One Nature Project was invited to present effective communication and ways of raising awareness of the benefits of Natura 2000 and ecosystem services at a specialist symposium organized by a “sister” project called „LIFE living Natura 2000“. The 2nd Natura 2000 Summit in Brussels took place from 8 to 9 November at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU. “It is a great satisfaction for us to see the success of the Czech project on an international scale, and I hope this will motivate Czech applicants to make more use of funds from the LIFE program when planning their projects,” commented Tomáš Kazmierski, Chair of the steering committee of One Nature Project and Director of the Department of Financial and Voluntary Instruments of Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.

The specialist symposium offered lectures and best practice examples of successful communication of Natura 2000 as well as a poster exhibition about Natura 2000 projects from Bavaria, Germany and other EU countries.

Radka Broumová, Project Action Coordinator, emphasized that the success of the project in the field of communication is due to colleagues’ shared efforts and, above all, their cooperation within the respective partner institutions: “Even though communication is only one of the many actions within One Nature project, we were able to inspire colleagues from other countries and foster further cooperation in this area.”

Particularly interesting were the contributions of Natura 2000 ambassadors in Bavaria, prominent figures that helped reach diverse audiences and raise awareness about the protected network. Actress Pia Amofa-Antwi, ornithologist Dr. Auguste von Bayern, and mountaineer Alexander Huber offered different perspectives on   communicating about nature protection effectively.

The evening reception offered ceremonial speeches by high-ranking political representatives of the EU and Bavaria, including the official welcome by Mr Michael Hinterdobler, Director of the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU, a video message from Mr Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries and a keynote speech by Mr Patrick Anthony Child Deputy Director-General at Directorate-General for Environment at the European Commission.

The highlight of the evening was the premiere of a short documentary “It’s in my nature. Natura 2000 in Bavaria” (available to watch via YouTube with English subtitles).

„LIFE living Natura 2000“ is the communication project for the European natural heritage in Bavaria, which is encouraged by the EU. According to the motto „It ́s in my nature (Ganz meine Natur“), communication, knowledge, and acceptance for Natura 2000 in Bavaria have been promoted since 2017.

The project has been implemented by the Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management (ANL) in cooperation with the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection (StMUV). It is co-financed by the German Federal Foundation for the Environment and the Bavarian Nature Conservation Fund.