INTERREG Baltic sea region programme project "Parks and Benefits"

Parks & Benefits will research and point out the economic, ecological and social benefits of sustainable tourism for both the parks and the regional stakeholders.

The Baltic Sea Region holds many sites of typical Baltic or even outstanding natural heritage which are preserved in protected areas. When Nature Tourism respects their conservation and development objectives, it has the potential to be an important and sustainable element of regional economies within and around these protected areas.

Parks & Benefits wants to ensure the sustainable regional development in eight large protected areas in six countries around the Baltic Sea. The project’s main instrument will be the transfer of the “European Charter For Sustainable Tourism In Protected Areas” to the Baltic Sea Region and its joint implementation in National, Regional and Nature Parks and a Biosphere Reserve.

More information: info@parkai.lt

Oficial website of the project - www.parksandbenefits.net 

GRUNDTVIG Learning Partnership "European volunteers in parks"

Eight partners in the network of EUROPARC work together on the subject of European volunteers in parks in a so called "Learning Partnership", financed by the EU-programme GRUNDTVIG. The project runs from August 2008 until July 2010.

The partners are:

Association of Lithuanian State Parks and Reserves 

Environment Agency of Iceland

EUROPARC Atlantic Isles 

EUROPARC Germany

EUROPARC Spain 

Federparchi - EUROPARC Italy

Nature Protection Board, Latvia

Rodna Mountains National Park Administration, Romania 

The common activities mainly consist of international workshops for volunteer coordinators in parks and the international exchange of volunteers in parks for short term volunteering.

What are our goals?

·         to promote the culture of active citizenship (volunteering in parks as active and creative means of being citizen)

·         to spread the importance of nature/biodiversity conservation as well as of sustainable development and hereby raise the parks’ profile locally and nationally

·         to create good surrounding conditions for volunteers in parks (support, recognition)

·         to improve the volunteer management efficiency

·         to establish a network of organisations involved in volunteering in parks as well as of community projects associated with parks; this facilitates knowledge and experience acquisition, capacity building (shared learning) and gaining support

·         to bring recognition forward that parks, environmental NGOs etc. across Europe which already offer informal life long learning through volunteering (i.e. communication, inter-personal skills, management and project organisation skills), although not yet recognised as a mechanism for life long learning

·         to broaden the horizons of the individual participants in educational and cultural terms and to stimulate creativity

oficial project website: www.freivillige-in-parks.de

Nature centres and Enviromental Interpretation in the Baltic Sea Region (Acronym: BSR EAGLE)

The vision of the BSR EAGLE project is to improve the role and contribution of nature centres and environmental interpretation as a part of the society's strengthening of sustainable development through education and public participation in relation to protection of environment, natural, cultural and social values and health of the public. To realise this 49 institutions, mostly public and NGOs, from the 10 BSR countries during 3 years will carry out an extensive programme of activities in co-operation between partners, other colleagues and stakeholders.

1. Nature centres (NCs, nature schools, museums and exhibitions with EI service for schools and visitors) and environmental interpretation (EI, like education, guiding and activities for children, families and adults, most often outdoors) have developed in BSR during the last 50 years, but in particular in the last 10-20 years in parts of the region.

2. The project aims at contribution to solutions on the situation, that public attitudes to environmental problems and policies often are lacking understanding of ecological processes, that sustainable development often is seen as a limitation to development of present welfare, and that public participation in decision making in relation to spatial and regional planning often is insufficient. It aims at improvement of policies and behaviour of the citizens, institutions, etc., and better understanding of human impact on and dependency of ecological processes, and of sustainable development and spatial planning as important preconditions for environmental protection and socio-economic life.

3. The project is directed towards strengthening of institutional development and capacity building of NCs and EI and more equal distribution of NCs and EI in BSR. It will focus on trans-sectoral and trans-national co-operation, innovation of methods, and exchange of best practise related to information, education, public participation and decision-making.

4. The project activities will consist of strategic planning of NCs and EI, pilot-projects on establishment of new and improvement of existing nature centres, activities and trans-sectoral co-operation, trans-national and national exchange on best practise on environmental interpretation, training of NC staff members and environmental interpreters, and dissemination of project results, information and marketing of NCs and EI in BSR.

5. The outcome of these activities will be a capacity lift of NCs and EI in BSR, of partners and other institutions and staffs via dissemination, seminars, training courses etc. The NCs and environmental interpreters will play a more competent role and contribute to improvements on sustainable development of the society.