Participatory Action Research (PAR) involving local communities and geological heritage were examined in the framework of the ‘Litoral del Biobío’ Mining Geopark project (Chile). A broad spectrum of the population was involved in testing the suitability of PAR methods to determine the sociological perception of geology, geo-tourism and geoconservation, and thus to contribute to define future local development initiatives. Specifically, 56 workshops were realized on basic geological concepts, field experiences in geosites, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis and identification of specific strategic plans. The study involved 637 participants, including local administrators, private companies, chambers of commerce and tourism, social entities, the general public and Lafkenche indigenous communities. Participants considered important the workshops and their learning about basic geological concepts. The main result of these workshops was the collection of information for the design of strategic plans for each of the communes and the empowerment of the local community. This was ratified by letters of commitment from associations and participants to the Geopark initiative. This research enabled the communities to identify four strategic areas: education; tourism; heritage; and public-private coordination, which will be considered in the elaboration of specific development plans.

This bottom-up strategy has allowed demonstration that geotourism has the potential to contribute to the sustainable development of the territory, and can benefit areas with very different socio-economic realities: the indigenous peoples of the south, which are rural (sustained by agriculture and fishing) and those of the north, which lives mainly in highly populated cities with high unemployment, where industrial reconversion did not allow all of them to overcome the crisis after the closure of the mining industry.

在“ Litoral delBiobío”采矿地质公园项目（智利）的框架内，对涉及当地社区和地质遗产的参与式行动研究（PAR）进行了审查。广泛的人口参与了PAR方法的适用性测试，以确定对地质学，地质旅游和地质保护的社会学认识，从而有助于确定未来的当地发展计划。具体而言，举办了56个讲习班，内容涉及基本地质概念，地质现场经验，优势，劣势，机遇与威胁（SWOT）分析和确定特定战略计划。这项研究共有637名参与者，其中包括地方行政人员，私人公司，商会和旅游业，社会实体，公众和Lafkenche土著社区。与会者认为重要的是研讨会和他们对基本地质概念的学习。这些讲习班的主要成果是为每个公社的战略计划设计和地方社区的赋权收集了信息。协会和参与者对地质公园倡议的承诺书已批准了这一点。这项研究使社区能够确定四个战略领域：教育；旅游; 遗产; 以及公私协调，将在制定具体发展计划时予以考虑。

这种自下而上的策略使人们得以证明，地质旅游有潜力促进该领土的可持续发展，并可以使社会经济现实截然不同的地区受益：南部的土著人民，他们是农村地区（由农业和农业维持）。捕捞）和北部地区，这些地区主要生活在人口密集的高失业率城市中，在采矿业关闭之后，工业转型无法使所有这些国家克服危机。