When we look at a landscape, we marvel at its shapes and colours without realising everything they conceal. Mountains, valleys and rocks are the result of a history stretching back millions of years, and their contours bear the traces of the geological processes that make them unique.
Based in Osona, the Geòleg.cat project works to bring these stories to a wider audience and make them visible, teaching people to look at the world through a geologist’s eyes in order to understand it better.
Walking, observing and interpreting
Geòleg.cat aims to provide education and raise awareness in the fields of geology and Earth sciences, turning the local area into a learning environment through routes tailored to different audiences, durations and levels of difficulty.
Its offerings include, for example, the Tavertet route, where we can look out from the cliffs over a sea that existed 47 million years ago. Along the way, however, we first observe the relationships between the geological materials of Les Guilleries and the Montseny Massif and explore how the landscape has evolved.
In Santa Maria de Besora, the route through the Bufadors de Beví introduces us to the geological origins of this remarkable, almost magical place, where a series of passages between the rocks release air throughout the year, like a natural air-conditioning system. Along the route, we can also observe fossils and the effects of the formation of the Pyrenees.
Geology is even present in urban environments. In Vic, we discover the secrets of the rocks used in some of the city’s oldest buildings and, in Plaça Major, we even come across the remains of a sirenian.
The journey begins in the classroom
Its educational work also extends to primary and secondary schools and universities, with activities such as workshops, talks and lectures. It also includes training courses for teachers in natural sciences and the preparation of teaching materials for laboratory work, practical sessions and classroom activities.
Geòleg.cat is part of the Barcelona Sustainable Destination programme and contributes to a more responsible tourism model that highlights the value of the area’s heritage. It also works with other organisations and institutions, such as the Guilleries-Savassona Natural Area and the Museu del Ter, offering geology outreach activities and routes to discover and interpret Osona’s natural heritage.
A new perspective
When we learn to interpret rocks, fossils and landscape features, our surroundings cease to be merely a backdrop and become a story written over millions of years.
Ultimately, looking at a landscape through geological eyes means discovering that what appears immutable is, in fact, full of movement and transformation. Geòleg.cat invites us to walk, observe and ask questions in order to understand this hidden history, which is also so clearly visible all around us.
Explore all its routes at geoleg.cat
