[1][i] In 2005, a European Geopark was defined as being: "a territory with a particular geological heritage and with a sustainable territorial development....the ultimate aim of a European Geopark is to bring enhanced employment opportunities for the people who live there.

[4] The Madonie Declaration of 2004, which was signed by Nikolas Zouros for the EGN and Wolfgang Eder for UNESCO,[5] established what was later called a "bottom up" system of precedence.

In 2014 the creation of other regions besides the EGN was allowed and encouraged, permitting geoparks to fulfill their declared global nature.

Ge- or geo- is a word-formative prefix derived from the ancient Greek word for "Earth."

Due to the use of ancient Greek and Latin words to form international scientific vocabulary, geo- might appear in any modern language of any type by the process of compounding.

Geopark and all its associated new geo- words began as produced neologisms but are fast becoming legitimate scientific compounds.

Henriques and Brilha, after listing four interpretations not to be allowed now,[7][iii] cite features that must be present in the application of "geopark:" a development plan, a geoheritage, conservation, and sustainability.

The last world war saw the irrecoverable destruction of national heritages and the terrible misuse of science.

As it manifestly drew to an end in the 1970's, and the countries of east Europe would be open once more, UNESCO began to be more effective, formulating organizations to respond to a growing demand for the protection of the heritage that was left.

[12] The term “geopark” was apparently first used to describe a newly instituted park in the west Vulkaneifel[vii] district of the Eifel Mountains of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

[13] The region had tended to be economically depressed due to the preference of buyers and sellers for markets in nearby France.

The land shows evidence of ancient volcanos, including crater lakes, mineral springs, and pipe formations.

Although of interest to scientists and hikers, the terrain was generally regarded as a liability, some 19th-century plans even having been made to fill lakes.

[15] No matter what the type, management, the exercise of authority over the area, is always national;[16] the scientific organizations have no sovereignty; they are simply advisory and certifying agencies guided by decisions made at international conventions.

Some of the networks from which UNESCO national geoparks might be chosen are World Heritage Sites, Agenda 21, Man and the Biosphere Programme.

They support national conservation, education, cultural development, research, as well as economic sustainability.

[20] There is some effort to control conflict of mandate; for example, Fossils are not allowed to be sold, which practice would favor sustainability, but work against conservation.

Both national geoparks collaborate to prepare a single application, which is submitted by both to the regional and global networks.

The management bodies in each nation must collaborate to establish a single set of activities and strategies for the entire park.

Canadian geoparks according to the rules must belong to a regional network before they can apply for global status, but there is none, and may not be any in the foreseeable future.