Geoscience museums are directly linked to the Earth and, consequently, to its history and intrinsic value. In a vast country like Brazil, transmitting geological knowledge through geoheritage is crucial for environmentally responsible decisions. Although there are initiatives that gather information on museums and science centers in the country, there is no database focused on Geosciences. In this sense, we aim to constrain the role of Brazilian Geoscience museums in preserving regional geoheritage and spreading geological knowledge. To achieve this goal, we conducted a survey of these museums, characterizing their collections and social aspects through the Brazilian Geoscience Museums project, which yielded a virtual online guide. We gathered information from official government platforms and search engines, and supplemented it with questionnaires. The data show that, out of the 3984 institutions registered on the Museusbr Platform of the Brazilian Institute of Museums, 468 are classified under the collection theme “Exact, Earth, Biological, and Health Sciences,” which includes Geosciences. The project’s database currently records 228 Surveyed Museums. Of these, 30 museums are not registered on the official platforms. In terms of geographical distribution, most museums are located in the Northeast, Southeast, and South regions, accounting for approximately 80.70%. Additionally, there is a high incidence of paleontological and geological collections, as well as a predominance of public museums. Our results present a comprehensive overview of Geosciences in Brazilian museums, making it accessible to the general public — a crucial step in fostering these sciences that can be replicated in other countries.
Rodrigues et al. (Fri,) studied this question.