LIFE ENABLE

Creating the European Nature Academy for applied Blended Learning

Bildrechte: EUROPARC

LIFE Preparatory project LIFE ENABLE started in August this year and will last until July 2024. The primary purpose of the project is to enable all Natura 2000 and Protected Area managers, to become more effective, competent and confident nature management professionals. The project will use a blended learning approach to build capacities in core competencies required for effective nature management.

ABOUT LIFE ENABLE

This forward-looking three-year project is designed to build practical nature management capacity among Natura 2000 and Protected Area managers. It aims to equip individuals and their organisations with the competencies they require to meet the challenges and opportunities of nature management in the coming decade. It will establish an enabling framework to create a training system for professional development that contributes to ensuring progress towards the realisation of the objectives and ambitions of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and underpinning policies.

It is led by EUROPARC Federation with the support of 7 partners from 7 countries:

Bildrechte: EUROPARC

LIFE ENABLE: Project in a nutshell

The central ethos of this project is to enable all who work in or with Natura 2000 to:

Foster structured networking and peer-to-peer learning
Increase understanding that their role beyond biodiversity protection: they are key players, integral to ensuring progress towards the ambitions of the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy at a local, national, and European level
Gain knowledge, information, and learning about the core legislative, regulatory, managerial, technical and administrative aspects of their work.
Apply technical knowledge gains by acquiring, improving and developing the practical capacities and competencies they need to deliver site management responsibilities whilst developing constructive relations and partnerships with N2000 stakeholders
Enhance skills to contribute to the effective management of ecosystems and the services offered, particularly by forests and marine areas.

European Nature Academy

Capitalising on the experience of LIFE e-Natura2000.edu, this new project will create a European training system called European Nature Academy as the means to develop further training projects and capacity building programmes at a Pan-European scale. The goal is to deliver widely accessible and tailor-made learning experiences for Natura 2000 managers. This will be done by developing, testing and implementing innovative and accessible training activities that will support the delivery of EU policy by improving nature management practices in an extended Protected Area network that incorporates Natura 2000 sites.

European Nature Academy will boost individual, organisational and national capacities for Natura 2000 management by providing learning opportunities for individuals to train as trainers, mentors or facilitators of the project’s learning experiences. Apart from that, it will also create a body of replicable courses and tailor-made learning activities, making use of the full range of face-to-face, blended, and online possibilities.

As such, LIFE ENABLE will apply practical development and delivery mechanisms to revise and update content and learning approaches on the basis of participants’, tutors’ and external experts’ feedback as part of continuous professional development programmes purpose-built for Europe’s nature and its managers.

Download the eNatura2000 App

The eNatura2000 App has been designed within the LIFEe-Natura2000.edu project to enable Natura 2000 site managers and private landowners to connect, discuss and learn in an innovative way. In LIFE ENABLE, the App will be further developed to become a leading dedicated social networking platform for Europe’s nature managers. It will act as a portal to the Academy MOOC (Massive Open Online Curse) platform and its contents, as well as provide enhanced means to make professional connections. The new E-Natura2000 App will provide a mix of services for users: for example, similar to a simplified Linked-In for Natura 2000 managers.

The app is available on Google Play and App Store! DOWNLOAD IT NOW!