This year’s theme of the International Day for the Disaster Risk Reduction is all about International cooperation for developing countries to reduce their disaster risk and disaster losses.

This is what the UNESCO Global Geoparks and the Global Geoparks Network are doing from the very beginning! Build a global network of cooperation, sharing knowledge, best practice and experiences, build capacity in local communities through educational activities and inform the society at large on geohazards and disaster mittigation.

This theme reminds us the impact that the disasters have in our lives and is conveying the message that through international cooperation we can avoid or prevent many disasters by implementing systemic disaster risk reduction strategies.

Many UNESCO Global Geoparks work together with the local people and the local authorities in order to promote awareness of geological hazards, like volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis and to help preparing disaster mitigation strategies. They also emerge as educators on current climate change and work for adaptation of best practise approach to prevent climate-related events like floods, droughts, storms. This day is a good opportunity to start developing risk reduction strategies.

The Global Geoparks Network encourages all UNESCO Global Geoparks to use this day as an opportunity to work in order to prevent hazards to become disasters.

UNESCO Global Geoparks - learning territories on Earth processes, geohazards understanding and disaster risk reduction!