The Alpine and Carpathian Biodiversity Forum was a two-day event that took place remotely (on-line) on December 15-16, 2021. It was organized by the Alpine Biodiversity Board operating under the Alpine Convention.

There, the Project Coordinator presented the Project - including, in particular, the GIS diagnosis of the conditions for shaping green infrastructure in the Carpathians - and took part in a panel session on the use of geoinformation tools and resources in monitoring, protection and sustainable use of biological diversity in mountain areas.

LIFE Platform Meeting - LIFE and Climate Pact: Awareness and Engagement for Lasting Climate Action. 27-28 October 2021. Two-day online event organized by NEEMO / CINEA, i.e. entities implementing and monitoring the LIFE Program on behalf of the European Commission.

The Project Coordinator presented the Project there and took part in a panel session sharing his experiences from the competition as a way to support local initiatives from the LIFE Program funds.

International Conference Protected Areas - Cornerstones of Ecological Connectivity in the Carpathians and Beyond was held in the hybrid format on 28-30 September 2021, Visegrad, Hungary. An event was dedicated to nature conservation projects and initiatives and protected areas (part. the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas - CNPA).

The Project Coordinator took part in it on-line, speaking in discussions and presenting the Project's experience in the context of shaping space and managing ecological corridors.

An international scientific conference: 6th FORUM CARPATICUM – Linking the Environmental, Political and Societal Aspects for Carpathian Sustainability is a large scale international conference and open meeting of the Science for Carpathians (S4C) initiative that "connects scientists in Central Europe, defines research priorities for the region, provides applicable findings for the politics of the region and enhances international collaboration with partners from outside the Carpathians". This time it was held in the on-line formula, on 21-25 January 2021.

Project Coordinator, dr Piotr Mikołajczyk, is a member of the S4C's Steering Committee on behalf of UNEP/GRID-Warsaw. During the conference, he delivered a presentation entitled "Enhancement of green infrastructure in Polish Carpathians for ecological benefits and sustainable local development" within a session "Cross sectoral issues- the Carpathians valued as a living place". He also participated in sessions and workshop on the creation of a new initiative and group within S4C and Carpathian Convention devoted to education for sustainable development (ESD).

More information about the event, incl. its programme and the book of abstracts, is available HERE.

International LIFE Platform Meeting entitled Lessons from LIFE on ecological connectivity towards a coherent, functional and resilient network of protected areas organized by EASME - and official EC agency in charge of implementing and supervising the LIFE Programme. The meeting was organized in the virtual (on-line) format on 2-4 March 2021 and devoted to liaison, networking, and exchange between organizations implementing LIFE projects devoted to ecological connectivity, ecosystem enhancement, and protected areas. As many as 300 participants representing 60 LIFE projects from 16 EU countries took part. 

Project Coordinator, Piotr Mikołajczyk, presented the Project during a workshop session on participatory approach and stakeholder engagement in ecological corridors. Also, one of the Project's thematic animation on the role of green infrastructure in biodiversity conservation and maintaining ecological connectitivy was aired. 

The event's materials are available HERE. 

International seminar originally planned to be held in April 2020 in Germany, cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Held in the virtual (on-line setting) on 24-25 Feb. 2021. Organized by the Baltic Environmental Forum Deutschland e. V. (BEF Germany), devoted to discussing and exchanging best practices and lessons learnt by LIFE projects on communicating nature conservation and nature management contents to - and among - various groups of stakeholders.

Project Coordinator, Piotr Mikołajczyk, was an invited panelist in a session devoted communicating nature-related matters to the general public, tourists, and nature conservation institutions.

The seminar's report is available HERE, while an interesting guidebook on nature-related communication can be accessed HERE. 

The meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention and the highest-rank governmental events held every 3 years and devoted to key decisions on the Convention's implementation. Also, the Presidency in the Convention is being handed over to the next country.

Originally, the 6th Meeting (COP6) was planned to be held in September 2020 in Rzeszów, Poland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Meeting finally took place in the virtual (on-line) format on 25 November 2020. Poland took over the Presidency.

Further information about COP6 are available HERE. 

International webinar entitled Green Carpathians - Webinar on transnational cooperations to address the biggest threats to the biodiversity of the Carpathian Mountains organized as part of the EU Green Week on 25 September 2020 by the Carpathian Convention Secretariat at UNEP/Vienna Office. 

The webinar showcased several international projects funded under the EU's LIFE and Interreg programmes, devoted to maintenance and enhancement of ecological connectivity in the Carpathians, namely:

• CONNECTGREEN – ECOLOGICAL CORRIDORS MAPPING AND MANAGEMENT & SPATIAL PLANNING IN THE DANUBE-CARPATHIAN REGION (Coordination: CEEWEB for Biodiversity)
• CENTRALPARKS – BUILDING MANAGEMENT CAPACITIES OF CARPATHIAN PROTECTED AREAS FOR THE INTEGRATION AND HARMONISATION OF BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION AND LOCAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (Coordination: EURAC Research)
• TRANSGREEN AND SAVEGREEN – INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING & SAFEGUARDING THE FUNCTIONALITY OF ECOLOGICAL CORRIDORS IN THE DANUBE REGION (Coordination: WWF DCP)
• LIFE SWIPE – SUCCESSFUL WILDLIFE CRIME PROSECUTION IN EUROPE (Coordination: WWF Bulgaria).

Webinar programme available HERE. 

Transboundary workshops on promoting case studies and best practices on implementation of transboundary monitoring of LC populations and fostering transnational information exchange and transboundary cooperation on illegal killings organized within the Life EUROLARGECARNIVORES Project (LIFE16 GIE/DE/000661 “Improving human coexistence with large carnivores in Europe through communication and transboundary cooperation” & 10th Meeting of the Carpathian Convention Working Group on Biodiversity.

UNEP/GRID-Warsaw Centre specialist, Piotr Mikołajczyk PhD, delivered a presentation on "Deployment of green infrastructure as a means to maintain ecological connectivity in the Carpathians".

Date: 25-28.11.2019

Conference programme: link

Meeting of applicants planning to apply for funding from the LIFE Financial Instrument and beneficiaries of ongoing and completed projects - exchange of good practices and experience

Organiser: Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Lublin

Date: 18-19.07.2019

Website: janowskie.rdos.lublin.pl/language/en/

LIFE12 NAT/PL/000084 - Project aiming to protect wetland habitats in the Kampinos Forest (central Poland)

Project Leaders: REC Poland,  Kampinos National Park, Institute of Technology and Life Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences

Implementation period: 1.07.2013 – 30.06.2019

Closing conference date: 8-9 May 2019 (in Leszno). PhD Monika Szewczyk (UNEP/GRID-Warsaw Centre) took part in the conference.

Website: www.kampinoskiebagna.pl/en

LIFE15 GIE/PL/000959

Project Leader: Foundation for Sustainable Development (Wrocław, Poland)

Implementation period: 2016-2021

Website: drzewa.org.pl/en/home/

LIFE11 INF/PL/467 - A campaign promoting trees in Poland’s rural landscapes as natural habitats and ecological corridors

Project Leader: Foundation for Sustainable Development (Wrocław, Poland)

Implementation period: 2012-2016

Website: http://aleje.org.pl/en/life-programme

LIFE14 CCA/PL/000101 - Adaptation to climate change through sustainable management of water of the urban area in Radom City

Project Leader: City of Radom

Implementation period: 2015-2020

Website: http://life.radom.pl/en

LIFE11 INF/PL/000478

Project Leader: Foundation for support of Ecological Initiatives (Kraków, Poland)

Implementation period: 2012-2017

Website: www.misjanatura.fwie.pl/index.php/en/

Project Leader: The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Implementation period: 2012 - 2017

Website: www.openness-project.eu

Project Leader: WWF International Danube-Carpathian Programme

Implementation Period: 2017 - 2019

Website: http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/transgreen

Project Leader: Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences / Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University in Cracow

Implementation period: 2017-2018

Website: http://www.geography.sav.sk/conskpl/

LIFE13 BIO/UK/000428 - EcoCo LIFE Scotland - Implementation of integrated habitat networks to improve ecological coherence across the CSGN 

Project Leader: Scottish Natural Heritage

Implementation period: 2014-2018

Website: www.ecocolife.scot

EEA Grants Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 – the RO02 Programme – “Biodiversity and ecosystems services”

General Objective: to improve knowledge and to provide assistance in the process of policies’ elaboration on the ecosystems’ contribution to economic sectors.

Project Leader: National Centre for Sustainable Development

Implementation period: 2016

Website: http://valueecoserv.cndd.ro/en/

Preservation of alluvial forest habitats in the Morávka river basin

Project Leader: Moravian-Silesian Region

Implementation period: 2007-2010

Website: https://life-moravka.msk.cz/en/index.php

Wetland habitat restoration and bird protection of Poiplie, Horna Orava and Senianske rybniky SPAs in Slovakia

Project Leader: BirdLife Slovakia

Implementation period: 2017-2022

Website: http://www.vtaciraj.sk/

 LIFE12 NAT/UK/001068

Project Leader: Fauna & Flora International (FFI)

Implementation period: 2013-2019

Website: http://connectcarpathians.ro/about-the-project/?lang=en

 Implementation period: 2014-2020

Website: https://huskroua-cbc.eu/about/programme-description 

Restoring and managing ecological corridors in mountains as the green infrastructure in the Danube basin

Project Leader: WWF DCP Romania

Implementation period: 2018-2020

Website: http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/connectgreen