Using UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vlkolínec (Slovakia) in Geographical Education

Abstract

UNESCO identifies unique places in the World, whether natural or man-made, of universally outstanding value or cultural significance as World Heritage. These places are considered heritage of all mankind, rather than just heritage of a particular area, country, or region. Such sites can be rich sources of information not only for the people of the region, but also for the general public, and are often associated with lively tourism. The aim of this paper is to characterize the UNESCO World Heritage site of Vlkolínec, one of the most visited UNESCO sites in Slovak Republic, and to use the settlement of Vlkolínec as an example to describe how the site attributes can be used in geographical education. In the first part of the paper, we describe the natural potential of Vlkolínec, characterize the settlement’s development from the end of the 18th century to the present, and describe historical landscape structures whose existence in Vlkolínec was the reason for its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the school year 2018/2019, we conducted a survey among students in the 2nd stage of primary school in Liptov region on their knowledge about the UNESCO site of Vlkolínec. Based on the results of the survey, we designed and realized a project with eighth class primary students at the Slovak UNESCO World Heritage site of Vlkolínec.