The final conference of the two-year project VR@Geoparks (2020-1-IT02-KA227-SCH-095493

The final conference of the two-year project VR@Geoparks (2020-1-IT02-KA227-SCH-095493

Colleagues of Madonie Geopark organised the final conference of the two-year project VR@Geoparks (2020-1-IT02-KA227-SCH-095493) on 14th March in the Baroque style building of Palazzo Comitini in the centre of Sicily’s capital – Palermo. Partners from Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Croatia attended the event and held presentations in front of a diverse audience, in which there were representatives of local and regional authorities, park ranger officers, distinguished professors and interested students.

After providing general project information the presenters discussed the importance of using virtual reality in classrooms and its implementation in the regular curriculum of all subjects. They have given examples from practice, shared their ideas and vision of applying virtual and augmented reality in the future of education.

The Italian university partner presented the VR@Geoparks Database compiled based on the mobilities taking place in the Madonie, Papuk, Holy Cross, Kula-Salihli and Bakony-Balaton geoparks. The Portuguese partner presented the VR@Geoparks App developed using the database. Interested volunteers could try the application on site using a mobile phone placed in a Google Cardboard.

The Turkish Partner presented the VR@Geoparks Guide, a booklet with general and specific information about the geosites, flora and fauna, minerals and geofood of the 5 geoparks involved in the project, completed with an app user guide and qr-codes of some geoactivity examples. The online version of the publication also contains geo lesson plans.

Finally, representatives of partner institutions expressed their gratitude to the hosts, the city of Palermo and Sicily, for their excellent hospitality, and all partners have agreed on future cooperation. This project has crossed national and language borders elevating this Erasmus mobility to a higher, more compassionate level towards our common present and future. The products of the project will be available to all students and teachers, as well as all receptive people around the world, and allows a virtual walk through selected geoparks with accompanying content, such as quizzes or geoactivities.