Geoheritage is the description, valuing and protection of geological objects in a scientific, societal and cultural context. Geoheritage permits people to know and appreciate their natural environment, including the benefits and risks of nature weighed up within the imperatives of their normal lives. This is especially true for volcano geoheritage. Geoheritage methods include the description and inventorying of geosites, an approach that is very close to risk mapping arrived at from hazard assessment. In this session we propose to discuss all aspects of volcano geoheritage, including basic methods and their relation to hazard/risk assessment, examples of volcano geoheritage and volcanic protected areas and their management, conceptual approaches to volcanic geoheritage, geotourism and the role of geoheritage in society’s resilience to natural geohazards and sustainable development implications.

The session is sponsored by the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Geoheritage and Protected Volcanic Landscapes, and the UNESCO Geoscience Programme Project #692 “Geoheritage for Geohazard Resilience”, and IUGS Geoheritage Commission.