247.38 m² and a site area of 1252.90 m². There are an exhibition room of 115.52 m², a storage room of 28.88 m², a work room with meeting space, an office room and toilets. The walls of storage room consist of moisture conditioning boards, so it is possible to store and manage valuable materials and ancient documents. Whereas Rito center "Yahazu" which is training and welfare facility also attaches a local material exhibition room of Himeshima village, it has not been fully utilized as a base of Geopark activity. At the new facility, resident staff provides explanation of exhibits, such as introduction of geoparks, exhibition of fossils and minerals which are difficult to observe in the field, and achievements of regional learning by children. In future, improvement in exhibition and trainings for staffs and guides are necessary to provide sufficient explanation in this facility.