The uses and challenges of the geopark label as a place branding tool. The case of the Geopark of the Tremp Basin-Montsec (Catalonia-Spain)

Abstract

Based on the theoretical analysis of the uses of heritage as developed by the social and economic sciences since the 1990s, this article aims to explore the role played by geoheritage as a place branding strategy. For this matter, it focuses on the territory of the Pallars Jussà located in Catalonia (Spain), which geological and paleontological is very rich and internationally recognised. The recent use of this type of heritage in the creation of an image of this territory is addressed, first through the exploration of the Catalan policies for the conservation and promotion of geoheritage and second through the analysis of the creation of the Geopark of the Tremp Basin-Montsec, recognised by the Unesco in 2018, which will consolidate a long work initiated by the local and regional authorities. The difficulties and challenges of this specific use of geoheritage are finally addressed in the conclusions of this article, especially through the differences in objectives that may exist between the economic governance of this territory, based on the use value of geoheritage, and its scientific objectives mainly based on the existence value of geosites. Keywords: Place branding, Heritage values, Geopark, Catalan Pyrenees, Tremp Basin