Webinar: Connecting People, Protected Areas and Outdoor Sports

Join our webinar!

• 29 October 2025
• 11:00 – 12:30 CET
• Register here!

Connecting People, Protected Areas and Outdoor Sports

Celebrating Success Stories and Joint Projects

Outdoor Sports and Protected Areas are natural partners – together they can protect landscapes, engage communities, and inspire action for a sustainable future. This webinar will showcase how collaboration between conservation organisations and the Outdoor Sports sector leads to practical, impactful results on the ground.

Organised by the EUROPARC Federation and the European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS), the event will introduce our ongoing cooperation, highlight the 10 Good Principles for Outdoor Sports in Protected Areas, and present the newly launched EUROPARC-ENOS Joint Award. We are proud to celebrate its first winners: the British Mountaineering Council and Peak District National Park, recognised for their outstanding peatland restoration work, in partnership with Moors for the Future. Their initiative demonstrates the power of committed volunteers and cross-sector cooperation to restore fragile ecosystems and create a model for future action.

Participants will also learn about the CONNECT Project, which builds on lessons from the SEE Project to strengthen relationships between Outdoor Sports organisations and Protected Areas across Europe. With inspiring stories, practical insights, and space for reflection and discussion, this webinar offers an opportunity to discover how Outdoor Sports and nature can thrive together – and how you can be part of this growing movement.

Join our free webinar to learn more!

Register here!

Webinar Programme:

• Welcome and Introduction
• EUROPARC Federation & ENOS cooperation
• Case Study: Award Winners – The Climate Project: Sphagnum Planting, Innovative sphagnum moss planting on a degraded wildfire site on blanket bog
  • Peak District National Park – Matthew Scott-Campbell
  • British Mountaineering Council – Steve Charles
• Projects in Focus – SEE Project (legacy) & CONNECT Project (ongoing cooperation)
• Q&A and Interactive Exchange
• Conclusions

Speakers

Steve Charles is a retired eye surgeon who has had a passion for mountains and mountaineering all his life. Inspired by the British Mountaineering Council’s “Mend our Mountains” fundraising campaign, he started a volunteer initiative for BMC members in 2022 which arranges upland volunteer projects to repair footpaths and carry out conservation work in the Peak District, Eryri (Snowdonia) and the English Lake District: Get Stuck In!
By the end of 2025 fifty such events will have been held and there has been increased collaboration with agencies managing the UK’s hills and mountains, including National Parks, the National Trust, Utility companies and Moors for the Future. He passionately believes that all mountain users should be involved in looking after the mountains today, so that they can be enjoyed tomorrow.

Jim Randle is a Senior Conservation Works Officer with Moors for the Future Partnership. For the past three years Jim has led the delivery of peatland restoration projects across multiple sites, principally under the Nature for Climate programme. With an academic background in biodiversity and conservation, Jim has a broad range of experience across the sector, having worked for nature conservation NGOs, public sector organisations, and private companies for over 15 years. His work has included ecology, practical delivery, and project management in uplands, woodlands, and wetlands across the UK and internationally.

Mike McClure is the Landscapes Northern Ireland (NI) Development Manager. Landscapes NI is a collaborative landscape network in Northern Ireland, made up of 16 organisations that seeks to support the members for an integrated approach to landscape promotion and management.
Mike’s background was in Outdoor and environmental education and Outdoor Sports development having worked for over 35 years in the sector.
He remains passionate about our natural and cultural heritage and the importance of landscapes in connecting people to wildlife and their heritage.
Mike also has been involved with pan European developments in Outdoor Sport and recreation and his involvement in European Projects has provided him with a broad vision for what can be achieved through collaborative partnership working.
He is still active in the Outdoors and is a proponent of daily exercise in natural spaces as the only way to start the day!

Alberto Robles is Project Coordinator and Communications Manager at the European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS). Based in Spain, he works on the implementation of European policies related to Sport, health, nature, and culture. As an Outdoor Sports enthusiast and professional, his focus has always been on minimising the impact of Outdoor activities on nature and improving opportunities for environmental education. With a background in environmental conservation and expertise in ocean governance, he has contributed to projects such as SEE and CONNECT, focusing on sustainable Outdoor activities in protected areas. His work also supports ENOS’s broader efforts in areas like social inclusion, health promotion, and Outdoor infrastructure across Europe.

Moderator

Sandra Grego holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and works as Project Manager at EUROPARC. She has contributed to a number of projects, including LIFE (LIFE ENABLE) and Erasmus+ (SEE project), and is currently engaged in the Horizon Europe project NaturaConnect. In her role, she supports the effective delivery of communication activities and contributes to the development of courses within EUROPARC’s European Nature Academy. She enjoys transforming ideas into creative outputs, particularly through visual storytelling with photography and videos. She takes great joy in seeing people come together to share knowledge, collaborate on solutions, and learn from one another’s experiences.