GEOfestival 2025 So colourful and diverse is the Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke EUROPEAN GEOPARKS WEEK 2025 18th May to 18th June 2025

On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, project partners, experts, and stakeholders gathered in St. Kanzian am Klopeiner See to jointly develop sustainable tourism offers within the GreenTour project.

December 11 reminds us of the importance of mountains for our lives, nature, and culture.

From 11. - 15. November 2024, Kladovo, Serbia, became the hub of collaboration and innovation for the Danube GeoTour Plus project. The event gathered all project partners and geopark representatives to discuss strategies for sustainable tourism and enhancing visitor experiences across the Danube region.

The Waterwise project is officially underway! Last week partners from 6 countries gathered in the breathtaking setting of Poschiavo, Switzerland, to kick off this exciting collaboration.

With great enthusiasm, we hosted representatives of the Association of Slovenian Municipalities on October 3, 2024, and representatives of the European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) B&G-RAD on November 7, 2024, during their study visit to the Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark.

Yesterday, on 15th October 2024, we successfully held the introductory seminar with educational workshops as part of the Geopark annual theme "UNESCO Geopark – Green Classroom" at the Koroški Pokrajinski Muzej in the castle in Ravne na Koroškem.

Yesterday, the Director of the Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark signed ERDF subsidy contracts for two new INTERREG SI-AT projects, titled "KaraMon" and "Connect2tourism".

On Saturday, 21 September 2024, the Interreg Cooperation Day 2024 took place in the cross-border Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke. This traditional annual event is organized by the Interreg Slovenia-Austria Cooperation Programme.

From September 10th to 12th, 2024, we proudly hosted the fourth project meeting in the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark (Austria/Slovenia).

The past three days, we proudly hosted in Geopark a Central European Service for Cross-border Initiatives from Budapest.

The cross-border Geopark Karavanke hosted the European Geoparks Weeks at the end of May and the beginning of June, which are a central part of the year-long "GEOfestival" programme.

A cross-border PeaceWalk

Lifelong Learning Weeks 2024 – Experience Heritage: Educational workshops "Open your suitcase and explore the world of minerals" and "UNESCO Geopark - Green Classroom"

Last week, from 14 May to 17 May 2024, the partners of the HUMANITA - Interreg Central Europe project met in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park in Italy. 

As part of the Lifelong Learning Weeks 2024, two educational workshops for all generations will take place under the title "Encounters with Heritage": "Open your suitcase and explore the world of minerals" und "UNESCO Geopark - Green Classroom".

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Global Geoparks Network with us by joining our exciting competition!

We would like to inform the guest of the Geopark Karawanken that the climbing routes Turkenkopf and Koschlak steig in Bad Eisenkappel are closed for timber cutting from today, 22.4., to Friday, 26.4.2024.

Half Marathon Drau-Drava Run and Fun Run Lavamünd-Dravograd-Lavamünd within the framework of the INTERREG SI-AT project Drau-Drava Run on May 25, 2024, in Lavamünd.

Distinguished visit from the EU Parliament in the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark - Members of the European Parliament, Andreas Schieder (A) and Matjaž Nemec (SLO), were impressed by the European success story of this cross-border geopark.

Yesterday, during the ceremonial session on the occasion of the municipality holiday of Ravne na Koroškem, together with the president of the cross-border Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke, Mayor Dr. Tomaž Rožen, we awarded educational certificates "Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark - Educational Center Ravne na Koroškem"

In April 2024, we proudly hosted representatives of Slovenian Regional Development Agencies in our cross-border Geopark.

A cross-border workshop with eight participants representing stakeholders from both Austria and Slovenia took place on 19th of March 2024 in Municipality of Sittersdorf. The group comprised members from diverse sectors including environmental agencies, cable car company, municipalities, tourist operators, tourism management organizations, and universities, each bringing invaluable expertise to the table, on how to collaborate to foster sustainable tourism and protect the natural environment.

Yesterday, we successfully carried out the 2nd part of the educational workshop in the framework of the Geopark annual topic - WETLANDS - into nature with boots, which was carried out within the INTERREG Alpine Space project I-SWAMP

Within the I-SWAMP project, the Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke aims to contribute to the conservation of small alpine wetlands and to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands for nature and people. Therefore, we are implementing activities together with municipalities, volunteers, stakeholders and external expert to preserve these wetlands for the future.

Are you interested in ecology, biodiversity and conservation? Intrigued by the fascinating wetland ecosystems in the Alps?

The Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark together with its partner Podzemlje Pece participated in the Alpe-Adria International Fair in Ljubljana between 31st January and 3rd of February 2024.

We were delighted to welcome representatives from the Biokovo-Imotski Lakes Geopark – Croatia for their study visit. The presentation, constructive debate, pleasant socializing, and shared interests resulted in improved cooperation and the signing of cooperation agreements between our organizations.

In the framework of the 26th Slovenian Geologists' Consultation which took place on December 1st 2023, we presented together with the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation the ongoing projects we are implementing in our Geopark: Humanita (INTERREG Central Europe), I-Swamp (INTERREG Alpine Space) and GreenTour (INTERREG SI-AT).

We are proud and delighted to announce that the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark, in its still young existence, was nominated for the "European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism" award this year.

Hosted by the University of Žilina – our Interreg Central Europe project partners gathered in the heart of the National Park Malá Fatra. The Chleb area, one of the pilot sites, was the highlight of our visit. We witnessed the area's beauty and the impact of soil erosion on the trails.

The President of the Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark, Dr. Tomaž Rožen, signed today at the Štatemberg Manor the contract on the co-funding of the new INTERREG SI-AT project with the acronym "GreenTour". With this project, the Geopark will set measurable objectives and clear impacts for future-oriented tourism development in this bilateral European area of the future over the next three years!

Last week, we proudly hosted in our cross-border Geopark, a Secondary school of Freamunde, Paços de Ferreira, near Porto – working on an ERASMUS project "Approaching sustainable development through Geoparks".

The Global Geoparks Network celebrates the International Geodiversity Day. We are proud to present the new GGN video specially made for International Geodiversity Day - 6th October 2023!

This school year, the Geopark Karavanke will continue to be "Fun, educational and no chore", especially with your help. In the school year 2023/24 we are launching a new Theme of the Geopark Karavanke: "Wetlands - into nature with boots".

We're delighted to share the highlights from our recent seminar held on September 24th, 2023, at the Smrekovec mountain alpine hut in the frame of the Interreg Alpine Space Project I-SWAMP.

Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark participated at 10th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks, which took place last week in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.

Almost 2 weeks ago, the 14 municipalities of the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark were hit by a devastating natural disaster. Heavy rain caused flooded houses, whole villages were flooded and covered with debris.  Numerous mudslides and landslides were also the result of this heavy rain. Many slopes are still in motion and endanger the living and economic space of the Geopark. People have lost their homes, businesses their economic existence, destroyed roads and bridges have severed important connections.

Within the framework of the project activities in the frame of Interreg Alpine Space Project I-SWAMP, the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark, together with an external expert E.C.O Institute of Ecology, started with the removal of invasive plant species (Solidago, bamboo, …) at project sites in the Municipality of Lavamünd and at the lake Pirkdorfer See.

Yesterday we were allowed to present our activities on the European Green deal in the framework of the European Future Dialogues and share them with other cross-border regions from all over Europe.

The brand new viewing platform at the Wildensteiner waterfall is officially open. The famous excursion destination and natural jewel in the municipality of Gallizien in the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark is absolutely worth seeing.

A time machine as a cure for Kralj Matjaž's heartbreak? And what role does a rare stamp play in the emergence of Ante Pante's customs?

In the last few days, several events took place on both sides of the border in the cross-border Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark as part of the GEOfestival and the European Geoparks Week.

Yesterday, at the Geopark Management Center in Tichoja, we successfully implemented the 2nd part of the educational workshop within the Geopark annual topic "NEOOHYTE - friend or foe?" 

As part of the Geopark Karawanken-Karavanke annual school topic "NEOPHYTE - enemies or friends?" an educational workshop for teachers and educators will take place on 25th of May 2023 at 14:00 pm at the Geopark Management Centre in Tichoja in the framework of the Interreg Alpine Space project I-SWAMP. 

Partners of the project met in Bükk National Park in Hungary on April 17th to 19th 2023 at the project’s kick-off meeting.

Slovenian ministers Dr. Aleksander Jevšek and Matej Arčon visited the Karavanke-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark and gained an on-site impression of the successful developments so far.

Many school groups visit the Geo.Dom on the Petzen

10th anniversary celebration of the Geopark Karawanken among the well-wishers Minister Uroš Brežan, Governor Dr. Peter Kaiser, and Nikos Zouros, the President of the Global Geopark Network.

Official opening of the Geo.Dom and panoramic restaurant "Oben" on 11.01.2023