News Update and Recent Work

Examples of EUROPARC Consulting’s work:

Writing this as a cold winter fog obscures the view from the office window it is easy to see that the year is nearing its end – yet hard to believe where the time has gone. EUROPARC Consulting's activities in 2011 are too many and diverse to mention without it becoming a list of jobs and dates, but it certainly has been a good year with many challenges, opportunities and, happily, increased work which means we are continuing to support the EUROPARC Federation. For further details please scroll through the monthly articles here on our website.

Stocktaking, successes and study tours

Chairman Richard Partington, and Managing Director Wilf Fenten, together with the members of our Advisory Board, have worked to develop a clear direction for EUROPARC Consulting's work over the next five years; consolidating and growth ambitions for the future. Our confidence has enabled us to pitch for contracts large and small with increasing success. For example: to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the Dutch and German stretches of the famous Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage Site; organising and managing the workshop programme for the highly successful  EUROPARC 2011 conference in Bad Urach, Germany; organising and running a day learning seminar, in Oxford, U.K, on the economic benefits of designated landscapes on behalf of EUROPARC Atlantic Isles.

Our programmes of learning excursions have also been in demand, with several study tours being run. One group of senior Lithuanian protected-area practitioners visited Scotland to learn about all aspects of Ranger Services. Another group from the Ukraine visited several national and regional parks in southern France studying tourism and ecological education. Study tours are perhaps one of the best ways of learning and sharing expertise – the EUROPARC ethos and EUROPARC Consulting’s ability to provide local expertise and expert guidance, with custom-built programmes developed to specific customer requirements, have proved highly successful. Tours of this kind are a unique and inexpensive way of promoting new ideas through the EUROPARC Federation. Please contact us soon if you want to discuss study tours or learning exchanges during 2012. 

Wayfaring, waiting and welcomes

 2011 has been a whirlwind of journeys around Europe for EUROPARC Consulting Experts and Staff. Travel to meetings, tender bids, conferences, study tours, to fact-find, to seek out business opportunities, to liaise, problem solve and mentor. Our Charter verifiers visited 17 protected/area destinations in 6 countries to examine work on sustainable tourism. Our approach is to travel at low cost and where practicable use surface public transport, but all travel offers inevitable waiting at airports, train stations and taxi stands. However, we have also waited nervously for the outcome of tender bids, visa applications and overdue Charter dossiers. Our work has supported and encouraged Charter candidate areas while they themselves awaited results of funding meetings, forums or political elections.

One constant throughout the challenging timetable of activities has been the co-operation forthcoming, the support offered, and the friendly welcome given by colleagues, protected areas and organisations we have worked with. Most heart-warming that even in such difficult times people remain so willing to share time and expertise which demonstrates that people working across Europe’s protected areas are very special.

Organisation, own-brand originality and an open door

Our clients often use the support and organisational skills of EUROPARC Consulting to help manage the complexity of projects - essential for a professional and smooth running event or project. Our extensive network of experts, with direct “hands-on” experience of designated landscapes and the wider environmental matters mean we can always offer team members with relevant, up to date and in-depth skills. Another critical aspect of the challenging financial times of 2011 has been our ability to provide services that match and are within clients' often tight budgets. We always deliver to budget with no hidden surprises.

As in any year there were some disappointments - mostly relating to tenders we did not win or potential projects that did not materialise. This is inevitable in a highly-competitive and budget-conscious sector. However, there were many positives and we were often enthused and excited at the prospect of the challenges: working with colleagues developing bids, seeking creative solutions and banking good ideas with team spirit cemented by the process. We end 2011 very positive and have a busy 2012 ahead. Please consider adding EUROPARC Consulting to your tender list so that our adaptable, cost-effective and customer-focused approach can help YOU deliver more for less in 2012.

For more information contact Wilf Fenten wilf.fenten@europarc-consulting.org.

We would like to thank everyone who supported, contributed to or participated in EUROPARC Consulting's excellent 2011. A special thanks goes to the many colleagues throughout the EUROPARC Federation who championed what we can offer - by spreading the word about us and our work.

Finally, we are delighted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy festive season, a peaceful New Year and an exciting and fulfilling 2012.

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Sheep near our Selside office, waiting for the farmer to feed them in winterPhoto: Hilary Fenten

Thanks to the ever-closer co-operation and liaison between Europe's No. 1 NGO for protected areas, the EUROPARC Federation, and EUROPARC Consulting, its commercial arm, we are expanding into ever more regions of Europe. At the same time, we are enlarging our panel of expert consultants enabling us to tackle new areas of expertise and meeting the ever-growing demand for good value-for-money advice of the highest quality. 

Some of these experts got together in the Sierra Nevada, Spain, to discuss especially the growing need for the best possible sustainable tourism indicators for European tourism destinations, even those outside protected areas.

Whilst sustainable tourism will remain one of the very important topics of EUROPARC Consulting's work, more and more of our clients are looking to us for a complete package: assisting them in task-and-finish projects with work on management plans, strategies and action plans, staff exchange and study tours, training and communication.

The coming year already promises to be one of the busiest EUROPARC Consulting has ever had. We can't wait.

For further information please contact Wilf Fenten at wilf.fenten@europarc-consulting.org or info@europarc-consulting.org

Also, EUROPARC Consulting has a Facebook page now. Visit us at http://www.facebook.com/europarc.consulting

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Carol Ritchie, EUROPARC Federation Director, and Wilf Fenten, EUROPARC Consulting boss, during a break from meetings in the Sierra NevadaPhoto: EUROPARC Consulting

Another successful study tour for experts has just been finished. Protected-area officers from four national parks and a strict nature reserve in Ukraine spent six days touring several Parcs naturels régionaux and a national park in Southern France. “It was a life-changing experience”, concluded one participant, “which will also change my whole work pattern forever.”

Not surprisingly, the pace for this well-organised EUROPARC Consulting study tour was fast. Every day it started before 8 o’clock in the morning and usually did not finish until at least 6 o’clock in the evening. Following the clients’ careful briefing, a varied but demanding programme had been prepared so that participants could see in practice, at first hand, how things can be done.

They saw possible ways towards greener forms of tourism, examples of good practice for local involvement, the involvement of stakeholders and other partners. Visitor impact and management, zoning in protected areas, mass tourism versus quality environmental education – all these were explored.

In particular, we concentrated on good examples of local businesses working closely together with the protected-area authorities towards a win-win situation: good business for local firms helping protect those precious landscapes.

That the study tour took place in beautiful weather and in the stunning beauty of Provence were added bonuses which helped the learning process no end. As did the wine and the splendid locally-grown food. The excellent bicycle enterprise “Vélo loisir en Luberon” even organised a practical demonstration of its skills: fitting out the group with bicycles and guiding them along a 10-mile course to an excellent museum of olive oil production. A most inspiring effort.

One evening, the whole Ukrainian group took the opportunity to thank our hosts with songs and drink from the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains. Bringing together people from different parts of Europe, exchanging experience and knowledge, is one of the aims of EUROPARC Consulting. This study tour has been an excellent example of what can be achieved, even in a short time.

For more information, please contact wilf.fenten@europarc-consulting.org or info@europarc-consulting.org.

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Setting out to conquer the Luberon by bikePhoto: Solomiya Roshko

Over ten years of EUROPARC Consulting experience with workshops, seminars and training paid off handsomely at a recent international conference in Bad Urach, Germany. Over 300 delegates took part from countries all over Europe. A whole day was set aside for the all-important workshops, 15 in total, with two presenters each.

Being EUROPARC, we made sure that these presenters not only were experts in their fields but also came from across Europe so that delegates to the conference could sample the vast experience available in many countries. The aims of the workshops, however, were not simply to learn and exchange views. One of the purposes was also to use the results of the workshops as inputs for a new strategy to be developed in 2012.

That meant capturing the essence of each workshop in a number of priority outcomes, note them, process them and present them at a plenary session only 1 hour after the workshops closed. The problem was that these workshops were not all in one place. Some were out of town, 3 km away from the main conference venue.

No problem, with a bicycle provided by the town, we made sure that our team visited each workshop, sampled the flavour of each, collected memory sticks and flipchart pages, and gathered them all in the main conference office. Here the information was carefully, yet speedily, processed and put on the screen in the main conference hall as a colourful PowerPoint presentation.

All the information gathered is now safely lodged and will be part of the wider consultation process in the coming year. EUROPARC Consulting is proud to have played its part in starting this process.

If you need to find a way of collecting information, processing it and making it part of your strategies, action plans, management plans or other documentation, please contact our office anytime – wilf.fenten@europarc-consulting.org or info@europarc-consulting.org.

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Erika Stanciu, retiring EUROPARC President, "Queen of the Flipchart"Europarc Consulting

A large contract for one of Europe’s most important UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Dutch and German stretch of the famous Wadden Sea, has just been awarded to EUROPARC Consulting. The Wadden Sea region requires a sustainable tourism strategy that will help reduce the negative impact of visitors whilst improving the economic contribution of visitors to this part of the Dutch and German North Sea coast.

The strategy and its resulting action plan need the input and co-operation of all the main stakeholders in the area, be they business enterprises, protected areas like national or nature parks and the various ministries and local authorities. The development of the strategy involves consultation and consensus through people talking to each other. It is a journey which stakeholders join in order to move together to a common goal: a more socially responsible, economically beneficial and sustainable form of tourism - not an easy aim to achieve.

EUROPARC Consulting is very pleased to gain this prestigious contract. The awarding panel was impressed by the way EUROPARC Consulting is using an adaptive model of the process that has been so successful for the European Charter of Sustainable Tourism. The adaptive model of that process will form the backbone for the Wadden Sea project, in the course of which EUROPARC Consulting will put in place such structures that will help further progress, long after our initial work has finished.

Every year, the company processes all the Charter applicants and supports them in their aim to have the European Charter awarded to them. In order to get the Charter the candidate Charter area must set up a sustainable tourism forum that includes all the major stakeholders in the area, not only representatives of the protected area but also members of the business community, the major conservation bodies and recreational users of the area such as walkers, cyclists, etc. A sustainable tourism forum means that all the parties involved talk to each other and are aware of each other’s views and problems which can be resolved and progress achieved.

As so often, EUROPARC Consulting is fielding an international team, this time with members from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It is hoped that we can also interest representatives from the Danish part of the Wadden Sea to extend the area of influence.

To be placed on the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, a site must be very special. And the Wadden Sea surely is. Globally unique with a phenomenal wealth of flora and fauna, it attracts every year 10 to 12 million migrating birds. Around 10,000 different plants and animals can be found living on land or in the water here.

In order to become a World Heritage Site, an area must possess outstanding universal values, be intact, and its protection must be guaranteed. We are very much aware of the expectations and responsibility placed on us in developing a sustainable tourism strategy that will help to guarantee that protection and deliver lasting results.

If you want to find out how we can help you with your work, please contact: info@europarc-consulting.org or wilf.fenten@europarc-consulting.org.

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A walk across the Wadden Sea is a unique experiencePhoto: Henk Veurman

Right on the Serbian-Romanian border on the Danube lies the small town of Donji Milanovacin Djerdap National Park where Wilf Fenten, EUROPARC Consulting's Managing Director, and Anne Webster, Project Support Manager in the UK office, attended the 7th European Charter Network Meeting (28th June to 1st July). 

This magnificent national park is located along the Serbian-Romanian border, right where the Danube breaks through the Carpathian Mountains at the Iron Gates. This year’s conference was generously organised by Djerdap National Park and partnered by the Ministry of Environment, Mining and Special Planning, Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, National Tourism Organisation of Serbia and The Association of National Parks and Protected Areas of Serbia. The event focused on the growing interest from many Eastern European countries in sustainable tourism - and the wider aspects - hence the conference title "Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas: Building Bridges - Seeking solutions". It proved an invaluable opportunity for networking, exchange and learning. 

Anne Webster and Wilf Fenten are key members of the team for implementing the application process of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. At the conference, Wilf led a workshop entitled “Introduction to the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas”. The workshop was aimed at target participants from areas interested in becoming Charter members. Questions such as: "How to become a Charter member? What is involved and and what benefits does it bring? What to do and how to plan the work? When to start and who should be involved?" were all addressed in detail. 

Combining a fascinating location with welcoming hosts, a vibrant social agenda and an in-depth programme resulted in a most intriguing and engaging mix. The whole event was well attended by over 200 delegates, with Serbian government Ministers contributing to the keynote speeches and TV crews in attendance (and national TV reportage on the evening news bulletins). Representatives from 23 countries  across Europe took part; from the Nordic-Baltic regions to those from Italy, Malta and Greece.

We hope that Wilf's contribution on behalf of EUROPARC Consulting will have opened people's eyes to the possibilities the Charter can offer – particularly for countries newly tackling sustainable tourism issues and seeking effective methodologies for so doing. 

Having so many participants gathered together allowed us to provide a reminder that EUROPARC Consulting provides real expertise in the policy and practice of protected-area management. The company is uniquely placed to provide advice, training and expertise, using exclusively the skills of experts with first-hand experience. To be able to do so in the stunning setting of the dramatic Djerdap Danube gorge was an added and unforgettable bonus!

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Over 200 delegates gathered at this year's Charter Network Meeting in Djerdap National Park, SerbiaPhoto by kind permission of Djerdap National Park

Aren't they fascinating, those airline destination charts where lines on a map spread out across the continent to form a spider's web of connections? Well it's the time of year where EUROPARC Consulting acts as the “hub” for activity concerning the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, gathering in all the reports on each applicant for this year’s award of the European Charter, Europe’s premier quality label for protected areas. Once checked and edited, these reports are then forwarded to all members of the EUROPARC Federation’s Evaluation Committee which meets towards the end of June each year.

Every year, around Christmas time, those seeking to join the Charter family - or continue their involvement with it - will have submitted their formal application dossiers to EUROPARC Consulting. This year, 17 reports winged their way to our office and the annual cycle of work began once more. An expert consultant is appointed to visit each area, where he or she will meet with the officers, stakeholders and tourism businesses to assess the work on the ground. Each verifier will clarify any points of concern, gather additional information and observe in detail how present and planned practical physical actions match those laid out in the applicant's strategy and action plan.

Once the verifier's reports are completed they are submitted to “Charter Central” – EUROPARC Consulting, UK. As the Evaluation Committee members have the task of reading, absorbing and deciding on seventeen protected area reports (each between 16 and 35 pages long!) we do everything we can to smoothen the process. All reports are carefully checked and edited, and then sent on their way for the members of the Evaluation Committee to begin their work of deciding whether to award the Charter or not.

EUROPARC Consulting contributes in many ways to the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, at every step of the process. We work on routine matters - progress-chasing, invoicing, editing, receiving or despatching and essential ones – advice, liaison and provision of support materials such as the Charter Toolkit. We are the one-stop hub serving the Evaluation Committee and applicant protected areas -  a very rewarding and challenging task.

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Evaluation Committee members in deep discussion

Early summer saw EUROPARC Consulting welcome a group of protected-area practitioners keen to investigate and gather knowledge of best practice in the United Kingdom. A group of Lithuanians arrived in Edinburgh in late May, under the guidance of Kestutis Navickas, an sustainable tourism expert from the Baltic Environmental Forum. They met with our expert leader Richard Partington, who has a deep understanding of all aspects of “rangering”.

The visiting group – all directors and senior managers from Baltic protected areas - arrived with the aim of gathering in-depth knowledge of how ranger services systems are set up and how they function. Areas of interest were: duties and responsibilities of rangers; how the national legislation in UK works; how labels/security/training/certification works; and how voluntary ranger schemes youth or Junior Ranger schemes work.

Once the visitors were settled at their base in the beautiful Loch Lomond & Trossachs area of southwest Scotland they were introduced to the fact-filled and extensive programme EUROPARC Consulting had organised. Day one took the group across the River Clyde to spend the day on the ground with rangers and managers at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. Here they examined access initiatives and woodland plans, rangers and protected species, the built environment, and communication with rural landowners. The final visit of the day looked at ranger's dealings with special needs groups, formal education and the “health agenda”.

Host for the next day was Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, whose 3 ranger teams were all contributing to an excellent programme that showed the breadth of activities in a busy park area: contrasting the enforcement and visitor management aspects of the work with that of visitor interaction, communication and volunteering. A rather damp boat trip out on the Loch with the water-based ranger team led to a few of the day's lighter moments! An interesting session with a local Police Office talking to the group about community liaison and cooperation completed the day.

Following a two days of fresh air the next day was devoted to outside speakers and discussion panels, to establish an historical and legislative context. Speakers from the Peak District National Park, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association offering three distinct yet complimentary viewpoints to further extend the visitors knowledge.

Another contrast was provided on the final day, when the Lithuanians visited Forestry Commission Scotland to examine how rangers operate where tourism and commercial interests meet. A once-thriving slate quarry, flagship visitor centre and “sound trail” in the Forest Park drive all illustrated how nature, tourism and timber management can coexist.

The visitors arrived to learn how the different rangering concepts could be translated into practice in Lithuania. As Ruta Baskyte, Director, State Protected Areas Service indicated, "In Lithuania we have an urgent need for direct professional communication with local people living in protected areas, with people visiting them, with communities, etc.“ EUROPARC Consulting very much thanks the three host areas who generously gave their time and expertise to the programme. In her comments after the event, R?ta was able to observe:“We see that in different countries at different stages we have different problems, but the same goals:  and we now have a lot of good possibilities“.

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Loch Lomond, main venue for studying ranger services in ScotlandPhoto: Ben Vorlich

Just like Oliver Twist in the famous novel of the same title, by Charles Dickens, EUROPARC Consulting have customers coming back for more! Delighted with a previous highly successful study tour (to Nationalpark Harz, September 2010) Bohdan Prots (Senior Research Scientist and programme Coordinator for WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme in Ukraine) has asked EUROPARC Consulting to prepare another specialist programme. This time, a group of Ukrainian protected-area specialists will visit Southern France to explore new ideas about environmental education, closer partnership between protected areas and business, and the development of distinctly local products.

It is a real pleasure to be able to start planning an event around such an enthusiastic group of protected-area practitioners, so keen to learn and pick up every bit of knowledge they can find.

 A well-established team will be managing the event from the Ukranian side, all of whom have worked together before. Bohdan is ably assisted by Taras Yamelynets and Solomiya Kozhko, who took part in the previous event.

Around 15 people are expected to participate, and the challenge of finding a suitable location, specialist expert and potential hosts are already been overcome. Travel arrangements permitting, the tour is planned for mid-October, and the host country (France) has been selected for seasonal suitability and the region (the south) for conveniently located protected areas for visiting. 

The provisional tour theme is to be “tourism and ecological education”. A first-class expert from Provence has been selected to join Wilf Fenten in leading the tour. Jacques Decuignières has worked with us for many years and is a brilliant communicator, speaking fluent English with French as his mother-tongue. He has excellent connections to all the protected areas in the South of France. Jacques has been fully briefed, and is already thinking about programme proposals and case studies. He is very positive and enthusiastically states “such a project and prospects of exchange are exciting”.

We anticipate great satisfaction in working with Jacques and our Ukrainian clients in developing detailed plans for this event, from establishing the learning objectives to delivering a challenging, wide ranging and innovative tour packed with learning opportunities.

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Our first study tour for Ukrainian experts in 2009EUROPARC Consulting

June last year was the month that saw Richard Partington officially launch into his role as new Chair of the EUROPARC Consulting board. Richard's life in protected-area work started in New Zealand, working in their National Parks and Reserves service. This gave him tremendous “hands-on” experience of working in wild and remote locations. Richard still cherishes these times, “New Zealand was very important to me personally and professionally. My two daughters were born in New Zealand and, during these formative years, my egalitarian values and aspirations were set – that national parks and protected areas are for all people to enjoy and how could I best help this?”

Contrasting with that came the opportunity to work in Europe’s largest navigable wetland – The Broads. Its then CEO, Aitken Clark, was a tremendous mentor. Importantly, he also introduced Richard to EUROPARC and its benefits of collaborative working, sharing expertise and knowledge. A period of service at Exmoor National Park followed during which Richard's conviction that the use of practical experience to inform management decisions developed. “When I was Director for Visitor and Communication Services at Exmoor National Park it was this philosophy that steered my work. Understanding the social and economic needs of local people and understanding how protected areas can help achieve a win-win situation is essential”. Using the experience of practical management and in-depth knowledge of protected areas was something Richard wanted to take into central UK Government – hence a move to the Countryside Agency and later Natural England.

So much for the past – what of the future? Richard has been setting out his aims as the newly elected Chair of EUROPARC Consulting. “Simply to increase our profile, make us better known, build the business and contribute to the Federation. For me it is a real privilege to be the current Board Chairman and I have a strong drive to carry on the valuable work started by its first Chairman, Aitken Clark. My immediate goal is to develop our business model, minimise risks, identify challenges and maximise opportunities and set a course to achieve our medium and long term aspirations. Our strength has been our ability to undertake any task, activity or project that falls within protected-area management or policy work in any country or language.”

The first 10 years have seen EUROPARC Consulting establish a solid foundation. Richard, with fellow board members and Director Wilf Fenten, will be developing a new strategy and business plan to plot out future initiatives. Richard concludes: “EUROPARC Consulting is about connecting people with great ideas and specialist knowledge of protected-area management, of nature conservation, of working with businesses, of sustainable tourism, designing good communications, working with stakeholders, etc. We match experts to projects and offer a reliable and unique service, with our experience drawing on the best people to do the job, large or small. In these times of financial restraint it makes good business sense to use a value-for-money cost-effective service such as ours.”

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Training at the International Academy for Nature Protection on Vilm Island, Germany. Richard Partington on the left, Wilf Fenten right.

EUROPARC Consulting continues to organise the now well-established series of seminars on behalf of EUROPARC Atlantic Isles (EAI). This latest seminar Protect and prosper – optimising the economic benefits of designated landscapes took place on 10th February 2011 in Oxford, UK.

It focused mainly on the economic worth of these special wonderful places - a subject that has taken on a whole new meaning given current economic challenges. Attended by 35 protected-area and associated professionals from the UK and abroad, the event mixed practical approaches with rigorous academic thought. Delegates heard how three protected areas in the north of England alone provide 34,000 jobs and £1.8 billion of sales - as well as incalculable natural benefits.

Active participation, evidenced by a set of future actions, reflected EUROPARC’s key strength of working together. In three workshops, seminar participants discussed a range of ways forward. Their recommendation was that EUROPARC co-ordinate action to promote the economic worth of protected areas by: building a robust shared evidence base; identifying and communicating effectively with key audiences; and sharing best practice.

Feedback indicated the seminar, organised by EUROPARC Consulting, was a resounding success. Over 90% of participants said the event had been beneficial with comments such as: “information gathered from seminar/networking will greatly benefit future work with protected areas”; “made good contacts for the development of visitor payback; acquired useful data for use in bids” and “case studies and other experiences very enlightening”.

Richard Blackman of EUROPARC Atlantic Isles, hosts of the seminar, said: “The importance for the protected-area community of promoting the economic (and other) benefits is resonating ever more loudly. This seminar has given us a number of ideas to put into practice in the near future to ensure that the body of experience and expertise that we as a network collectively have is shared to enhance management and used to promote the significance of our protected landscapes for sustainable development. “

A full report is available at www.europarc-ai.org

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Fresh air and far horizons: how can these be valued properly by decision-makers?Photo by kind permission of Mercantour National Park, France

EUROPARC Consulting contracted again to provide workshop co-ordination

As winter continues its grip around the UK office of EUROPARC Consulting, we are already setting our sights on a big autumn event. We have been awarded the contract to organise the vital programme of workshops that contribute so much to the EUROPARC Federation's annual conference. This year it takes place in September 2011 in the Swabian Alp Biosphere Reserve, Bad Urach, Germany. Experts from across a broad field of international conservation interests, including regional development, will be exploring the general theme of: Quality counts - Benefits for Nature and People.

Experienced consultant Bettina Kreisel, already ideally based in Germany, is busy collecting notes from meetings and discussing the partner's first thoughts for workshop topics, potential speakers and workshop managers. With an already long list of potential areas to explore it now falls to her and other colleagues from EUROPARC Consulting to pull the preliminary ideas together and find a coherent structure to ensure a variety of good topics that complement each other. Bettina is also keen to emphasise the need for a good cross-section of both speakers and themes, to allow delegates a rich choice of options for their workshop choice.

Continuing the discussions will be a steering group with members such as EUROPARC Federation, EUROPARC Germany, the German BfN and the Ministry of Environment of Baden-Württemberg where the conference takes place.

In a few weeks time things will be a lot clearer, once a short session description is written, and the structure of the workshop themes established. Each of the many workshops will have two presenters plus a workshop manager/facilitator – all to be invited and fully briefed with contents and objectives of their workshop. Contacting at least 45 individuals is quite a daunting task, but at the same time a wonderful opportunity to discuss interesting topics with a wide variety of experts from all walks of life.

With so many people from a protected-landscape and conservation background gathered together, we are determined to deliver an engaging, relevant and strong programme of workshops. The 2011 topic “Quality counts” will also emphasise that “quality sells”, be it a product, tourism service, heritage or nature offer – or even a funding bid. Keep your eye on the website for the EUROPARC Conference http://www.europarc2011.com/en/welcome.html, to ensure you can book your workshop place as soon as the topics are announced.  We anticipate high demand, to learn from the prestigious range of international speakers and contributors. EUROPARC Consulting will take great pleasure in delivering a programme that will stimulate discussion, promote ideas and secure practical outcomes.

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Every workshop is different, tailor-made by EUROPARC ConsultingEUROPARC Consulting