[chiara tisat]

LOOKING FOR PROJECT PARTNERS OR COORDINATOR

The Province of Bergamo, a local public body in Italy, is developing a project related to the governance of protected areas.

Partnership sought
We are looking for partners including:
• Intermediate territorial authorities (Provinces, Counties, Regional Associations, Metropolitan Areas, Inter-municipal Bodies);
• Managers of locally protected areas (Nature Parks, Landscape Parks, Regional Parks, Municipal Protected Areas, peri-urban protected areas, ecological corridor networks);
• Regional and national public authorities responsible for biodiversity policies and protected areas;
• Universities and research organisations specialising in biodiversity governance, ecology, GIS, landscape planning and environmental policy;
• Environmental agencies and protected area networks;
• Organisations active in citizen science, environmental volunteering and stakeholder engagement.

PROJECT IDEA
Across Europe, locally managed protected areas—including municipal parks, landscape parks, nature parks, peri-urban protected areas and ecological networks—play a fundamental role in conserving biodiversity, improving ecological connectivity and contributing to the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
Despite their strategic importance, many of these areas are managed by small local authorities with limited technical, financial and administrative capacity. Intermediate territorial authorities (such as Provinces, Counties, Regional Associations and Inter-municipal Bodies) are well positioned to coordinate these local protected areas and provide strategic support. However, in many Member States this role remains underdeveloped due to fragmented governance, insufficient planning capacity, lack of common methodologies and limited technical expertise.
As a consequence, biodiversity planning is often inconsistent, ecological networks remain fragmented and local protected areas are unable to fully contribute to European biodiversity objectives.

Project objective
The project aims to develop, test and validate a replicable governance and technical support model enabling intermediate territorial authorities to coordinate networks of locally managed protected areas and green infrastructure.
The project will establish and pilot Nature Support Hubs: multidisciplinary technical teams coordinated by intermediate territorial authorities, providing shared expertise and operational support to local protected area managers.
By strengthening planning capacity, harmonising methodologies and facilitating coordinated action, the project will improve biodiversity governance, ecological connectivity and implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
Rather than promoting a specific governance model, the project will develop a flexible framework that can be adapted to different institutional and legal contexts across Europe.

[Emina Mravović]

Dear,

Thank you for sharing the project idea. We find the concept highly relevant and see a strong potential for CEEO to contribute as a project partner, particularly from the perspective of technical expertise, research, local-level biodiversity planning and cooperation with public authorities.

CEEO could contribute to the development and piloting of the Nature Support Hubs, especially by supporting the design of practical methodologies and tools for local protected area management, biodiversity planning and ecological connectivity. We could contribute to the mapping and assessment of local protected areas, identification of biodiversity and connectivity gaps, development of technical recommendations and preparation of replicable approaches that can be adapted to different local and institutional contexts.

Importantly, CEEO has previous experience in biodiversity-related projects and environmental protection, including work involving local communities, public authorities and territorial planning. We also have experience in research, data collection and analysis, as well as GIS-based mapping and spatial analysis, which could be particularly relevant for mapping protected areas, green infrastructure and ecological networks and for supporting evidence-based planning.

Another important strength of CEEO is our excellent cooperation with public institutions at local, regional and national level. Through our previous projects, we have established strong working relationships with municipalities, cities, public institutions and other relevant stakeholders, and we are experienced in facilitating stakeholder engagement, consultations, workshops and joint development of solutions.

We would therefore be particularly interested in contributing to the project through:

-biodiversity and environmental expertise and previous project experience;
-research, data collection and analysis;
-GIS mapping and spatial assessment of protected areas, green infrastructure and ecological connectivity;
-development and testing of technical methodologies and practical tools for local protected area managers;
-stakeholder engagement and capacity building of local authorities and other relevant actors;
-cooperation with public institutions and intermediate/local authorities, including facilitating their involvement in pilot activities;
-contribution to the testing, validation and transferability of the Nature Support Hub model.

We believe CEEO could bring a valuable perspective from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans, while also contributing to the wider European dimension and transferability of the project.

We are definitely interested in being part of the consortium and would be happy to discuss CEEO’s potential role further, including the activities and work packages where our expertise could be most relevant.
Please let me know if you are considering an application, and we would be happy to have a short call. You can write me on. emina.mravovic@ceeo.ba

[chiara tisat]

Dear Emina,

Thank you very much for your detailed and positive feedback. We are very pleased to see that CEEO’s expertise is so closely aligned with the project concept, particularly in the areas of biodiversity planning, GIS and spatial analysis, stakeholder engagement and cooperation with public authorities.

We believe that CEEO could bring an important added value to the development and testing of the Nature Support Hub model, especially by contributing practical methodologies and tools that can support local protected area managers and intermediate territorial authorities in biodiversity planning and ecological connectivity.

We also find the perspective from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans particularly interesting, as it could strengthen the European dimension and transferability of the approach across different institutional and territorial contexts.

As mentioned in our previous exchanges, we are currently considering different funding opportunities for developing the concept, including the upcoming Interreg Euro-MED call. We have not yet made a final decision on the most suitable framework, and in this regard, next week we will attend a webinar presenting the upcoming Interreg Euro-MED call, which should provide us with more information on the priorities and possible project formats.

In any case, we would be very happy to start a first informal exchange with you in the coming weeks, also to get to know your organisation and better understand your experience and needs. This could help us explore together whether and how your profile could fit into the project, regardless of the final funding programme.

If you are available, we can arrange a call in the coming weeks.

Thank you again for your interest. We look forward to exploring this cooperation with you.

Best regards,
Chiara Tisat
Province of Bergamo

[sanja kovačev]

Dear colleagues,

I am contacting you on behalf of Argonauta, a Croatian non-profit organisation based on the island of Murter, with more than 20 years of experience in environmental protection, cultural and natural heritage, sustainable tourism, education and community engagement.

We came across your project idea on the governance of protected areas and believe that Argonauta could be a relevant partner for your consortium.

We have extensive experience in Interreg projects, both as a project partner and in communication and dissemination roles. We are experienced in developing and implementing communication activities, engaging local stakeholders and communities, organising educational activities and events, and translating project results into accessible content for different target groups.

Our local context is also highly relevant to the topic of your project. The wider area in which we operate includes several important protected areas, including Kornati National Park, Krka National Park and Telašćica Nature Park. Working in an island and coastal environment has given us practical experience in addressing the challenges of balancing biodiversity protection, local communities, tourism and sustainable territorial development.

We particularly see potential for Argonauta to contribute to stakeholder engagement, communication and dissemination, citizen and community involvement, environmental education, and the testing and transfer of project approaches in a local coastal and island context.

We would be very interested in learning more about your project and the partnership you are currently building. We believe our experience and local perspective could complement the consortium well, and we would be happy to discuss how we could contribute.

We hope you will consider Argonauta as a potential partner and look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Sanja Kovačev
Argonauta
Murter, Croatia

[Avelina Onos]

Dear Province of Bergamo,

Thank you for sharing this interesting project idea. Incubadora CON VALORES is a social innovation organisation specialised in capacity building, stakeholder engagement and ecosystem development, supporting local actors through training, mentoring and collaborative approaches.

While our expertise is not directly focused on biodiversity management or ecological planning, we believe we could contribute to the participatory and capacity-building dimensions of the project, supporting community engagement, stakeholder involvement, training activities and the dissemination of results.

On the project side, we’ve been partner in more than 20 EU-funded projects (Erasmus+ KA2, CERV, AMIF, Horizon Europe) around migrant integration, gender equality, inclusive education and social inclusion. We also have a solid communications team and 30,000+ followers on LinkedIn, so we can help give real visibility to whatever we work on together.

Would love to hear more about your project and see where we could collaborate. Feel free to reach me at amanda.ruiz@cvalores.org 🧡

Best regards,
Amanda

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