“ReConnecting with Nature” in the Apuseni Nature Park (RO)

Apuseni Nature Park Administration (ANPA) was supposed to organize in 2020 the yearly organized gathering for all the Romanian parks in order to celebrate the European Day of Parks. However, due to COVID-19 and all the restrictions for social distancing, the event got canceled. Therefore, a project has been initiated by Alin Mos (Director) and an online campaign supported by LIFEedu learnings has been developed and adapted for the ANP. The main goal was to bring our audience closer to nature.

From the questionnaire, we understood that (et al.):
– There is a confusion between natural and national park meaning;
– Our stakeholders are not aware of all the health benefits given by our natural resources;
– For a better connection between people-health-parks, a majority believes that the park should focus on: raising awareness on the health benefits related to outdoors/natural resources/sustainable development, developing outdoor activities, creating spots for connecting with nature.

Taking into consideration all the resources available for the moment, we understood that for being efficient, we can only focus on starting to cover parts of the needs. Therefore, this action’s main goal is to create reconnecting with nature spots while raising awareness on the ANP assets, our natural resources, its benefits, tips for individual actions, the importance of collaboration and good practices from local entrepreneurs or international partners.

Two coordinators were assigned for this project – overviewed by the director of the park. The main tasks were to: define a plan, design materials for the daily posts on social media, collaborate with partners for creating content for week 3 + 4, design the agenda of the 24th of May 2020  and coordinate the team for preparing the “ReConnect with Nature” spots.

Moreover, we were happy to be part of the EUROPARC’s Special Online Edition #ParksForHealth while moulding actions for local context.

The EUROPARC Federation, tourism partners for sharing health benefits of outdoor activities (Adventure Center, Team New Spirit, Romanian Alpine Club, Aventura Trekking, Bicilez.ro), others for sharing health benefits of medicinal plants (Bioflora, Goldplant), health benefits of connecting kids with domestic animals (Asociatia Descopera Natura), for sharing good local pro-biodiversity practices (Natural Timber).

• 1 Interactive Map
• 39 ReConnecting with Nature Spots
• 1 online questionnaire
• 59 designed materials (social media + information panels)
• 7 videos recorded and edited
• 22 posts on social media channels
• 10 partners involved
• 5 Interviews (TV/Radio)
• 9 Articles in Mass media
• 700 new Facebook Page likes
• 12842 engagements
• 177337 interactions
• Visibility on Instagram

Main challenges:
– Preparing the “ReConnecting with Nature”  in a very fast changing context of COVID-19;
– Creating a meaningful project with limited resources (time, human) or not existing ones (budget);

– Video editing without any expertise or prior knowledge;

– Flexibility for ad-hoc actions or for changing the plans.
However, bringing our audience closer to nature was a great motivation and this was the main driver of the project. <3

• Meaningful projects worth all the efforts!
• This very fast changing situation (COVID-19) has brought us closer to actions that are definitely starting points for future actions;
• A social action brings us closer to management actions as well (raise awareness – reconnect with nature spots – happy/healthy people – tourists’ dispersion – crowd control);
• Everything happens for a reason. LIFEedu project have prepared me for this amazing action! <3