The voice of nature will be heard at the highest level in the European Commission: the EUROPARC Federation invites members to join the second Seminar-Dialogue, organised in close cooperation with the DG Environment (DG ENVI) and with the participation of DG Agriculture (DG AGRI) and DG Education and Culture (DG EAC). 

Seminar-dialogue with the European Commission 2018

Partnerships for biodiversity: European policies and the role of Protected Areas

• 7th December 2018
• 09:00 – 16:30
• DG Environment, Avenue de Beaulieu 5, 1160 Brussels

On the 7th December, EUROPARC members will have the chance to sit with the European Commission to share their experience and needs for the effective management of Natura 2000. By bringing together representatives of the DG ENVI, DG AGRI and DG EAC and protected area professionals,

EUROPARC aims to highlight the contribution of Protected Areas to the achievement of the European policy goals, whilst giving the European Commission a clear insight of the challenges faced by professionals in the field.

The Seminar will count with interventions from EUROPARC members and from the different DGs, who will share the latest policy updates and funding opportunities. Following the successful Seminar-Dialogue organised last year, EUROPARC and DG Environment have set up a programme focused on four key areas:

• Managing Natura 2000: funding, opportunities and challenges
• Building partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture
• Nature and Culture: Protected Areas connecting people to their heritage and identity
• Youth involvement: the EUROPARC Youth Manifesto

The event will be anticipated by an internal meeting only for EUROPARC members, on Thursday 06.12.2018 between 15:00 and 18:00 at the EUROPARC Federation Brussels Office.

Would you like to participate?

Read the outcomes of the Seminar-Dialogue with DG Environment 2017 by clicking in the picture

Places are limited, but we look forward to welcoming as many members as possible to Brussels. Participation is free of charge but registration is mandatory. This event is specially addressed to EUROPARC members directly working with Protected Areas and European Commission officers.

REGISTER HERE

Download the Programme

The EUROPARC Federation and Interpret Europe are hosting a special event in Brussels as a celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. How does natural heritage influence cultural identity? How can interpretation support Protected Areas better-connecting people to the story of their place and community?

• 28th November, 15:00 – 17:30
• European Commission –
• Participation is free but registration is necessary. Please register here.

In an increasingly disconnected European society it is often by reconnecting to nature through our protected areas, that people can understand their culture once more.

Cultural Identity is rooted in the connection to the land and therefore interpretation of natural and cultural landscapes is something inherent in most protected areas of Europe. European Protected areas have an important function to deliver, through the work of guides, ranger and the parks messages itself. Cultural identity, on the other hand, is not always as fixed as it may seem… and interpretation can be a powerful tool to help communities appreciate their history, even if fractured by major forces such as war, translocation, politics, modern travel, and connectivity.

In the beginning of 2018, Interpret Europe and EUROPARC Federation announced a partnership focused on the role of natural heritage to explore cultural identity. Now, looking ahead on how to follow up after the European Year of Culture 2018,

we would like to present the results of our cooperation and with the participation of DG Environment and DG Education and Culture, discuss experiences and opportunities to link nature and culture against the heritage background.

Please register here

Download the programme here

Special Side event: Wednesday, 28th November 18:30

All participants are invited by Puglia Region (Italy) to attend to the presentation of the project “LandXcape – art, storytelling, landscape”. Regione Puglia in Bruxelles – Rue du Trone, 62 – 5° floor. Light refreshments will be offered.

Please send a confirmation until 26th November to officio.bruxelles@regione.puglia.it

The “Nature and Culture in Dialogue” is a celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.

Following the motto: “Our heritage: where the past meets the future”, the aim of the Year is to encourage more people to discover and explore Europe’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The Year will pursue an integrated approach to heritage, and put people at the centre.

EUROPARC is happy to announce the start of a new ambitious 5-year project, NaturAdapt, which will participate to produce a response to this challenge. The main objective is to support protected area management to adapt to climate change.

Réserves Naturelles de France, EUROPARC and eight partners have come together in this LIFE Climate Action project to transform this challenge into an opportunity to innovate. NaturAdapt aims at triggering a transition towards the adaptive management of protected areas in Europe, while laying the foundations of a dynamic collective learning process.

>>> All you need to know (or almost) about the project <<<

Your experience is important to us!

We want to build upon existing best practices and meet the needs of people in the field. We will run an in-depth survey at the end of 2018 and early in 2019.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you have any experience in or questions about adaptive management of protected areas and/or climate change, we’d be delighted to talk about it with you! Just shoot us an email!

Olivier de Sadeleer joined EUROPARC in October 2018 to manage the Life NaturAdapt Project. Olivier is our expert in climate change, working from our office in Brussels.

We take the opportunity to introduce our new colleague, Olivier de Sadeleer, who joined EUROPARC in October to manage this project.

N.B.:This project is being developed with enthusiastic support of European Commission’s LIFE program  [LIFE17 CCA/FR/000089], Agence Française de la Biodiversité and Ministère de la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire. 

Produced by EUROPARC Federation in the framework of CEETO project, this film portrays the the story of a traveller seeking to escape the pressures of everyday life to a different kind of tourism that he believes will be good for nature and good for him too. The objective of the film is to inspire and inform to travellers and local communities on the concept of Sustainable Tourism.

Synopsis

During the film, the traveller explores different aspect of the area on foot and bicycle, experiences heritage and culture, natural places – wild and less wild, and local villages shopping and partaking in local food and drink. Realising that he, through his choices can affect the local environment, culture and economy. He sees too that as a guest to this protected areas, that is too a place where people live and work, that they too respect and look after their special place. He finds that sustainable tourism is good for him and good for nature too and invites others to make a similar holiday choice.

For the production of this movie, sustainable industries and local producers certified with the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism were meticulously selected and recorded in order to lead with the example for future sustainable destinations. The film has been translated into 5 different languages for its wide distribution across Europe.

Premiere and distribution

The full movie will be released on the European Parliament on November 29th, with parallel screenings taking place in the different regions that take part of CEETO Interreg Central Europe project. You can see the English version of the movie trailer below:

For further information, trailers versions in Deutsch and Italian and additional promo material please visit CEETO webpage A Sustainable Journey – The Film.

Full film release on November 291th! Stay tuned on CEETO website.