Eindhoven, the Nederlands. 11-14 September 2018. TRANSGREEN project is in focus due to "lighting talk" held by project manager Hildegard Meyer and expert Václav Hlaváč (Nature Conservation Agency, Czech Republic),  2 poster presentations and at top Road Ecology international event IENE 2018 Conference. Experts from the TRANSGREEN team are delivering various presentations, thus ensuring visibility and high-level dialogues regarding the project focus area and the valuable work done within its frame.

Starting today, the second week of September 2018 gathers experts worldwide for the biannual Conference of IENE - Infra Eco Network Europe - going beyond the old continent as focus topics and technical coverage. IENE is a network of experts working with various aspects of transportation, infrastructure and ecology, aiming to promote a safe and ecologically sustainable pan-European transport infrastructure.

Mrs. Hildegard Meyer explains the value of the TRANSGREEN perspective in this international context: "In the Western countries the issue is more of defragmention, thus opening barriers (roads/rails) for wildlife, which we can avoid in the Carpathians by integrated planning procedures from the very beginning." She adds that: "We (n.r. TRANSGREEN team) were invited to talk about our project as this is an example to foster cooperation between the relevant sectors, and at the same time increase scientific knowledge, and minimize conflicts between linear transport infrastructure development and wildlife, especially in countries where wildlife is still prospering."

The rich conference agenda, covering connectivity from a variety of persepctives and cases, also features several TRANSGREEN and project-related talks:

• September 13th, 4 pm:  TRANSGREEN Project: An example of cross-border cooperation in the Carpathian Mountains. Held by Václav Hlaváč (Nature Conservation Agency, Czech Republic); Hildegard Meyer (WWF International, Danube-Carpathian Programme, Austria)

• September 13th, 10 am: The harmonisation of ‘Grey’ and ‘Green’ Infrastructure in South-East Europe: Introducing the GreenWeb platform. Held by Radu Mot (Zarand Association, Romania); Lazaros Georgiadis (Infra Eco Network Europe, Greece); Antonios Mazaris (Department of Ecology, School of Biology at Aristotle University, Greece); Cristian Remus Papp (WWF Danube Carpathian Programme / Babes-Bolyai University,
  Romania); Niki Voumvoulaki (Egnatia Odos SA, Greece)

• Poster presentation: Permeability of roads for wildlife in the cross-border area Beskydy - Kysuce. Held by Ivo Dostál, Josef Svoboda, Jiří Jedlička, Marek Havlíček (Transport Research Centre, Czech Republic). The permeability of 1st and 2nd class roads was analysed in 38 locations distributed over the model area covering
  cross-border region between the Czech and Slovak Republic. The evaluation was based on traffic intensity patterns over the time periods with emphasis on night time. The general results confirmed that 1st class roads included in European system have very limited permeability while other roads are more or less permeable for the major part of the night and with intensity around 1,500 vehicles per day even during the daytime.

• Poster presentation: Migration permeability assessment of selected linear transport infrastructure in the Eastern part of the Czech Republic. Held by Martin Strnad (Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Department of species conservation, Czech Republic); Ivo Dostal (Transport Research Centre, Czech Republic). Wildlife passages identification and assessment of their actual permeability for wildlife have been done in the scope of project DTP1-187-3.1 TRANSGREEN, funded by Interreg Danube Transnational Programme. The pilot study area encompassed primarily the Protected Landscape Area Beskydy and its great surroundings. Knowledge and assessment of the current status of existing mitigation structures on the linear infrastructure are a prerequisite to carry out further steps to improve the migration permeability for wildlife in the area.

• Other tools related to TRANSGREEN will also be presented, such as the KDE+ roadkill registration system