[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

[Martha Papathanasiou]

Dear Chiara and colleagues,

Thank you for sharing the GOLIA project concept. We find the proposed approach extremely relevant and would be very interested in exploring the participation of INDIGO MED as a strategic project partner.

INDIGO MED is a Greece-based SME specialising in EU-funded research and innovation communication, impact, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and exploitation, with extensive experience in Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, FP7, CINEA and other European programmes.
What particularly interests us in GOLIA is the ambition to develop and validate a replicable Nature Support Hub model that can strengthen the capacity of intermediate authorities and locally managed protected areas, while remaining adaptable to different institutional and territorial contexts.

We believe INDIGO MED could add particular value not only through communication and dissemination, but through the project’s broader impact, uptake and transferability strategy.
Our team has substantial experience working on European projects addressing marine and environmental protection, biodiversity, governance, stakeholder engagement and capacity building. We currently lead the Communication, Dissemination and Impact work package of the Horizon Europe Mission Ocean project BioProtect, which develops and demonstrates ecosystem-based solutions for marine biodiversity protection across several European demonstration sites and associated regions. Our work includes stakeholder engagement, uptake of project solutions, capacity building, policy-oriented communication, replication activities and cooperation with public authorities, practitioners and local communities.
We have also led or contributed to communication, capacity-building and stakeholder-engagement activities in major European projects including BRIDGE-BS, MATES, MEDSkippers, Sea Change, Sea for Society, PERSEUS and DANUBIUS-PP.

For GOLIA, we see a particularly strong potential contribution in areas such as:
– designing the project’s stakeholder engagement and co-creation framework, ensuring that Nature Support Hubs respond to the practical needs of local authorities, protected-area managers and other users;
– developing the project’s communication, dissemination and impact strategy, including audience segmentation, communication tools, policy communication and measurable KPIs;
– supporting capacity building and knowledge transfer for local and intermediate authorities through training, workshops, guidance materials and peer-learning activities;
– contributing to the replication and transferability strategy for the Nature Support Hub model across different institutional, legal and geographical contexts;
– supporting the transformation of project methodologies and results into accessible toolkits, guidance, policy recommendations and decision-support materials;
– facilitating connections between project partners, public authorities, biodiversity practitioners, EU initiatives and relevant European networks;
– supporting the project’s exploitation and long-term sustainability, helping define how the Nature Support Hub model can continue, scale and be adopted beyond the funded project.
Given the nature of the concept, we would be particularly interested in discussing a role with responsibility for a dedicated work package or task covering Impact, Stakeholder Engagement, Capacity Building, Communication and Transfer, rather than contributing only through conventional dissemination activities.
Our experience has shown that for governance-oriented projects such as GOLIA, the value of communication lies not simply in increasing project visibility, but in creating the mechanisms through which results are understood, adopted, replicated and ultimately embedded into policy and practice. We believe this perspective could complement very well the technical, ecological and public-authority expertise already being assembled within the consortium.
We are based in Athens, Greece, and would also bring a Mediterranean perspective to the consortium and experience working across diverse European marine, coastal and environmental governance contexts.

We would be very happy to arrange a short call to learn more about the partnership currently being developed and to discuss where INDIGO MED could contribute most strategically, particularly if the project is being considered for the upcoming Interreg Euro-MED call.
I would be pleased to share our organisation profile and relevant project references ahead of a discussion.

Best wishes,
Martha Papathanassiou
Senior Communications & Impact Expert
INDIGO MED
Athens, Greece
http://www.indigo-med.com

[Borislava Yordanova]

Dear colleagues,

My name is Borislava Yordanova and I work in District government Burgas, Bulgaria.
District government Burgas is a public authority on regional level. The basic powers of District Governors in Bulgaria are related to providing of the regional policy, performance of the state governance at the local level and ensuring compliance between the national and the local interests. We take part in preparation of strategies, programmes and plans for development in the region; cross-border cooperation projects etc.
District government Burgas has experience in different projects promoting climate change adaptation, eco-system approaches and disaster risk prevention.
We would be happy to collaborate if you are interested.

Best regards,
Borislava Yordanova
b.yordanova@bs.government.bg

[Ivan Saltaric]

Dear colleagues,

thank you for sharing this project concept. I am writing on behalf of DURA – City of Dubrovnik Development Agency (Croatia), as we see a potentially strong fit with our territorial role and project experience.

DURA is the development agency of the City of Dubrovnik and has participated in more than 60 successfully implemented EU projects, including Interreg Euro-MED, Interreg Italy–Croatia, Interreg Danube, Interreg Central Europe, URBACT and other European programmes.

Our work covers sustainable territorial development, climate resilience, natural and cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, stakeholder engagement, governance, local policy integration and implementation of concrete territorial pilot activities.

Although DURA is not itself a protected-area manager or biodiversity authority, we work closely with the City of Dubrovnik and other relevant public institutions in the wider Dubrovnik-Neretva area. The region includes numerous protected natural areas, Natura 2000 sites and valuable coastal, island and terrestrial ecosystems, which makes it a relevant territorial context for testing improved governance and coordination approaches.

We believe DURA could contribute as a territorial coordination and project implementation partner, particularly through:

coordination with local and regional public authorities and protected-area managers;

stakeholder engagement and participatory processes;

support in identifying a suitable territorial pilot and governance challenge;

testing and adapting common methodologies in the Dubrovnik-Neretva context;

communication, capacity building and transfer of results;

supporting the integration of project outcomes into local and regional planning and policy processes.

We could also explore the involvement of a competent local or regional protected-area management institution, depending on the final project structure and the responsibilities foreseen for each pilot territory.

Due to our current project obligations, DURA would not be in a position to assume the role of Lead Partner or coordinator. However, we would be very interested in contributing as a Project Partner and actively supporting the development of the proposal and the definition of a Croatian territorial pilot.

If you believe DURA and the Dubrovnik-Neretva area could complement the partnership you are building, we would be very pleased to discuss the concept further.

Ivan Saltarić
DURA – City of Dubrovnik Development Agency, Croatia
isaltaric@dura.hr

[Denisa Sarajlic]

Dear colleagues,

We are very interested in the GOLIA concept and believe SKRIPTA, an SME from Bosnia and Herzegovina, could bring a complementary local-governance and territorial implementation dimension to the partnership.

Our expertise is not in biodiversity science, but in institutional innovation, service design, human-centred approaches and practical support to local governments. We could contribute to designing and testing how a Nature Support Hub would actually work for municipalities and local protected-area managers: identifying their needs and bottlenecks, co-designing services and workflows, testing governance arrangements, and supporting uptake and replication.

A particular added value we can bring is our strong territorial reach in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We work closely with municipalities across the country and could help identify suitable small-scale territorial pilots where the Hub model and solutions developed by other consortium partners could be tested and adapted to real local capacities and constraints.

We could also support municipalities in integrating those solutions into their existing planning, management and institutional processes, ensuring that the model is practical for smaller local authorities with limited specialist capacity.

We would be very interested in exploring whether this role could complement the partnership currently taking shape.

Best regards,
SKRIPTA
info@skripta.ba
nedo@skripta.ba

[Anastasios Vasileiadis]

Dear GOLIA team,

We are the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED), based in Greece. We found your Nature Support Hubs concept interesting and see potential synergies with our experience in stakeholder engagement, capacity building and sustainable development.

We have sent you an email with more details about our expertise and how we could support the proposed activities.

Looking forward to exploring possible cooperation!

[Author]

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