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. EuroLithos 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. EuroLithos will work in close collaboration with the GeoEra Information Platform. The EuroLithos consortium is composed of 16 partners from 14 countries, collectively forming a strong and innovative research group.
GIS viewer for Eurolithos results
Through this viewer the results of the Eurolithos project will be made accessible when they will be available. The current view is not showing results of the project but is only here to give an idea about and where the results will appear and on which technology (the EGDI).
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Project website and Social Media
Read more about Eurolithos here (https://www.eurolithos.org/) and follow the project on (https://www.facebook.com/europeanstonestories/) and (https://twitter.com/eurolithos).
Budget and participants
The total budget for the project is 1 100 357 € of which the funded participants contribute 773 551 € and the EC contributes 326 806 €.
Work packages
| WP1 | Project management. Lead: NGU, contact Tom Heldal |
| WP2 | Dissemination and communication. Lead: NGU |
| WP3 | Atlas of European Ornamental Stones. Lead: LNEG |
| WP4 | Directory of ornamental stone properties. Lead: IGME Gr |
| WP5 | Ornamental Stone heritage. Lead: HGI-CSG |
| WP6 | Link to information platform. Lead: NGU |
The Participants and their contributions
| Partner short name | Partner Legal Name | Country | Person months |
|---|---|---|---|
| NGU (coordinator) | NORGES GEOLOGISKE UNDERSØKELSE | Norway | 18 |
| LNEG | LABORATORIO NACIONAL DE ENERGIA E GEOLOGIA I.P. | Portugal | 20 |
| SGU | SVERIGES GEOLOGISKA UNDERSÖKNING | Sweden | 3 |
| IGME Sp | INSTITUTO GEOLÓGICO Y MINERO DE ESPAÑA | Spain | 8 |
| IGME Gr | INSTITOUTO GEOLOGIKON KAI METALLEFTIKON EREVNON IGME, Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration | Greece | 24 |
| SGSS | REGIONE EMILIA ROMAGNA Servizio Geologico, Sismico e dei Suoli della Regione Emilia-Romagna | Italy | 6 |
| RT | REGIONE TOSCANA , sistema informativo territoriale e ambientale – p.o. geologia | Italy | 2.5 |
| GeoZS | GEOLOŠKI ZAVOD SLOVENIJE | Slovenia | 15 |
| GBA | GEOLOGISCHE BUNDESANSTALT | Austria | 3 |
| IGR | INSTITUTUL GEOLOGIC AL ROMANIEI | Romania | 19.9 |
| GEOINFORM | STATE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISE STATE INFORMATION GEOLOGICAL FUND OF UKRAINE | Ukraine | 13.5 |
| GSI | GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF IRELAND | Ireland | 5.5 |
| ISPRA | INSTITUTO SUPERIORE PER LA PROTEZIONE E LA RICERCA AMBIENTALE | Italy | 9 |
| HGI-CGS | HRVATSKI GEOLOSKI INSTITUT | Croatia | 14.2 |
| GSD | Cyprus Geological Survey Department | Cyprus | 6 |
| SGL | SERVICE GÉOLOGIQUE DU LUXEMBOURG | Luxembourg | 0.5 |