During the 8th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks in Adamello Brenta UNESCO Global Geopark, Italy, 8–14 September 2018 the venue of the 9th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks will be decided. If your organization or country is interested in hosting the 2020 Conference, you are kindly invited to submit a well-developed technical proposal specifying the offer. This bid is addressed to countries and regions which already have UNESCO Global Geoparks, and whose contribution will be essential for the success of the event.

Some important points:

1) Technical

• The conference has to be organized by an efficient and experienced team, including communication, tourism, administration, UNESCO Global Geopark specialists and geoscientists.
• UNESCO Global Geoparks and Global Geopark Network (GGN) members (in the country and within the region) should actively participate and provide their expertise. The conference is the most important event for members to meet and exchange experience.
• The venue of the meeting should be big enough for 700-800 delegates and easily accessible for international participants.
• The candidates will have the possibility to present their bid (5-10 min) before the GGN Executive Board at its meeting on September 10^th 2018 at 18.00h.

2) Financial Issues

• The conference and the preparations need to be financed by the organizers who, if necessary, should seek private and public funding. The financial statement should be clear and based on feasible plans.
• The candidate should present a proposal for the conference budget including data on the financial resources, possible sponsor contribution, participant’s fees and grand policy.
• Costs of hosting the meeting of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council (UGGpC) and GGN Executive Board (travel, hotel and subsistence costs for three days for the 16 Council members) should be included.
• The participant’s registration fee should be ‘reasonable’ taking into account that UNESCO Global Geoparks are present in the rich as well as the poorer regions of the globe and people sometimes come from far.
• The organizers must provide a fee to GGN according to the 2016 GGN General Assembly decision on the GGN budget (September 19th, 2016). This amount will be equivalent to 50 Euro per participant.
• UNESCO, for the moment, is only able to provide intellectual sponsorship.

3) Organization

• The past conferences in Beijing 2004 (China), Belfast 2006 (Northern Ireland), Osnabrűck 2008 (Germany), Langkawi 2010 (Malaysia), Unzen 2012 (Japan), and Saint John 2014 (Canada), Torquay 2016 (UK) had strong local, governmental and ministerial support and high media coverage. The organization team is advised to include governmental entities as well as a broad spectrum of other groups like Tourism Boards, Councils of towns, counties, Geological Survey, etc..
• Several other open and closed business meetings, workshops and events that run both in advance and during the conference will take place in addition to the UGGp Council meeting.  These meetings add considerably to the required organization and costs. These meetings include the GGN General Assembly, GGN Executive Board Meetings, GGN Advisory Board Meeting, GGN Working Group Workshops, Regional Networks Advisory Committee and Coordination Committee Meetings, etc..
• It is a prerequisite that the country where the conference is proposed already has UNESCO Global Geoparks.

4) Content

• The Conference theme must be closely related to the core topics of the UNESCO Global Geoparks.
• Each organizer will put the focus on specific themes of their interest which are not preliminarily fixed, but will be discussed with UNESCO and the Global Geoparks Network during the preparation phase in more detail.

The above list is not exhaustive and aims only to provide some first guidance.

Further, please note that we strive to rotate the hosting of the International Conference to different regions of the world.

Please ensure that your full bid is submitted electronically by July 31, 2018 to:
ggnassociation(at)hotmail.com and UNESCO m.patzak(at)unesco.org

More information

Related websites:

• www.unesco.org/geoparks
• www.globalgeoparksnetwork.org