A Sustainable Journey, film on sustainable tourism produced by EUROPARC Federation in the framework of the CEETO Interreg Central Europe project, has been nominated for the Best Documentary at the ART&TUR Festival.

Vote for ‘A Sustainable Journey’!

This year, the International Tourism Film Festival implemented a public voting system in order to select the winners in 3 different categories: Best Tourism Film (International Competition), Best Tourism Film (National Competition) and Best Documentary.

EUROPARC’s film is nominated for the Best Documentary, and we count on you to vote for us!

To vote, the process is simple: access the link “Public Voting” and choose one of 3 ways to enter: Facebook, Google or Twitter. After entering, select the category – Documentaries. A Sustainable Journey is the first on the list, and you vote by clicking “like”. The voting is open from September 9th and it will close on October 9th!

A Sustainable Journey – The Film

The 9 minutes short film portrays the story of a traveler 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 raise awareness among travelers and local communities on the importance of sustainable tourism.

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 full movie was released on the European Parliament in November 2018, with parallel screenings in the different regions that take part in the CEETO Interreg Central Europe project. You can see the movie and download a copy of the Promotional Material adapted for web distribution in 5 different languages (English, German, Italian, French and Spanish) on CEETO webpage A Sustainable Journey – The Film.

12º ART&TUR

Since its 1st edition in Barcelos in 2008, the ART&TUR Festival follows the mission of making known to the world the best audiovisual productions in Portugal and in the world. This year, the 12th edition of the Festival will take place from 22nd to 25th October 2019 in Torres Vedras, Portugal. Read more about it here.

The 3rd edition of the International Youth+ Camp was kindly hosted by the Kullaberg Nature Reserve, in Sweden. Over a week, 20 youngsters from across Europe came together to put in practice their conservation skills, but also to gain new communication & advocacy techniques and, together, further develop the Youth+ Programme. This is their story.

The wild treasures of Kullaberg

On the 3rd August, a sunny Helsingborg welcomed the youth participants, coming from the UK, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Estonia, and Germany for an unforgettable week. Between hugs and smiles – as many participants knew each other from past International Junior Ranger Camps – and shy hellos amongst those who were joining such event from the 1st time, the youth headed to Kullaberg Nature Reserve.

Kullaberg is simply an amazing place: imagine an entire peninsula protected, covering many inland and marine Natura 2000 sites, with a large community of porpoises living in its waters, and biodiverse forests. The first day was dedicated to discovering its wildest secrets: hiking, swimming and going on a porpoise Safari! Tor Larsson, the leader of Kullaberg’s Junior Rangers, was a great help locally, making the connection with the Park authority and guiding them through incredible places in Kullaberg.

>>>>>> See the full photo album here <<<<<<

Parks are #StrongerWithYouth!

An important component of each international Junior Ranger or Youth+ Camp is to give a direct contribution to nature… This means, joining a specific conservation-related activity with the Park authority. In Kullaberg, they have built a stone wall from scratch in less than 4 hours! Yes, they are strong…and have a huge will to work!

The stone wall was needed to smoothly conduct visitors towards an alternative path recently created, as a tranche of it was hardly eroded, and could put visitor’s safety at risk. According to Jimena Castillo, project manager at the Kullaberg Nature Reserve authority, “the identification of problematic tranches and the establishment of alternative paths was one of the measures of our Visitor Mobility Plan, a key component of our Sustainable Tourism Strategy”.

Kullaberg Nature Reserve, Sweden

Since 2017, the Reserve is part of EUROPARC’s network of Sustainable Destinations with the implementation of the Charter for Sustainable Tourism methodology.

With the new stonewall, visitors are now naturally directed to the alternative path, giving nature a chance to regenerate and providing visitors a safer, and more comfortable, hiking experience. After many (heavy) stones lifted and moved, bushes removed and a new drainage waterway dug, they’ve returned to the base camp happily exhausted. Mission accomplished!

Empowering Youth

Becoming a nature ambassador requires some soft skills too… Within the Youth+ programme, EUROPARC is preparing a set of guidelines to help Protected Areas engaging youth and provide them training opportunities.

Besides the conservation technical background, leadership, communication, and advocacy skills are fundamental for our future – and present – nature stewards.

One of the afternoons, provided with the proper gear to (safely) capture sea animals, they spent an afternoon catching and identifying marine species. The objective? Widening their knowledge on the local fauna and flora, but also a chance to engage with the curious visitors and put their nature advocacy skills into practice.

Although they’ve spent much of their time outdoors, there was also time to learn new communication skills, indoor. Thea Peters from IVN facilitated a Storytelling workshop where their creativity was challenged… They created their own stories, wrote, drew and even performed!

Later, Bárbara Pais, our communications and marketing manager, led a Communications training session. The practical challenge was to define a communications plan for the Youth+ programme, a task that the participants took with great dedication. A good range of ideas and tools where discussed, and we have now a group of committed youngsters willing to support communication activities.

But more people are needed! So if you feel like giving your time and contribution to the Youth+, drop us an email to youth @ europarc.org.

Meanwhile, you can keep up with the programme updates following the Youth+ on Facebook.

Youth+: where did it all start?

When a whole generation of very committed Junior Rangers turned 18 (the Junior Ranger programme runs from 12 to 18), they wondered “why can’t I keep involved with my Park?”. After they’ve expressed their will to continue engaged with their Park, EUROPARC decided it was time to give them a voice…

In 2013, the first Youth Conference ran side by side with the EUROPARC Conference, in Hungary, and the yoputh message was clear “we wanted to be heard!”. Later, in 2015, the first Youth+ Camp took place in Aiguestortes National Park (Spain) and the principles of the Youth+ Programme were founded. In 2016, the EUROPARC Council invited a youth representative to join the Council, bringing the perspective of young people into the strategic decisions of EUROPARC. Laura Peters has been the Youth representative at EUROPARC Council since then. Together with her peers, she formed the Youth Council, which is aimed to be a network of young people committed with the implementation of the Youth+ programme from all over Europe.

Then, in 2018, EUROPARC launched the Youth Manifesto, a call for change in rural communities and protected areas to consider the needs of young people, and provide them opportunities to be more actively involved in the community. The Manifesto, made by youth from across Europe, is now being implemented by Protected Areas authorities who have, for instance, started Youth Councils like in the Prealpi Giulie Nature Park, or created steering committees to have young people involved in the governance structures of the Park, as they did in the Cairngorms National Park.

Besides giving voice to young people across Europe and promoting the implementation of the Manifesto, EUROPARC’s biggest contribution to its implementation is the establishment of the Youth+ Programme across European Protected Areas.

Meanwhile, our youth have already taken the lead… Laura and the EUROPARC Youth Council, have put into practice their leadership skills with the organisation of this International Youth+ Camp 2019. The activities were organised by them, with great logistic support from IVN, our member from the Netherlands responsible for the implementation of the Junior Ranger programme there.

A huge thank you to IVN for all the support, and to the Kullaberg Nature Reserve team for hosting the Camp. A special thank you to Tor and the Kullaberg Junior Rangers who made it an amazing experience!

Engaging citizens and Youth in democratic life and EU values

Since 2017, the prize, given by the European Commission, rewards projects that “enhance citizens’ understanding of the EU, help broaden the ownership of the European project and develop a sense of European identity.“

The importance of these projects is that they spread knowledge about the European Union and awareness of the European culture and values, both aspects that are barely perceived among a big part of its citizens. This edition focuses on activities that help young Europeans engage in democratic life and provide visibility for the European Union projects that contribute to Youth.

Do you run a project or a campaign that is related with European identity through nature and environment?

You can also apply!

Deadline: 29.10.2019 17:00 (Brussels Time)

Projects suitable for applying are related to communications, campaigns or even direct actions. Will be considered:

• educational programmes or campaigns about the EU;
• information and communication campaigns about the EU;
• activities that enhance young people’s motivation to participate in the democratic processes that shape the future of the EU;
• activities that enhance young people’s attachment to the core values of the EU;
• action-based activities that enable young people to witness the benefits of the EU

Check for further information the Rules of the contest and apply in the European Commission official Website.

Altiero Spinelli (1907–1986) was an Italian politician and political theorist. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of the European Union due to his co-authorship of the Ventotene Manifesto.

After the very positive experience from 2017 and 2018, EUROPARC invites its members again this year to the Seminar-Dialogue 2019. The idea is to bring our members together with the European Commission and to look at the same topics from the ground and from the “Brussels” perspective.

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

The voice of nature will be heard in the European Commission: EUROPARC Federation invites members to join the third Seminar-Dialogue, organised in close cooperation with the DG Environment. 

This time the discussions will focus on Natura 2000 management and transboundary cooperation, the role of farmers and tourism businesses in the rural development of Protected Areas, and youth.

Protected Areas will have the opportunity to showcase their achievements and to receive updates and provide their inputs on EU policies and programmes.

The seminar is organised by EUROPARC and the Directorate General (DG) ENVI-Nature Unit, with the expected participation of DG Agriculture, DG GROW (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)-Tourism Unit and DG REGIO (Regional and Urban Policy).

The seminar will take place on 28th of October from 16:00 (Pre-seminar meeting and networking dinner for EUROPARC’s participants at EUROPARC Office) and 29th of October from 09:00 to 16:00 (Seminar Dialogue at the DG ENVI), in Brussels.

The detailed program is already available here below. Places are limited but we hope to see many of EUROPARC members in Brussels.

>>>>> Please register HERE <<<<<

Download the latest version of the Seminar Dialogue 2019 Programme:

Seminar Dialogue_2019 Final Program

Seminar-
Dialogue on European policies (2018), co-organised with the DG ENV. The Seminar-Dialogue aims to bridge the policy and legislative work in Brussels with experience in the field from EUROPARC members.