On 31st of January and 1st of February, EUROPARC participated in the 8th meeting of the Green Infrastructure and Restoration (GIR) Working Group (WG) in Brussels.

The GIR Working Group is led by the European Commission (DG ENVI) and includes representatives of Member States and NGOs. EUROPARC is involved in this WG as a member of the European Habitat Forum (EHF).

Objectives of this meeting was to share experiences and visions on

• how to develop strategic EU level Green Infrastructure projects
• how to integrate ecosystem services in planning and decision-making

How can the ecosystem service approach help protect biodiversity & how to achieve consideration of the non-monetary values of ecosystem services into EU decision-making? View the video by EU Commission DG Environment below,  introducing its “Science for Environment Policy” In-Depth Report on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity.

During the first day, the European Commission presented its recently published technical report on ‘’Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services’’ (MAES). It provides an integrated analytical framework and set of indicators for mapping and assessing the condition of ecosystems in the EU and proves a useful instrument for Member States to map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their respective national territories.

The second day was devoted to the wider Green Infrastructure debate, and how EU supports the deployment of EU-level Green Infrastructure through financing instruments, such as LIFE,  Cohesion funds (presented by DG REGIO),  Rural Development funds (illustrated by DG AGRI) and Horizon 2020 (DG Research and Innovation).

Learn more about EU funding, policies and research related to Green Infrastructure here.