On November 21, 2018, Kalkalpen National park gathered their stakeholders for the second time around the topic of sustainable development and nature protection in Kalkalpen National park.

The Mayor of Steinbach, representative of the Chamber of Agriculture, Chamber of Commerce, regional development office, restaurateurs, lodgers and national park partners participated at the workshop. The invitation circle was aimed specifically at people who have a higher-level view of the entrepreneurial scenery of the region in their functions.

On this occasion, the results of the first workshop were presented and the situation analysis of the National park was performed. During the first workshop in Kalkalpen National Park region in September 2018, a group of about 25 participants matched the needs and interests of entrepreneurs and regional stakeholders with those of the Kalkalpen National Park. A number of possible business ideas were formulated and evaluated in these potential fields, which could be located frequently in the primary sector and in the area of tourism services. In the following interim phase, the ideas that were considered to have potential were discussed with the interested entrepreneurs. These discussions and consultations did not lead to projects ready for implementation. Thus, the second workshop focused on the search for possible partnerships in which projects can be embedded. Two main questions that were tackled during the workshop were:

Where do experts see ideas and potential implementation partners?

Where can national parks imagine themselves to be more than just project companions, where could they act as lead partners?

One of the conclusions of the workshop is that there is no pressure towards self-employment and business start-ups in order to earn an income in the Kalkalpen National Park region. Both in the primary sector and in the area of tourist services, there is a tendency towards business abandonment rather than new business start-ups. For this reason, the focus of the deliberations at the workshop strongly directed towards existing agricultural enterprises, trading companies and tourism service providers.

Guided by an experienced moderator, the participants were able to identify potential fields of partnership between Kalkalpen National park and existing/future companies. Some of the ideas were: establishment of regional shops, interweaving with tourist offers, product development in cooperation with the park area, overnight tourism-tiny houses initiative in Molln, bike specialists etc.

Finally, after the identification of potential partnerships the participants drafted the measures that are neccessary to establish project partnerships.

The participants were very satisfied with the contents of the workshop and suggested that similar events should be organized on annual basis.