CONTENT:

Ornamental stone has contributed significantly in shaping our rural and urban landscapes, through its use in our built heritage from different historical periods. Ornamental stone is today a raw material produced with great skills all over Europe, exploiting the vast diversity of European natural stone resources. Yet, the actual use of local and regional stone resources in Europe is decreasing, and so is the knowledge of the resources, traditions and skills.

EuroLithos is founded on the idea that increased knowledge of the geology, quality and history of use of natural stone in Europe will stimulate both more sustainable use of stone resources in Europe for the benefit of SME's and our cultural heritage, and a sound land use management for the safeguarding of ornamental stone deposits.

EuroLithos addresses several aspects of the scope: identify and map the type and quality of construction materials and provide tools and protocols for the assessment and comparison of deposits. It will also address cultural heritage and building preservation aspects, since the maintenance of European heritage and a living stone industry are mutually dependent.

EuroLithos will result in an ornamental stone knowledge base under the umbrella of EGDI, covering harmonised spatial data on European stone resources, atlas of resources and use, a directory of ornamental stone properties and guidelines for valorising ornamental stone heritage. The project work will run in close collaboration with the GeoERA Information Platform.

The project consortium, lead by Geological Survey of Norway, is composed of 16 partners from 14 countries, collectively forming a strong and innovative research group.