The Speakers’ Corner is the opportunity for the EUROPARC network to showcase their work, innovative approaches and new ways of thinking related to Management Effectiveness. Case study presentations lay the basis of an active discussion from all participants.
Goal of the session:
Highlight your work and inform and exchange with peers on concrete experiences and cases of Management Effectiveness in Parks.
How does it work?
EUROPARC members and partners have registered to share their work and experiences within the Speakers’ Corners. Scan them down below and note where they will be.
This session will take place as 4 breakout rooms within one meeting place. You will have the chance to hop from one breakout room to another to listen to the various talks and participate. The speakers each get 5 minutes to present their case and open the floor for discussion. There will be 15 minutes for a discussion after each case study.
The four Speakers’ Corners are:
1: Successful management planning: from Conservation Objectives to enforcement of decisions (Focus: Planning)
2: Innovative solutions to monitor progress and drive decisions (Focus: Governance and decision-making)
3: Are we doing well? Building capacity to assess Management Effectiveness in Protected Areas (Focus: Capacity-building)
4: Tools and initiatives to improve communication between silos (Focus: Communications)
Case studies:
Speakers’ Corner 1: Successful management planning: from Conservation Objectives to enforcement of decisions
Case Study 1: Alt Pirineu Natural Park Strategic Plan
Marc Garriga Lujan – Director, Alt Pirineu Natural Park – Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain
Highlighting the Alt Pirineu Natural Park’s strategic plan, this talk discusses long-term biodiversity monitoring plans, and includes initiatives for alpine lake restoration and support for pastoral farming, demonstrating their benefits for pollinator habitats and open landscapes.
Case Study 2: How is the effectiveness of terrestrial Protected Areas to conserve biodiversity measured?
Sini Savilaakso – Director, Liljus ltd, Switzerland
Presenting a systematic review of methods for evaluating the effectiveness of terrestrial Protected Areas in biodiversity conservation, this session identifies key monitoring practices and discusses their standadization and implementation across regions, providing insights to enhance conservation outcomes globally.
Speakers’ Corner 2: Innovative solutions to monitor progress and drive decisions
Case Study 1: Enhancing governance through Management Effectiveness Evaluation
Matti Tapaninen – Senior Specialist, Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland
Balancing various pressures within the protected area network can be challenging without compelling performance measures. This session covers tools for evaluating management effectiveness in Protected Areas, with a case study from Finland’s recent PAME assessment.
Case Study 2: Julian Alps: current challenges and future prospects for cooperation
Federica Cittadino – Senior Researcher, Eurac Research, Italy
This presentation explores the main challenges currently experienced in the transboundary cooperation within the Julian Alps Transboundary Ecoregion, drawing insights from recent expert and stakeholder interviews.
Case Study 3: Effectively Managing an Urban Protected Area
Susanne Glatz-Jorde – Team Leader Planning, E.C.O. Insitut of Ecology, Austria
Reflecting on a decade of management in Klagenfurt’s Lendspitz-Maiernigg Natura 2000 site, this case study examines governance challenges in urban-protected areas, including visitor management, habitat restoration, and public engagement.
Speakers’ Corner 3: Are we doing well? Building capacity to assess Management Effectiveness in Protected Areas
Case Study 1: Quality standards in German national parks – Experiences and benefits of evaluation using the example of the Müritz-National Park
Ulf Zimmerman – Director, Müritz Nationalpark, Germany
Focusing on Müritz National Park, this talk examines Germany’s approach to quality standards in park management, exploring how the evaluation process adds value and tackles challenges within park management.
Case Study 2: Counting visitors on trails in Protected Areas through automated systems based on artificial intelligence
Miguel Faucha – Research Technician, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
An interdisciplinary team developed an AI-based algorithm to monitor visitor flow in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. This presentation details the technical aspects of deploying this tool to improve visitor management.
Speakers’ Corner 4: Tools and initiatives to improve communication between silos
Case Study 1: Innovative communication concepts – how collaborative tools can help make scientific knowledge more accessible for practitioners and policymakers
Jana Baumgartner – Project manager, E.C.O. Institut of Ecology, Austria
E.C.O. addresses the disconnect between scientific research and practical implementation in environmental management, emphasizing collaborative solutions that make research findings more accessible for policymakers and practitioners.
Case Study 2: Joint efforts to preserve uniquity – Collaborative management in Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park
Karla Schulze – Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park Authority, Germany
This presentation highlights the collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to managing Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It underscores the importance of stakeholder involvement and adaptation to climate-related challenges.
Case Study 3: Bridging silos between science, policy and practice in Europe for biodiversity
Frédéric Lemaître – Operational manager for society and policy impact, Biodiversa+
This presentation explores how the Biodiversa+ Partnership fosters interdisciplinary research for biodiversity, uniting science, policy, and practice to co-create impactful knowledge supporting sustainable biodiversity management.