Siggen Seminar 2019!

Youth+ Jumpers just hanging around - a rare moment. Photo by Laura Peters

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Youth involvement in Protected Areas 

Siggen Seminar 2019 18th – 21st March, Gut Siggen, Germany

Are you looking for ideas and solutions to better engage young people within your park? Do you have case studies and good practices you would like to share with other managers from across Europe? This year, continuing on from the launch of the Youth Manifesto, EUROPARC is organising the two-day seminar for members, specifically focused on working with youth.

Young people are the future of Protected Areas in Europe! But trying to get young people interested in the environment can be difficult as it involves changing perceptions and attitudes – something that requires a lot of time and effort.

The seminar is FREE for members of the EUROPARC Federation (meals and accommodation included). Participants will therefore ONLY cover their own travel to and from the event. 

Registrations are now closed!

The seminar will include practical activities and opportunities for exchanging knowledge

You will have a chance to see case studies from across Europe. Here are some of the topics we will be considering:

  • What are the needs and expectations of youth living within protected areas across Europe?
  • What challenges protected areas are currently facing when engaging young people?
  • Which opportunities and solutions PA’s can offer to youth?
  • We will introduce and work on the new Youth + programme which can be a model for working with 18-25 year olds in your park.
  • We will look at the Youth Manifesto, considering how to encourage more PAs to implement it into their work.

EUROPARC Youth Manifesto – Workshop II in Kalajoki, Finland June 2018 (©Rita Kovács)

We will also share different perspectives, taking a look at other youth programmes, and helping you build a programme in your area. Among others, you will see:

  • An educational program for sustainability: Cairngorms National Park (UK)
  • The national Junior Ranger program in Estonia
  • The Youth Advisory Board in Prealpi Giulie Natural Park (IT)
  • A new vision for the engagement of young people in a periurban park (E)

You are welcome to bring your own ideas for a collective “surgery” where we can examine problems and challenges you may have and suggest solutions together.

The goal of the Siggen Seminar

Protected Area professionals learning together, sharing experiences and knowledge in differing aspects of Protected Area management, and bringing innovative ideas to the table – that is exactly what EUROPARC Federation wants to achieve with Siggen Seminar.

Training Seminar © EUROPARC Federation

With the enlightened generosity of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., we will have the access to the private seminar centre at Gut Siggen in North Germany, hugging the Baltic Sea coast.

There are still few seats available, and they are free of charge! So don’t miss the opportunity to exchange knowledge, share experience, and establish professional contacts! Those are the most beneficial elements for working in the international context of conservation. The knowledge that you can gain in Siggen feeds back into your work in the different regions of Europe and fosters your sense of connectedness and togetherness in the EUROPARC Federation.

How to get to the Siggen Seminar Center? 

The Siggen Seminar Center belongs to the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and lies on the north-eastern coast of Germany in the county of Holstein. It is a 20-minute taxi ride from the nearest train station, Oldenburg (Holst), and a five-minute bike-ride to the nearest beach.

Please contact EUROPARC  with any questions you might have and download the pdf Directions to Siggen to learn how you can easily reach it by plane, train or car.

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