Parks play a vital role in safeguarding the Europe’s nature, its wildlife and landscapes. “Sculpted by nature, shaped by people”, they protect our most special places: relatively untouched landscapes, as well as those which have been shaped by centuries of man’s interaction with the land.

In Europe, there is a wide spectrum of protected areas: national, nature, regional or periurban parks, protected landscapes, Natura 2000 sites, marine protected areas and biosphere reserves, they all work to ensure the conservation of our natural and cultural heritage. They are on the first line mitigating the effects of climate change, providing healthier landscapes and a wealth of ecosystem services.

Undeniably, Parks are also about people and has never been so important to strengthen this link. How can locals have an active role in the governance of Parks? How does nature benefit from the communities’ support?And how many of you, protected area’s professionals, have been asking yourself the same?

“We are Parks” will be the theme of the EUROPARC Conference 2016, thebiggest gathering of European protected areas professionals and nature conservationists! Every year, the EUROPARC Federation gathers hundreds of like-minded professionals to share ideas and best practices, discuss solutions and learn new tools for the effective management of Europe’s Parks.

Looking for inspiration?

On the Plenary session, high-level keynote speakers like Inger Anderson,IUCN’s Director-General, and Carlos Romao, from the European Environmental Agency, will share their views about biodiversity, protected areas and people. Hans Romag, from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, and Olivier Feller, Member of the Swiss National Council, will introduce the democratic bottom-up approach of Swiss Parks and the Professor Dominique Bourg will share his thoughts on Park’s governance and rurality.

Develop new skills

During EUROPARC Conference, with interesting tutorials and practical workshops, we will look in detail at the most pertinent issues for Park’s management:

  • The IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas
  • Governance and political landscapes
  • Management of Marine Protected Areas and wetlands restoration
  • The role of Periurban parks
  • Governance and management of Nature, Regional, Landscape Parks and Biosphere Reserves
  • Funding of Protected Areas
  • Communication, branding and cultural identity
  • The role of Youth and Friends of Parks’s organisations
  • Sustainable Agriculture in Parks
  • Climate Change and Healthy Parks

Networking and sharing best practices

There will be a lot of opportunities to network, within the EUROPARC’s Marketplace. Every delegate can choose to have a stand to display information about his organisation and/or recent project developments. Delegates will also discover the beautiful region of the Valley de Joux, with the field trips that the Parc Jura Vaudois is organising.

Early bird fee until the end of July!

The EUROPARC Conference takes place in Parc Jura Vaudois, Switzerlandbetween 18th-22nd October. All information about the conference can be found at: www.parcjuravaudois.ch/europarc/. Registrations until the 31st of July can benefit from the special early bird fee!

About EUROPARC

The EUROPARC Federation is the representative body of Europe’s Protected Areas and the collective voice for all nature and landscape areas. Learn more about EUROPARC at www.europarc.org