SaveGREEN Safeguarding the functionality of transnationally important ecological corridors in the Danube basin

Transnational Experience Exchange Workshops

 

Transnational experience exchange workshops

 
 

Between May and November 2022, SaveGREEN organised a series of Transnational Experience Exchange Workshops, in which our project partners and relevant stakeholders shared experiences made in their pilot areas over 21 months of project implementation.

 

The meetings were held in selected sites within the project’s area of activity: Austria/Czech Republic, Hungary/Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania, and have most notably included discussions on the Cross Sectoral Operational Plans, created as a direct response to the threats to ecological connectivity identified in the pilot areas.Each of the workshops also include fieldtrips to specific sites of interest in the respective pilot area(s). Due to the on-going war in Ukraine, the fifth Transnational Workshop was held in virtual fashion.

 
 

10-12 May 2022: Bulgaria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bulgarian Transnational Workshop was held from 10-12 May 2022 in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria, in the Kraishte region South of Sofia. The morning of the first day was dedicated to presentations by the Bulgarian Project Partners and invited stakeholders, in which they detailed the challenges facing ecological connectivity work in the country.

 

Presentations:

  • Presentation on a SaveGREEN overview by Hildegard Meyer, WWF-CEE;
  • Presentation on ecological connectivity and N2000 in South-West Bulgaria by Andrey Kovatchev, Adviser to Ministry of Environment and Water;
  • Presentation on Forest Management by Vanya Kamenova, SWSFE;
  • Presentation on wildlife in the Rila-Verila-Kraishte region by Rossen Mirchev, SWSFE;
  • Presentation on the ecological impact of the Struma motorway by Nina Stoilova, Road Infrastructure Agency;
  • Presenation on monitoring of defragmentation facilities by Elena Tsingarska, BBF.

On the morning of the second day, the participants discussed the Bulgarian Cross-Sectoral Operation Plan, sharing input and ideas from their own countries. In the afternoon of both days, the attendees were taken field trips to Lot 1 of the Struma Motorway and the Kresna Gorge in order to gain a firsthand impression of the realities on the ground firsthand.

 

For a more detailed summary of the workshop, please refer to the workshop report:

Contact: Petko Tzvetkov, petko.tzvetkov@biodiversity.bg

 
 

18-20 MAy 2022: HUngary and Slovakia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hungarian/Slovak Transnational Workshop was held from 18-20 May 2022. The first day kicked off in Budapest and was dedicated to presentations and discussions on ecological connectivity in Hungary and Slovakia.

 

Presentations:

A Communication Training was also organised for the members of the SaveGREEN project consortium on the intricacies of stakholder outreach and engagement.

 

On the second and third days of the workshop, the participants visited two sites in the HU/SK corss-border pilot area Novohrad-Nógrád.

 

For a more detailed summary of the workshop, please refer to the workshop report:

Contact: Viktória Selmeczy, vselmeczy@ceeweb.org

 
 

31 May - 2 June 2022: Austria and the Czech Republic

 

 

The Austrian and Czech Transnational Workshop was held from 31 May - 2 June 2022. The first part of the workshop began in Hainburg, Austria, where participants were introduced to the state of ecological connectivity in Austria today.

 

Presentations:

  • Presentation on Ecological Connectivity in Austria by Roland Grillmayer, EAA;
  • Presentation on the Alpine-Carpathian Corridor by Franz Suppan, BOKU;
  • Presentation on Embedding Green Bridges into the Surroundings by Alexandra Medl, ASFINAG;
  • Presentation on the SaveGREEN Monitoring Approach by Roland Grillmayer, EAA;
  • Presentation on Preliminary Monitorin Results from Austria by Mořic Jurečka, field biologist;
  • Presentation on Stakeholder Engagment by Hildegard Meyer, WWF-CEE.

On the afternoon of the first day, a field trip was organised to two green bridges in the SaveGREEN pilot area 'Pöttsching'.

 

The second part of the worshop was held in Lidečko, Czechia, where the Czech Partners and invitied experts described the challenges faceing ecological connectivity in their country.

 

Presentations:

  • Presentation on the Beskydy-Kysuce pilot area by Miroslav Kutal, FoE CZ;
  • Presentation on Methodology for Environmental Assessment of Transport Infrastructure by Peter Anděl, Technical Univ. of Liberec;
  • Presentation on Methodology 'Traffic and Fauna' by Václav Hlaváč, NCA CZ;
  • Presentation on Connectivity and Transport Infrastructure in Slovakia by Michal Králik, HBH Projekt;
  • Presentation on Mitigation of Hiabitat Fragmentation by Veronika Kornová, NCA CZ;
  • Presentation on Telemetry of the Eurasian Lynx by Martin Dul'a, FoE CZ.

The workshop ended with a field trip to the Beskydy-Kysuce pilot area.

 

For a more detailed summary of the workshop, please refer to the workshop report:

 

Contact Austria: Hildegard Meyer, hmeyer@wwfcee.org and / or Christophe Janz, cjanz@wwfcee.org

Contact Czech Republic: Radek Kříček, radek.kricek@hnutiduha.cz

 

 

21 September: Romania

 

 

 

 

The Romanian Transnational Experience Exchange Workhop was held on 21 September 2022 in the frame of the IENE 2022 Conference, held in Cluj Napoca.

 

The workshop consisted of a fieldtrip to multiple sites of interest within the Romanian Mures Valley SaveGREEN pilot area. These included the Defileul Muresului Natura 2000 site, the Branisca ecoduct, two ecoducts in the Podisul Lipovei-Poiana Rusca Natura 2000 site, and a critical sector in the South-Western Carpathian ecological corridor.

 

Following a late lunch break, the participants then took part in a group exercise identify problems and possible solutions in specific sectors regarding ecological connectivity, namely transport, agriculture, hunting and water management.

 

The workshop ended with an overall discussion on the Romanian Cross Sectoral Operational Plan and the specific issues facing ecological connectivity in this SaveGREEN pilot area.

 

 

Contact: Radu Mot,

radu.mot@zarand.org, Association Zarand.

 

 

30 November: Ukraine

 
 

The UkrainianTransnational Workshop was held on 30 November 2022. Due to the on-going war, the workshop had to be held in virtual fashion.

 

The workshop was held bilingually, with live interpretation from English to Ukrainian and vice-versa.

 

Presentations:

  • Presentation giving an overview of SaveGREEN, Hildegard Meyer, WWF-CEE
  • Presentation of the pilot area and monitoring results, Andriy-Taras Bashta, Field Expert
  • Presentation on the EIA procedure for the construction and re-construction of roads, Anatoliy Pavelko, Legal Expert
  • Presentation on recommendations for the reconstruction of infrastructure in Ukraine, Svitlana Matus, Policy Expert
 
 
 

Programme co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI)