The Geodiversity and Geoheritage Conservation Research Group is a professional community of students, researchers and practitioners working in and interested in the fields of geodiversity and geoheritage. The aim of the group is to:

• provide a forum for students and researchers dealing with questions of geodiversity (the diversity of rocks, minerals, fossils, landforms, surface evolution processes and soils) and geoheritage;

• promote knowledge sharing and the coordination of research at national and international level;

• contribute to the identification, evaluation and preservation of geoscientific values;

• support geotourism development and geo-education (trail design, outreach materials, web-based and 3D visualisations).

The first meeting of the research group was held on 19 November 2025, where the conceptual frameworks of geodiversity and geoheritage were presented, along with national and international research linkages and potential future projects.

The group is affiliated with the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), which provides the infrastructural and methodological background for geoscientific investigations based on cartography, GIS and remote sensing data. In addition, we seek opportunities for collaboration with other university departments and external institutions and organisations.

The research group is open to all BSc, MSc and PhD students, as well as lecturers and external experts whose topics are related to geodiversity, geoheritage, geotourism, geoconservation, geoparks, or to geoscientific applications of mapping and remote sensing.

You can apply and join by filling in the following form: https://forms.office.com/e/2WiVH63KEV?origin=lprLink

27 April 2026 – Presentations by PhD students Abdo Wudad Kemal and Emmanuel Owusu-Acheampong, with which they prepared for the "XXV International Conference of Young Geologists".

30 March 2026 – Report on the content of the submitted NKKP application. The presentation material is available by clicking here.

February 2026 – Brainstorming session regarding the grant application materials

21 January 2026 – DigGeoNaija introduction & Márton Pál's material about the geoheritage inventory of Hungary

3 December 2025 – Márton Pál's material and Gáspár Albert's material

19 November 2025 – the inaugural meeting's file can be accessed by clicking here

Informal cooperation with DigGeoNaija Ltd. and Olabisi Onabanjo University's Geodiversity Research Group. Our RG is a co-organiser of the "From Geosites to Visitor Experiences" online workshop between 13-15 April, 2026. Márton Pál's presentation is available here. He also introduced the RG and took part in the ProGEO panel.

Publications in 2026:

• Kemal, A. W., & Pál, M. (2026). Quantitative assessment of geodiversity in Ethiopia using grid-based analysis. In Proceedings of the XXV International Conference of Young Geologists, Kostelec nad Černými lesy, Czech Republic (ResearchGate)
• Owusu-Acheampong, E. & Pál, M. (2026). Initial geodiversity assessment of Ghana using GIS methods: implications for geoheritage and geoconservation. In Proceedings of the XXV International Conference of Young Geologists, Kostelec nad Černými lesy, Czech Republic (ResearchGate)
• Pál-Hajdú, E., Pál, M., Jung, A., & Albert, G. (2026). RGB or LiDAR? A quantitative comparison of UAV-based 3D geosite models. In Proceedings of the XXV International Conference of Young Geologists, Kostelec nad Černými lesy, Czech Republic (ResearchGate)
• Pál, M. (2026). From visitor-based evaluation to geosite closure: a retrospective assessment of the Mencshely Volcano Trail (Hungary). In IAVCEI VOLCANDPARK 2026 CONFERENCE (p. 41) (ResearchGate)
• Zakharovskyi, V., Pál, M., Sági, T., & Németh, K. (2026). Geosite Recognition in the Hungarian Side of the Novohrad-Nógrád Geopark Hungary/Slovakia with Utilization of Different Methodologies of Geodiversity Assessment. Geoheritage, 18(2), 135. DOI: 10.1007/s12371-026-01316-4.