Introduction

In order to properly communicate the project results an extensive communication and dissemination activity plan followed the research and documentation phase of the project. Throughout the implementation process of the project, communication actions were targeted at informing the public about the project and the origin of its funding, as well as the main results of the project, in order to share the positive aspects and implications of the project to a wider public.

At the beginning of the project, the website www.roofofrock.eu was assembled and put on line. The site was updated regularly in close cooperation with all project partners. The project is also present on the social media site Facebook, at , through which we promoted project events and its main achievements.

Both the project and the platy limestone as subject were presented through a narrated promotional video, supported by plenty of graphics and photos, together with field video shoots from all four countries involved. The story of the video follows the project philosophy: to present the stone, starting with its compelling geological history, followed by examples of the stone in use, and finishing with the guidelines for sustainable use of the stone in the future. The video was released in July 2014 at www.youtube.com/watch?v=oepr3IFH5mE (Slovenian language version) and www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU5e88VVhOQ (English version). The video was screened on numerous occasions at project visibility events, workshops, on Slovenian national television, even at JAMNARKULT, a festival of scientific and documentary films in Matavun, Slovenia, in September 2015.

The project partnership realized numerous promotional events connected with the project

The project partnership realized numerous promotional events connected with the project, among which five that were intended for the general public. The first visibility event was organized by project partner S.D. RERA, at the SASO fair (Specialized Stone Fair) in Split, Croatia, October 23–27, 2013. The second visibility event was organized by project partner HERAG within the traditional 4. Posuški kamendani in Posušje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 1 August 2014. The Geological Survey of Slovenia organized an event called “KamenKapaStreha” in cooperation with the Center for Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Arts in Ljubljana. More than 60 students from the Faculty of Architecture, the Department of Geology, and the Department of Textiles from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, together with three mentors, created an exhibition around the unique beauty of natural stone, traditional architecture, and around the artistic interpretation of the microscopic universe of fossilized structures from ancient seas. The exhibition was on show from 26 November through end-December 2014. A video on the preparation of the exhibition was produced by five students of architecture, and was posted online, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0wQMhX_V0&feature=youtu.be. Another visibility event was organized within the traditional 21^st Symposium of Stone Masons in Pučišća, on the island of Brač, Croatia, 21–23 May 2015, where three lectures and a practical workshop were held. The last visibility event was realized as part of the Belajtnga festival day at the Škocjan Caves Park, Slovenia, on 31 May 2015. This event put the focus on children and their creativity work with rock, sand and fossils. And a lecture on the architecture perspective of the RoofOfRock project in the Kras region was also held.

Numerous presentations were prepared for the professional public (nature conservators and conservators of cultural heritage, educational and research institutions, local craftsmen/ professionals), among which the following should be mentioned:

• Project presentation at the 21^st Meeting of Slovenian Geologists, held in Ljubljana in December 2012;
• Project presentation at the international scientific meeting Čovjek i krš 2013, held in Čitluk, BiH in October 2013;
• Participation in the expert workshop organized by the project Living Landscapes, co-financed by the CBC program Slovenia – Italy 2007–2013, held in Matavun, Škocjan Caves Park, October 2013;
• A poster, prepared for the 2^nd International Dinaric Arc Parks Conference in Budva (Montenegro), early December 2013;
• Project presentation at the international Stone & Story conference, held in Portorož, Slovenia, 27 September 2014; and
• A poster, prepared for and presented at the 4^th Slovenian Geological Congress, held in Ankaran, Slovenia, 8–10 October 2014, and at the 5 ^th Croatian Geological Congress, held in Osijek, Croatia, 23–25 September 2015.

A conference about the project and use of platy limestone in the Kras area in Slovenia was organized for representatives of local communities and policy makers working in the field of natural and cultural resources management on 28 May in Škocjan Caves Park. Particularly important was the international round table on related legislative issues organized by the Škocjan Caves Park in September 2014, where participants from all four project-countries were present.

Widespread coverage in a variety of media followed these many promotional and communication events and activities. More than 60 articles, papers and broadcasts were published and aired in local and national newspapers and magazines, on TV and radio stations, and on numerous web news portals as well as in professional and scientific journals throughout the project area.

By communicating and sharing both the project itself and the project outputs and results we successfully managed to raise public awareness on the sustainable use of platy limestone, and on the significance of the cultural heritage of the Adriatic karst area, which was one of the project’s primary objectives.

Urša Šolc, Project Coordinator
Geological Survey of Slovenia