• The EMRA partnered InterregEurope PROGRESS project announces its 2nd event to share and discuss Good Practices for Ecosystem Services from 6 EU territories. On-line event on 11.1.2021.
• Ecosystem Services are the goods and services of nature that contribute to human well-being. Identifying, evaluating, and applying the ecosystem services approach is key to the future of European societies.
• The workshop on January 11^th 2021 is organised by CREAF (Catalonia-Spain) with support by project partners from Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania.

Participation in this workshop is free and targeted at policy and decision makers who can improve their practise with PROGRESS methodologies. The overarching theme of the workshop will be integrating ecosystem management challenges into planning at all scales (national, regional local) and sectoral strategies. Over the past 6 months, project partners have identified Good Practices following the InterregEurope GP identification approach.

This workshop will take the form of three consecutive roundtable sessions: 1) Engaging –> 2) Informing-> 3) Acting as a means to show experts, decision-makers and civil society groups how to, step by step, centralise ecosystem services considerations in policymaking and practice. There is a strong focus on the forestry sector this semester, but the principles outlined are transferable to wider policy and sectoral/land use contexts. The full program is available here. After the event, the PROGRESS team will publish a Thematic Handbook, InterregEurope Good Practices and a Policy Brief, all of which will be available on the project website.

About PROGRESS

PROGRESS is a 2019-2023 InterregEurope project funded by the ERDF (€1.4 M). Its aim is to inform the development and implementation of Operational Plans at regional or national level and other strategies dealing with the protection and valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services. In Ireland, the target policy instrument is the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) for the Eastern and Midland Region. The approach is based on policy learning and capacity building for partner organisations and stakeholders with an interest in the relevant policy subsystems under 4 strands: measurement of cost & benefit of ecosystem services; integration into policy and planning; innovative payments for ecosystem services, and; landscape sustainability governance.

PROGRESS International Training Workshop 2: supporting the horizontal integration of ecosystem services principles into sectoral policies and plans – Monday 11th January 2021 9am–12.10pm Irish time. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/entradas-integrating-ecosystem-concerns-into-policy-decision-making-progress-132424121111

PROGRESS Communication Officer: Jordi Pietx +34 630602233 · jordi@jordipietx.net

PROGRESS Partner Contact: Dr Owen Douglas, EMRA · odouglas@emra.ie

PROGRESS Website · Social Networks · Event registration: https://linktr.ee/interregprogress