In the period from June 13 to June 14, 2018 Notranjska Regional park  organized their first workshop with stakeholders in Cerknica, Slovenia.

 The main objectives of the workshop were to inform relevant stakeholders in Notranjska Regional park about the ECO KARST project, present the most relevant ecosystem services existing in Notranjska as well as to identify promising business development opportunities from the region.

This two-day workshop gathered 37 stakeholders from various sectors: local governance, agrarian communities, hunter fraternities, angling clubs, local elementary schools headmasters to tourist guides, tourist agencies, farmers, researchers, decision makers, environmental agencies and researchers at universities.

On June 13, a first session was held where participants had a chance to hear more about the ECO KARST project and selected ecosystem services in Notranjska Regional park. Guided by an experienced facilitator, participants analyzed and defined the current status of selected ecosystem services. As ecosystem services were mapped before the workshop, all prepared maps served as a great tool for the analysis.

On June 14, participants discussed potentials for Pro Biodiversity businesses in the region, which was followed by a SWOT analysis of selected Pro Biodiversity business ideas.

Results of the workshop were presented at the end of the day, together with the future plans and activities on the project.

The organizers are very satisfied with the event as well as the level of cooperation with stakeholders. Thanks to the workshop, now they have many useful data that still needs to be processed and taken into a consideration during the Action plan development at a later stage of the project.

Photo credits: Notranjska Regional park