On Monday 6th of September 2021, an exciting online meeting between the Interreg projects Centralparks and BEECH POWER took place online, with the objective to discuss possible synergies between the two projects.
After a brief presentation of the background, goals, deliverables and outputs of each project, it became clear that both Interreg projects have many similarities and can support each other during and beyond the duration of the projects.
Centralparks aims to improve the management capacities of protected areas in the Carpathians through transnational cooperation to support nature protection and local sustainable development. Similarly, BEECH POWER project works to improve integrated environmental management capacities for the protection and sustainable use of UNESCO Natural World Heritage beech forests, also aiming to support sustainable regional development. In addition, transnational cooperation is a key aspect in both projects, where multiple component parts, local authorities, and stakeholders from different countries are involved.
During the meeting, representatives of both projects agreed on developing mutual collaborations to help each other reach planned targets through promotion activities. Further, both projects will share relevant documents and outputs, like the BEECH POWER Code of Quality Management for UNESCO WH Beech Forests, as well as the Centralparks strategies and the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit via the Knowledge exchange platform developed by BEECH POWER. Such documents and strategies may be relevant and applicable in the Carpathians, UNESCO WH Beech forest site and beyond.
Finally, Centralparks invited BEECH POWER to a brief meeting between representatives of the two projects during the next Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) meeting, scheduled on the 29th of September 2021. Furthermore, in the final conferences of both projects, there will be some space dedicated to promote synergies in the future work, exceeding the project lifetimes!