UNESCO Global Geoparks: a strategy towards global understanding and sustainability

Geodiversity – the abiotic component of nature – is subject to everyday individuals’ choices. The use of some of its elements in geoparks – by fostering economic sustainable development of local communities through the promotion of geotourism and education – represents a successful path to global sustainability, as argued in detail in the present work. By connecting local actions and global challenges, and assuming the role of local culture as a crucial tool to achieve global sustainability, the UNESCO Global Geoparks can be envisaged as best practice examples of realizing the aims and goals of the International Year of Global Understanding and source of inspiration for other global challenges, such as the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals 2016−2030.European Union through the Euro- pean Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Pro- grama Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013 and UID/Multi00073/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690 and national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia