from July 19th to July 23rd, 3 representatives of Liepaja Society of the Blind went to Lesbos Island, Greece to participate in the first international meeting within the project “Geology for the Visually Impaired and the Disabled” 2020 – 2023. Our team was hosted by project partners from the Lesbos Petrified Forest Museum of Natural History. Throughout the week, various activities were organized for the project partners, from a total of 5 countries – Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia – which included solving questions regarding project management and activity implementation, as well as getting to know the geological treasures of the island.

PROJECT IN BRIEF

The project “Geology for the Visually Impaired and the Disabled” is intended for people with disabilities, including people with visual disabilities who do not have access to geological objects. These people are unable to visually enjoy the mighty geological features, either due to vision loss or mobility restrictions, as access to them is often limited. Using digital tools and technologies, the project aims to give people with disabilities the opportunity to enjoy the experience of geoparks and introduce them to the Earth sciences.

The aim of the project is to provide educational tools (maps and interactive audiovisual content) that will enable schools, teachers, pupils and people with visual impairments to understand geoparks remotely, as well as facilitate navigation for people with disabilities in real geopark visits. During the project, two applications will be developed:

• The first app will transform images and geological evidence, such as fossils, rocks, or fossilized trees, into sound. When this happens, a visually impaired person can touch the touch screen and "feel" the shape of the fossil or geological evidence as the sound changes.
• The second app is a mapping and navigation application with special features for people with disabilities and people with visual impairments. This mapping app helps geopark visitors navigate the area, especially those with disabilities. This route can also be made available to other visitors either by visiting the geopark or by using the interactive site.

Our goal is to provide additional features for this application, such as uploading images, videos, and important information related to geopark attractions. Thus, the program will be useful and will provide interesting information during both real and virtual visits. It will be available for students in geology lessons and people with disabilities who do not have the opportunity to visit the geopark in person.

In order to achieve the above mentioned project goals, representatives of the Liepaja Society of the Blind, like representatives of other countries, must participate in two more international project meetings, four student and teacher education exchanges in Spain, Latvia, Cyprus and Italy, and finally in a final conference on the project results and dissemination of technical works on project topics. More information about the project is available at: www.g4vid.eu/lv .

EXPERIENCES IN THE ISLAND OF LESBOS

On the first day, all partners met in an informal atmosphere in a Greek restaurant, where we enjoyed a variety of Greek dishes, such as dolma (grape leaf rolls with rice), Greek salad, fried squid, fried sardines, and other delicacies. The next day we took part in a conference with all the project partners, during which we were told about the island of Lesbos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its geological significance on the world map. The main coordinator of the project from the University of Patras also presented to the partners the goals and plans of the project, how we could work together to develop the above software and educational tools. During this meeting, each project partner also had to introduce themselves and tell about the most significant geoparks or geological sites in their country. The Liepaja Society of the Blind also presented itself, as well as told about the 10 most popular geological objects in Latvia. After the acquaintance, we discussed the involvement of each partner in the implementation of the project goals in the form of a discussion.

GETTING TO KNOW THE PETRIFIED TREES AND VISIT TO THE GEOPARK

On July 21, we went for an hour's drive to the eastern part of the island to visit the Petrified Forest of Lesbos. This forest consists of 20 million years old sequo trees and pines, which were petrified as a result of volcanic activity several million years ago. Of course, this is not a bushy forest, where the trees have turned into stone. Excavated tree fossils can be seen scattered in this mountainous area. None of us had ever experienced such an unusual natural phenomenon as a petrified tree. It was like a massive piece of stone (similar to quartz), with a rocky bark, with various grooves and rusty, purple colors. As the top of these trees has not survived and many of them were the height of a human body, we could clearly see the annual lines of the trees, which were colored in rusty tones. Professor / geologist Ilias explained that it would not be appropriate to determine the age of these trees by annual lines, because millions of years ago the region had a subtropical climate and the weather changed so fast that the age of the tree cannot be measured in years, but rather in seasons. The biggest pride of the geopark is the petrified tree, which is 7 meters high and reaches a circumference of 8.5 meters.

Raimonds Briežkalns, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Liepaja Blind Sports Club “Ezerkrasts”, shares his impressions of visiting the geopark: “Touching the fossils gave the greatest idea about the petrified trees. One could never say that it was a tree, because when I touched it, it seemed like a stone. Also interesting was the guide's account of how these fossils formed. It provided additional insight and allowed us to better imagine all the natural processes that have taken place around us, as well as to imagine what this place looks like today. ”

After visiting the forest, we went to the geopark’s museum, where we could both see and feel the various fossils found on the island. The guide also told us more about the volcanic processes that took place on the island 300 million years ago and how it impacted the environment and climate. Another big surprise was the model of the Gigantic deinothere mandible, the original fossil of which was found on the island of Crete. This animal lived 8-9 million years ago and was similar to a modern elephant, but its tusks reached 1.5 meters in length and grew from the elephant's lower jaw with a curved downwards (modern elephant tusks grow from the upper jaw with a curved up).

The visit to the geopark gave ideas on how to best inform the visually impaired and the disabled about the geologically significant places in the geopark in the created app.

The next day we met with the partners in another meeting to discuss the administrative issues of the project, as well as to discuss how to design the aforementioned software so that it is understandable, useful and easy to use for visually impaired and disabled people. On July 23, we went on a tour of the historic center of the island's capital Mytilene, as well as visited the historic castle, which has been partially preserved from the 14th century. The castle is currently being restored, but we visited a bunker, where in ancient times 700 residents could hide from attacks, as well as a basement, which still accumulates 4,000 cubic meters of drinking water – the ancient residents used for drinking. Blind people were also considered. The castle walls could be touched on a tactile map, which was equipped with the names of audio playback functions and writings in Braille.

We are grateful to the project partners for the warm welcome and we can confidently say that the Greeks are a very hospitable nation.

The next trip will be an exchange of students and teachers educational experiences in Spain, where we will participate from 18 to 22 October.