Photo: Lubomira Kolcheva

Budapest, December 2018 – Close to the end of the second year of implementation of the DTP INTERREG-Project LENA "Local Economy and Nature Conservation in the Danube Region" all project partners met to review their implemented activities and coordinate the final steps ahead.

The partnership was hosted by WWF HU/TRAFFIC at the Adina Apartment Hotel in Budapest from 4th to 7th of December 2018. The 5th regular meeting started with a session in which each partner presented their LENA success stories in a 2-minute pitch. These included external recognitions such as Portuguese national TV featuring LENA as best-practice and LENA winning the German sustainability award for projects. There was also great feedback from the partners on the pilot actions which have been very well received, e.g. the national Danube Guide trainings, education for black Slavonian pig breeders, the Nature Routes and the e-rikshaw.

Picture 1: Some notes from the LENA success stories session

More focused work package sessions followed on communication (WP2) with general updates, reminders and important information and policy (WP6) in which the policy factsheets for the LENA countries were presented, feedback collected and the next steps for dissemination were agreed on. The Human Capital Actions (WP4): Danube Guides and e-mobility were also discussed in sessions on the first day. Furthermore, the regular stakeholder meeting was included in the meeting with updates on the overall partnership progress by the Lead Partner. The second day focused on discussions of the four Nature business tools (WP3) and Natural capital actions (WP5): sustainable wild plant use, agriculture and fisheries activities. The third day brought the partners together to discuss ideas for and organization of the press events in the upcoming year, as well as taking further steps for the dissemination of the outputs and deliverables and possibilities to engage further with other DTP Interreg projects. Overall, these four days provided an excellent opportunity for the participants to interact and align their actions before the final conference in April 2019 in Bucharest.

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Project LENA — Local Economy and Nature Conservation in the Danube Region — is co-funded by the European Union funds (ERDF, IPA) and implemented through the Danube Transnational Program, with the support of the European Regional Development Fund, co-financed by the European Union and the Hungarian State.

Photo: Thomas Osborn