The GGN Best Practices Award aims to promote, enhance and encourage the development of innovative initiatives inside the UNESCO Global Geoparks. The award recognizes pioneering practices and initiatives that contribute to a more effective and dynamic network, set worthy examples for others to emulate, and create greater public recognition of the UNESCO Global Geoparks.

The GGN Executive Board highly valued the efforts of Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark in implementing UNESCO experts’ recommendations on education, community awareness, and the preservation and promotion of ethnic minority languages.

In 2025, Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark Management Board has been continuing to strengthen Geopark education in schools, while working with advisory units to implement programs to preserve ethnic languages and cultural heritage of minority communities. These activities take diverse forms, including integrated teaching, extracurricular programs, local education lessons, and communication campaigns conducted by “Geopark ambassador” clubs. Many schools have proactively integrated ethnic language preservation into weekly school asembly, extracurricular sessions, and especially into club activities, creating an environment for students to practice and promote their native languages in daily life.

Particularly, the contest“Preserving the Tay and Nung languages for Secondary and High School students in Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark”, organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Management Board of Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark) in collaboration with the Department of Education and Training. The contest has been recognized as an effective, and highly practical innitiatives, encouraging replication by other Geoparks. It not only fosters pride and awareness of preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, but also allows students to experience and deepen their understanding of their ethnic languages, customs, and traditions. In doing so, it strengthens community cohesion and pride in their origns among the younger generation, while promoting Cao Bang’s image, encouraging community-based tourism, and advancing sustainable development based on local culture, thereby contributing to the promotion of Non nuoc Cao Bang UNESCO Global Geopark.

The lasting impact of the contest continues to inspire students to nurture their passion for learning, preserving, and spreading the message of ethnic cultural conservation. Ethnic language preservation in schools has become an effective educational tool, a bridge linking the younger generation to their origins, while safeguarding traditional languages, disseminating unique cultural values, and raising community awareness about the importance of heritage preservation in the Geopark territorry.

This award is a recognition of the pioneering efforts of Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark in management, activity implementation, and the preservation of ethnic cultures and languages within the Geopark territory. It also serves as an important motivation for the locality to further promote initiatives, replicate successful models, and advance heritage education, raise community awareness, and promote Cao Bang’s exceptional values nationwide and globally.

Author: L.T