Geopark

The GrenzWelten Geopark project office has been institutionally anchored in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district as a voluntary service since 2006 and since 2019 as a specialist area of the environmental service. Since 2009, the Geopark has been certified as a National Geopark by the GeoUnion Alfred Wegener Foundation and is subject to inspection by the certification commission every five years. The last certification took place successfully in November 2019.

Geoparks are areas with exceptional geological and natural features that distinguish them from neighbouring areas and make them stand out. The fields of activity that a geopark serves can be summarised in four core themes:

1. Educational and public relations work through the production of printed materials, work with schools and educational institutions, guided tours, exhibitions, press and public relations work.
2. nature, landscape and geotope protection in the form of a geotope management plan and maintenance of the geological natural monuments, cooperation with research institutions and authorities.
3. the development of a geo-tourism infrastructure through hiking, educational and adventure trails, cycle paths, signposting and maps, information stations.
4. Promoting sustainable regional development through points 1-3 as a contribution to addressing societal and political challenges such as climate change, increasing land consumption, demographic change and services of general interest.

With a size of 3,700km², the GrenzWeltenGeopark covers the entire district of Waldeck-Frankenberg as well as parts of the neighbouring districts of Kassel, Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Marburg-Biedenkopf and Hochsauerland. The name of the GrenzWelten Geopark is also its unifying motto. Spatial and temporal boundaries link the different regions and thematic areas of the Geopark. The originally separating character of the term "border" is transformed into a connecting element.