ApuanGeoLab: a new educational structure in the Apuan Alps Geopark (Italy)

The Apuan Alps Geopark has planned and created ApuanGeoLab, an interactive museum aimed to disseminate knowledge about concepts in the Earth Sciences and to improve the understanding of the connection between the local geological evolution and global processes. Along the visit trail every visitor is a "geologist for a day", starting on a journey that provides an explanation of the physical and chemical mechanisms that shaped and modified the planet Earth in geologic time, from global to local, from "Gaia" to "Apua". ApuanGeoLab, opened to the public in May 2013, is located in the village of Equi Terme, in the northern sector of the Apuan Alps Geopark. ApuanGeoLab is therefore a new structure that increases the attractiveness of the Cultural Park of the Equi Terme Caves, an existing network of tourist facilities based on nearby geosites and archeosites.