Acting for climate – from committments on paper to actions in parks

Facing the growing challenges of climate change, the Swiss Park Network has adopted a joint Climate Mission Statement to strengthen climate actions and adaptation across its 20 Regional Nature Parks.

The directors of the Swiss parks working on the climate policy (c) Swiss Parks

This shared commitment sets a clear direction for how parks can protect biodiversity, support local communities, and act as practical models of sustainability in their regions. In our new case study, you can read more about the joint development of the Climate Mission Statement.

One inspiring climate mitigation action from the Swiss Park Network is the Clientis Randenbus in the Regional Nature Park Schaffhausen, a local mobility project that reduces car traffic in the Randen recreation area and promotes sustainable tourism. Born from cooperation between farmers, municipalities, and transport services, the Randenbus offers a simple yet effective example of how climate goals can be translated into everyday practice.

All across Europe, Nature Regional Landscape Parks play a vital role in linking people and nature—preserving landscapes shaped by human use while fostering sustainable regional development.

Learn more about these two inspiring examples from our Swiss Park Network, an active member of the Nature Regional Landscape Parks Taskforce of EUROPARC!

On Wednesday 8th of October EUROPARC Federation reached out over the Atlantic Ocean to shake a hand with our sibling organisation RedParques from Latin America.

From Europe to Latin America – connecting Protected Areas

Photo credit: Vaidas Garla

At the EUROPARC Conference 2025 in Birštonas, Lithuania, EUROPARC and RedParques shook hands and signed a declaration of commitment which aims to connect Protected Areas across oceans.

The delegation from RedParques was headed by the current Regional Coordinator, Ms. Hilda Ángel, who is also the General Manager of National Parks and Natural Monuments of the National Institute of Parks (INPARQUES) of Venezuela. Ms. Dayana Porras, the Technical Focal Point for the Regional Cooperation of RedParques and Specialist in INPARQUES participated in the delegation along with Mr. Edgar Vicuña, Deputy Director of Strategic Information and Research of the National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP) of Peru. The delegation also included Mr. Pietro Graziani, Regional Technical Coordinator of the Italian Development Cooperation Agency (AICS) of the programme AMAZONÍA+.

In the declaration of commitment, EUROPARC and RedParques agreed to formalise the collaboration with preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding and accompanying work plan. This is a logical step as both organisations work on strengthening the management of Protected Areas, and share common objectives for biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and capacity building.

Photo credit: Vaidas Garla

The themes for collaboration include:

1. Capacity development and knowledge management.
2. Communication, awareness-raising, and public participation.
3. Policy dialogue and international cooperation.

The joint activities could include exchange of information, methodologies, and good practices through e.g. organisation of workshops and technical meetings. In effect, the organisations have already hosted several workshops together, with EUROPARC Spain taking a lead role. 

EUROPARC is looking forward to exploring the possibilities of this cooperation.

Quote from Hilda Ángel:

We are convinced that, though we are two continents geographically apart, we are very similar because we both have one common goal which is the conservation of Protected Areas.

More about RedParques

RedParques is a regional network of technical cooperation among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, aimed at strengthening Protected Areas, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. Participating 23 countries seek to share lessons learned and good management practices to scale up the impact of Protected Areas in the region.

Yorkshire Dales National Park approved a Youth Participation Vision

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is one of the strongest champions of the EUROPARC Youth Manifeso published in 2018 at the EUROPARC Conference in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Since then, they have made a significant effort to involve young people across many aspects of their work. This led to a decrease in the average age of board members and park staff, ensuring more age diversity in voices and helps with generational knowledge sharing. Below you can see the first advocacy on integrating the Youth Manifesto into the work of the National Park.

Youth Manifesto in the Yorkshire Dales – Green Deal

Recently, they launched a press release about their newly approved youth participation vision which brings together all the various youth activities and efforts into a strategic vision.

Press release

“Young people are empowered to lead and have a voice in protecting the Yorkshire Dales National Park,” the National Park Authority has agreed at a meeting.

The undertaking is set out in a “Statement on Youth Participation”, which puts into words the public body’s vision and commitment to young people.

The National Park Authority currently works with more 2000 young people each year to help deliver its purposes, including by supporting youth volunteering programmes such as Up Skill Down Dale.

At a full Authority meeting held yesterday, Members voted to agree the statement on youth participation as a means of embedding youth work in the culture of the organisation and to make sure young people are involved in all aspects of decision making.

Katie Norgate, one of the Authority’s co-opted young Members said: “This is a clear and strong commitment to youth involvement with specific, measurable targets that make the commitment feel actionable and accountable, which gives real confidence that this policy will lead to meaningful change.

Involving youth and giving them the opportunity to be co- creators will directly shape the Authority’s work.

Member Champion for Promoting Understanding, Neil Heseltine, said: “We run educational and skills-based activities for young people alongside our volunteering programmes for young people and our apprenticeships programme. We’ve also co-opted youth members to our Finance and Resources committee and involved nine young people in the drafting of the new Yorkshire Dales National Park Management Plan.

“What we didn’t have, until today, was a concise summary of our vision and commitment to young people. Our ‘Statement of Youth Participation’ is intended to inform our approach to youth engagement, encourage collaborative working with partners, inform bids for project funds to do more work with young people, and assist in advocating for enhanced roles for young people on National Park Authority boards.

“Many young people want to use their time to conserve and enhance the environment, and to be outdoors in nature. We want to harness that energy to help make the National Park and even more accessible and beautiful place.”

For more information, please contact the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Media Officer Andrew Fagg or Communications Manager Mark Sadler (name.surname@yorkshiredales.org.uk).

The Youth Mobility Workshop for European Youth in Parks Day 2024 (c) Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Meet the two winners of the EUROPARC Scholarship for Young Professionals 2025 – 2026.

Winners of the EUROPARC Scholarship for Young Professionals

EUROPARC strongly believes that investing in capacity building for young professionals is vital for the long term success of Europe’s Protected Areas. Like everything else, the future of Protected Areas relies on the young generation taking an active and informed role. The EUROPARC Federation, with support from the EU LIFE Programme, is awarding two Scholarship Awards to promising young conservationists, who are committed to working for the benefit of Protected Areas. The aim of the scholarships is to enhance international cooperation and to advance the quality, innovation and European dimension of Protected Area management.

The Scholarship includes a travel stipendium to visit protected areas in another country in 2026 and to delve into a topic of interest, sharing the outcomes of their learnings with the EUROPARC network at the end of next year.

The winners, Eudald Vicens Roig and Irene Mineo were invited to receive their awards at the EUROPARC Conference 2025 in Lithuania. Irene was not able to join in person and instead sent a video message for the EUROPARC members which can be seen below.

Eudald Vicens Roig

Eudald is a conservation technician at La Sorellona, an environmental consultancy based in Girona, Spain. He works on urban nature restoration projects under the EU-funded Riunatur and GiroNat initiatives, involving biodiversity monitoring, habitat restoration, and nature-based solutions in urban water systems. He also leads participatory workshops on climate adaptation and drought resilience. La Sorellona manages visitor and education services at Cap de Creus and Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Natural Parks and contributes to the LIFE Rescue Alpyr project in Alt Pirineu Natural Park, all members of EUROPARC (Generalitat de Catalunya).

His area of interest for his study visits is rewilding principles of using wild herbivores in both the Alto Tajo Natural Park (Spain) and Zuid-Kennemerland National Park (The Netherlands).

Photo credit: Vaidas Garla

Irene Mineo

Irene is a coordinator of the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund at Nature Scot. She is responsible for managing and developing the SMEEF programme, supporting the funding and delivery of marine restoration projects across Scotland. Her activities include stakeholder engagement, coordinating grant calls, assessing project proposals, facilitating partnerships, and promoting best practices in marine enhancement and nature-based solutions. The role also involves strategic planning, communications, and contributing to national policy objectives on marine conservation and biodiversity.

The goal of her study visits is to explore and compare practical approaches to seagrass restoration and conservation in Scotland and Italy, with a focus on how community engagement, policy, and scientific methods are integrated into protected area management. By learning from different cultural and ecological contexts, she aims to identify transferable strategies that can enhance marine restoration efforts, strengthen partnerships, and support biodiversity and climate resilience in coastal ecosystems. For this she plans to visit a local seagrass restoration project in Scotland and visit Rome to learn from ISPRA and FUGRO about their efforts along the Italian coastline.

To follow both of these young professionals on their study trips, stay tuned to EUROPARC newsletters, news and social media. If you are interested in youth empowerment projects for young professionals and practitioners, consider following the EUROPARC Youth Instagram @europarc.youth which will feature the travels of both scholarship winners.

This programme has been supported financially in the framework of the European Commission’s (Directorates General Environment and Climate Action) LIFE funding programme of operating grants for European Environmental NGOs. The content of this publication does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the publication lies entirely with the authors.