Sanda Geipele, Leading Researcher and Project Manager at the Institute of Civil Engineering and Real Estate Economics at Riga Technical University, explains the PROGRESS project
What is the PROGRESS project and why is it relevant?
The PROGRESS project (full title: Promoting Regional Ecosystem Services Governance) is an interregional cooperation project aimed at improving environmental and resource-efficient economic policy, partnering six European Union countries: Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Hungary, Spain, and Romania. The project's lead partner is the National Association of Italian Municipalities (Tuscany). The project is being implemented in Latvia by the Institute of Civil Engineering and Real Estate Economics at Riga Technical University (hereinafter – RTU). The 4-year project (August 2019 – July 2023) was approved under the Interreg Europe programme, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (hereinafter – ERDF). The Interreg Europe programme helps regional and local public authorities across Europe develop and implement better policies in the category of “environment and resource efficiency”.
The project’s general objective is to initiate a policy change process in partner regions by improving the implementation of policy instruments in accordance with national development plans and operational programmes. The policy instruments covered by the project are operational programmes at the regional or national level and other regional strategies related to biodiversity conservation, the maintenance of natural capacities, and the protection and valuation of ecosystem services. In the case of Latvia, the relevant policy instrument is the operational programme “Growth and Employment” (hereinafter – OP) Priority Axis 5 (14.1% of the OP allocation will be used for measures aimed at the environment, sustainable use of natural resources, and climate change adaptation), which corresponds to investment priority 5.4: protecting and restoring biodiversity and soil and promoting ecosystem services, including through Natura 2000 and green infrastructure.
Society receives diverse resources from the surrounding natural environment to sustain its life, ranging from food, raw materials for clothing, and materials for housing construction to raw materials for interplanetary spacecraft. We usually do not value ecosystems on such a broad scale, associating them more with the environment in our immediate vicinity that ensures the viability of the region's inhabitants. It is in our own environment, in its ecosystem, that we introduce materials, products, and behavioural habits from other ecosystems, forgetting that the environment and the ecosystem are part of the living world and interact with both humans and the “challenges” they create. The results of this mutual interaction affect the viability of society as a whole and the quality of human life. Countless environmental problems arise, such as excessive general consumption, inappropriate production models and technology usage, artificially and accidentally modified ecosystems, modern agricultural methods unsuitable for a given region, land-use methods, the pressure of urbanisation, and flawed policies. There is a need to integrally evaluate the characteristics of a region's ecosystem and to identify the objectively most effective and best use, maintenance, and management of land and its resources—one that ensures aspects of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem sustainability—in order to make rationally grounded decisions at both the national level and through international cooperation.
All six partners representing EU regions involved in the PROGRESS project share a common goal: to ensure the sustainability of ecosystem services and improve the well-being of European citizens by utilising opportunities for sharing experience, transferring knowledge and best practices, as well as cooperating and improving existing policy instruments.
What is the approach proposed by the PROGRESS project and why is the involvement of experts relevant?
The approach proposed by PROGRESS is firmly based on the improvement of policy instruments and the development of learning capacity for partner organisations and relevant stakeholders, thereby stimulating collective, multidimensional, and dynamic exchanges of experience. The project brings together local municipalities and associations, local development agencies, regional assemblies, universities, and research centres. The interregional learning process will be based on the exchange of experience between partners in cooperation with sector experts—stakeholders in each partner region—on how biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services are promoted, in order to facilitate the development and implementation of action plans for the policy instrument planned by each region.
In the project, RTU will coordinate experience exchange activities across four thematic learning cycles. This includes a methodology for analysing already developed best practices, according to the criteria of which best practice examples will be identified and analysed, involving sector experts—stakeholders and policymakers—in identifying best practice examples and exchanging experience.
Such a multidimensional, interdisciplinary methodological approach, based on the knowledge and competencies of sector experts, will create a better understanding of the importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem sustainability. It is hoped that this will potentially facilitate the development of a well-founded action plan regarding the interaction of mutually influencing factors (environmental, economic, social, institutional, technological, etc.) in the project's specific policy thematic direction, by identifying and incorporating European initiatives, the latest research, and best practice results. Therefore, active and coordinated cooperation among various stakeholders, including experts and industry representatives, is relevant. Current methods for biodiversity conservation and the promotion of ecosystem services are fragmented and too limited; they lack a holistic approach, focusing either on technical implementation, environmental aspect provision, the way it can be regulated and funded, or on how to inform the public. By potentially creating a different, new methodology for action plan development within the project, it will be possible to determine priority development directions and best practices in the local context. It is possible that a practice could be transferred and adapted from partner regions to the Latvian environment. It will be possible to develop strategies and propose methods for addressing these issues in an integrated, cross-sectoral manner and to improve policy instruments. The new approach would help structure and facilitate local and international cooperation. It will promote the introduction of innovative approaches in modern conditions, which is necessary for biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem sustainability, while also creating long-term added value in various sectors and for national growth.
The benefits of the project's activities and measures include: exchange of experience and best practices between partner countries, study visits to each partner country (twice a year), stakeholder workshops (twice a year), expert group work and assessment, knowledge transfer and mutual learning, creation and dissemination of information reports, as well as qualitative and quantitative empirical data analysis, collaborative policy development, and the establishment of new contacts and potential projects.
How to achieve the PROGRESS project's goal and what activities are planned during the project?
The sub-goal of the project is to contribute to building learning capacity and improving policy in partner regions by supporting the exchange of experience among stakeholders—sector experts—to: 1. promote the assessment of the costs and benefits of ecosystem services in the context of land use; 2. support the horizontal integration of ecosystem service interests into sectoral policies and plans at the regional and/or national level; 3. explore innovative financial and marketing mechanisms for payments for ecosystem services; 4. improve landscape management for economic and environmental sustainability. These four directions correspond to the four thematic learning cycles of PROGRESS.
On 22 January 2020, the first meeting of Latvian stakeholders—sector experts—took place at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. During this meeting, participants shared their experience regarding potential Latvian best practice examples related to the first thematic learning cycle: assessment of the costs and benefits of ecosystem services in the context of land use.
The second meeting of this kind is planned within the next three months with sector experts—stakeholders—where they will discuss best practice examples related to the second thematic direction. Discussions will take place regarding the first identified best practices in partner regions and Latvia, and plans for the interregional learning workshop and experience exchange visit in Latvia in June 2020 will also be discussed, where all partners will participate with their own sector experts.
Every six months during the project's implementation, there will be 2 partner meetings, an interregional thematic seminar, and a learning workshop with study visits, also involving sector experts—stakeholders—in the events. In close cooperation with sector experts, partners in their regions identify and analyse best practices to present at interregional thematic seminars. Each partner must organise meetings of sector experts—stakeholders—in their region twice a year. RTU will also compile examples of best practices from all partner regions and publish four best practice handbooks corresponding to the thematic learning cycles planned in the project.
It should be noted that during the PROGRESS project, RTU will work on research, the identification of best practices, and the experience exchange process, as well as the engagement of stakeholders—sector experts—and on developing recommendations for the improvement of policy instruments based on the competence, knowledge, and experience of sector experts, as well as the experience of foreign partners.
We would be grateful if you would share your experience and help us identify best practice examples in all thematic areas, as well as participate in the meetings and events for sector experts—stakeholders—organised by RTU.
Sector experts—stakeholders are welcome to apply to participate in both the seminar and the working group for the event planned in Riga in June 2020. The exact date will be announced separately.
Contact information: sanda.geipele@rtu.lv