Teaching Structural Geology and Tectonics in the 21st Century

Workshop, April 5-7 2019, Wolkersdorf im Weinviertel (just north of Vienna, Austria)


In most university geosciences curricula, structural geology and tectonics (SGT) form a core part. Our understanding of SGT has evolved over the years, and industrial applications have changed with the emergence of novel tools and data, and as a consequence we must develop our teaching to reflect these advances. Such a development is encouraged by new teaching approaches, technologies and methods. At the same time, our students, and the ways in which they learn, are changing, and classical ex-cathedra teaching often fails to excite them.

This pre-EGU workshop will bring together experienced university-level SGT educators from three continents in order to learn and discuss about strengths and weaknesses of current SGT curricula in Europe and beyond. The goal of our meeting is to outline an SGT teaching vision for the next decade. We aim to learn about the educational demands from industry and research and discuss a common position on the role and significance of field training. We will summarize our findings in a white paper that outlines cornerstones of a (European) SGT curriculum and discuss a new teaching platform that bundles available resources in a community-driven online project.

The workshop will also provide a forum for the presentation of novel teaching approaches, concepts and technologies in SGT and an excellent opportunity to network with SGT educators from a wide range of backgrounds in a beautiful location near Vienna.

Organizing committee:

Florian Fusseis (Edinburgh), Hans de Bresser (Utrecht), Bernhard Grasemann (Vienna), Janos Urai (Aachen), Kamil Ustaszewski (Jena), Anna Rogowitz (Vienna), Mark Anderson (Plymouth)

Supported by The Geological Society, the Tectonic Studies Group, the German Geological Society and the University of Edinburgh.