TWINNING

Twinning is in our DNA. Established in 1989, Eurosite evolved out of the European Natural Sites Twinning Programme, which linked 33 sites across Europe since 1987. This programme demonstrated the clear demand for knowledge-exchange on practical nature management and two years later in 1989, the Eurosite network was born.

TWINNING CONCEPT

Twinning is a core Eurosite tool for knowledge-exchange. Eurosite members interested in twinning are able to take advantage of Eurosite’s expertise and services in this area to establish a twinning, including support with:

  • Finding a twinning partner from within (and occasionally outside) the network
  • Developing a Twinning Agreement to formalise the cooperation
  • Promoting and publicising the twinning and the lessons learned to a broad interested audience across Europe
  • Support (ongoing and new) LIFE projects in establishing a twinning as a tool for international knowledge exchange to ensure transferability
  • Ongoing support and guidance on achieving the goals of the twinning throughout the twinning period
  • Neutral mediation in the unlikely case of a disagreement
  • The twinning partners decide the purpose, content and duration of their joint work. To find an appropriate partner, please send us an email.

TWINNING TYPES

There are typically two types of twinning. The first is the more traditional twinning between organisations or natural sites. The focus of these twinnings could, for example, be on the transfer of knowledge from one site to another, or on the exchanges of staff, volunteers and students.

If partners prefer to collaborate on specific research projects or the development of mutually interesting projects, they can also choose a thematic twinning. This type of twinning focuses on a specific theme (e.g. communication, recreation, climate change mitigation, the protection of a certain species) and can involve all kinds of stakeholders, such as site managers, municipalities, local communities, tourist organisations and businesses.

On this page you can further find more information on ongoing twinnings, as well as twinning guides and twinning experiences.

Twinning participants exchanging knowledge about clearing an area

Fochteloërveen (Natuurmonumenten, the Netherlands) – Store Mosse National Park (Jönköping County Administrative Board, Sweden)

The twinning has the following objectives:

  • Experience what a raised bog looks like when it is not damaged by peat harvesting and high nitrogen depositions;
  • Exchange experiences about communication with visitors on nature (conservation), visitors center and other recreational facilities.
  • Exchange knowledge about conservation actions and regeneration of peat bogs after measures have been taken;
  • Exchange knowledge about chances for climate mitigation and adaptation in raised bog areas;
  • Exchange knowledge about grazing sites with large herbivores, like water buffalos, Galloway, Scottish Highlander and Exmoor ponies;
  • Exchange knowledge about the management of invasive species, additional management to reduce grasses and scrubs and the hydrology of peat bogs;
  • Exchange knowledge about monitoring and research; for example monitoring plans and research agendas;

Between 16 and 20 September 2024, the Peat Pals for LIFE project partners (Natuurmonumenten, Natuurpunt, Wageningen University & Research and Eurosite) visited the Store Mosse National Park in Sweden. Altogether, 17 colleagues participated in this twinning initiative which was organised by Natuurmonumenten with the support of Eurosite. Before this exchange, one of the ecologists working on the Dutch Fochteloërveen area has visited Store Mosse in 2022 to explore  possibilities for exchange experiences.

The Fochteloërveen management team of Natuurmonumenten looks back on an informative week in Store Mosse: “We saw how a drained and excavated raised bog recovers after rewetting, without an excess of nitrogen. Likewise, we were able to experience a raised bog landscape with various raised bog cores, former lakes and stream valleys. There was also a valuable exchange in the field of education and communication. Walking on peat with snowshoes on was a completely new experience for us! We are going to investigate how we can introduce the public to this in the Fochteloërveen. In the Naturum visitor centre, we could get some insights into the structure of its exhibits. We saw raised bog below ground level in a very attractive animated film, and even loads of information about climate change. In summary, this visit has given us a broad view of the functioning of a raised bog and how to communicate about this topic.”

Natural England (The Fenland National Nature Reserve Group) – Metsähallitus Parks and Wildlife Finland (North Karelia)

The goals of the Twinning were:

  • Exchange of experience and knowledge relating to planning and implementing restoration, management (especially within the European Natura 2000 network) and protection of peatland habitats and peatland related species in Finland and UK;
  • Improvements of local inhabitants involvements in active nature conservation, as the way to sustainable development;
  • Development of staff in the organisations.

As part of the Twinning, Natural England visited Finnish colleagues of Metsähallitus Parks and Wildlife Service in 2017. Visited sites included restored forest and (pristine) mire habitats, as well as mire sites that were awaiting restoration efforts. During the visit, emphasis was placed on the exchange of knowledge regarding how climate dictates main habitats and, as such, the land use. When comparing restoration techniques, Twinning partners discovered that the techniques used varied greatly due to habitat (disturbance) differences.

Christopher Evans, Senior Reserve Manager at Natural England, said:

“It was really interesting to see how a similar organisation of another country approached management decisions and monitored progress and results of works.”

North Pennines AONB Partnership (UK) and Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland.

The twinning had the following goals:

  • Exchange of experience and knowledge relating to planning and implementing nature conservation and management (especially within the European Natura 2000 network) and protection of natural resources and environment;
  • Sharing experience and cross-fertilization of results and the generated knowledge between the two LIFE projects: Pennine PeatLIFE and Hydrology LIFE;
  • Sharing experience in monitoring the impacts of peatland restoration (biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, carbon sequestration, socio-economy);
  • Sharing experience on how peatland restoration, and especially the monitoring data produced by the LIFE projects, could be used to safeguard ecosystem services, e.g. with respect to local socio-economy or payments for ecosystem services;
  • Sharing the experience of implementation of nature and environmental projects in nature areas;
  • Improvements in local inhabitants and volunteer involvement in active nature conservation
  • Capacity building of staff in the organisations.

The main outputs of the Twinning concern the exchange of knowledge during multiple Twinning exchanges, either from the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to Finland, or from Finland to the United Kingdom. Tuomas Haapalehto of Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Service, who was among the group that travelled to the UK, said:

“It was fruitful to see how practical issues like ditch damming were done by the Twinning partner. We gained important knowledge on the Payment for Ecosystem Services Approach and cooperation in remote sensing monitoring. We use the information learned in everyday restoration activities and in planning the national HELMI conservation programme in Finland.”

Vereniging Natuurmonumenten (the Netherlands) – Society for the Coast (Stowarzyszenie Na Rzecz Wybrzeża, Poland)

The twinning had the following objectives:

  • Exchange of experience and knowledge relating to nature conservation and nature management with special attention to Natura 2000 management plan(ning), as well as protection of natural resources managed by Partners;
  • Research the possibilities for synergy on the issue of climate change adaptation;
  • Sharing experience and joint implementation in projects in the field of nature and environment in managed areas;
  • Improvements in active nature conservation methods and tools focussing, for example, on chosen migrated species of birds
  • Improvements in local inhabitants’ involvement in active nature conservation as the way to common sustainable development;
  • Capacity building of staff from both of the Partners organisation.

At the first weekend of June 2016, eight ecologists of Natuurmonumenten, the Netherlands, visited the Odra Delta in Poland. The trip’s objective was to evaluate nature conservation and the twinning between Eurosite members Society for the Coast (EUCC-Poland) and Natuurmonumenten over the previous years. Jacob de Bruin of Natuurmonumenten wrote a blog article about the trip.

In May and June 2018, two more twinning visits of Natuurmonumenten staff to the Society for the Coast in the Odra Delta were carried out. The twinning has evolved into a sustainable long-term collaboration. This time, a bird survey was conducted. Additionally, both twinning partners are exploring the best ways to design a management plan for the Odra Delta.

A lesson from this Twinning was the realisation that monitoring and management plans are not interchangeably transferable from country to country. Because of the diverse area and external (policy) factors, the plan has to be adaptable and flexible. This input, among other needs in natural site management, contributed to establishing the Eurosite Management Planning Expert Group and the Management Planning Toolkit.

Resulting of this cooperation between Natuurmonumenten and Society for the Coast (EUCC-Poland), Eurosite is organising two grazing study tours in Spring and Autumn 2023 and an introductory webinar in early 2023.

WE Young People See Nature

The Twinning was developed to involve youth in nature and was started by the Society for the Coast (EUCC Poland) and Holag (The Netherlands). WE Young People See Nature is an exchange project between the Netherlands (West) and Poland (East) that facilitates teenagers to look at culture, nature, and each other through a camera lens. Outcomes of this Twinning have so far been:

Thematic twinning: Conservation and recreation in a post-lockdown society

Covid-19 has impacted the world, our lives, and thus also the work of conservation practitioners. The new reality forced many organisations managing natural areas to come up with new approaches and work methods, as a presentation by one of the Twinning partners indicated. The goal of this Twinning was to exchange information and ideas to together develop methods to help site managers identify efficient ways of managing natural sites in multiple aspects – ranging from volunteering restrictions to visitor management. This Twinning is composed of six partners: the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority (Romania), WWF Oasi (Italy), the Hunting Federation of Macedonia and Thrace – KOMATH (Greece), Theo de Bruin (The Netherlands), Natural Resources Wales (United Kingdom), and the Society for the Coast – EUCC Poland (Poland).

In November 2021, the partners organised a webinar on visitor management to present their findings. A recording is available on the Eurosite Youtube channel.

This twinning resulted in the set up of a new Eurosite working group on Conservation and Recreation in the Autumn of 2022. If you are interested to join this working group, please contact us.

Thematic twinning: Meadow bird management

LIFE Nardus and Limosa project partners will carry out large-scale mining to restore sparse grasslands. Given the international importance of the areas for breeding black-tailed godwits, curlews and lapwings, the current population should not be negatively affected by the mining necessary to restore habitats. For the implementation of the project, it is essential to exchange experiences with partners who have a lot of experience with meadow bird management. Via Eurosite, the knowledge and experiences of the project can be widely spread across site managers. To give concrete form to the Twinning, there will be an average of one Twinning meeting per year. During this meeting, bottlenecks will be presented, the interim results of a study will be discussed, and knowledge and experiences will be shared. In addition to the ecological aspects of the project, attention will also be paid to the socio-economic impact of the project. This Twinning will contribute to the conservation of the meadow bird population in the recovery management of the heather sparse grasslands.

As part of the project, Eurosite organises an online twinning: knowledge exchange on the management of Nardus grasslands (29 November 13:00 – 15:30 hrs CET). You’re welcome to join!

EUROSITE PEATLAND RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT GROUP (PRMG) – THEMATIC TWINNING

 

Building on the Interreg NWE funded project Care-Peat, the transnational Peatland Restoration and Management Group (PRMG) was established within Eurosite. The main purpose of this group is to engage nature conservation organisations, and projects, involved in this field of work, in NWE and broader. In the first instance, this group will be a platform to share the results of the Care-Peat Project by inviting the members to participate in different activities (workshops, demonstrations) around the pilot sites. In addition, the role of the Group will be to share knowledge, experiences and the development of new (transnational) projects around peatland restoration and management also beyond the Care-Peat Project and in the long term.

The PRMG aims to:

  • facilitate the knowledge exchange of peatland restoration, research, and management across the EU and build the knowledge base and examples of good practice;
  • involve as many relevant organisations and peatland projects as possible, tackling various issues related to peatland restoration and management;
  • developing an action plan for the roll-out of peatland restoration in NEW-region and wider.

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