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BhENEFIT is a project funded by the EU within the regional cooperation programme ‘Interreg-Central Europe’. The Municipality of Mantova is the leading partner of a consortium of 13 partners from 7 different European countries, which will work together for the next 30 months to develop a toolbox of integrated systems for the sustainable management of historical urban areas. The project has kicked off in Mantova, where all the active partners, plus 1 observer partner and the official representatives of the programme gathered in July 2017.

The SaveGREEN project: Safeguarding the functionality of transnationally important ecological corridors in the Danube basin

Project is set to work on the critical theme of ecological corridors in the Carpathian and further mountain ranges of the Danube region.

Currently, eco-corridors are threatened by the lack of adequate planning of economic development initiatives. Linear transport infrastructure, urban development, intensive agricultural, forestry, and water management practices can interrupt ecological corridors, cause traffic-deaths, and lower the reproductive success of key species and the effectiveness of ecosystem services we all depend on.

Therefore, building on the key results of previous Interreg DTP projects — i.e. TRANSGREEN, ConnectGREEN and HARMON — the SaveGREEN project will identify, collect, and promote the best solutions for safeguarding ecological corridors — including monitoring the impact of mitigation measures. Thus, basing its work on integrated planning, it will help derive proper recommendations for follow-up actions and policy design. 

The BISON project focuses on infrastructure development and preservation of biodiversity, respectively, in order to achieve social and economic well-being. Resulting from this, two issues should be considered:

• Spatial relationships between infrastructure location and protected areas. The majority of the infrastructure development will likely occur within or around preserved areas and ecosystems with a high level of biodiversity. This may undermine past, current and future conservation investments if spatial planning is not carefully applied. Negative consequences could include the shift of species range due to climate change and the movement of key biodiversity areas (under legal protection or not), towards areas that are also considered to meet current infrastructure demands. Predicting these shifts and (re)designing infrastructure to enhance ecosystems’ resilience, in the context of climate change, can be enhanced by applied research to address these key challenges.
• Innovations in project design can provide a safer and more efficient infrastructure network and reduce the negative impacts on biodiversity, particularly away from protected areas. In addition, upgrading or enhancing the efficiency of existing infrastructure (rather than developing new infrastructure) should be explored as a critical solution to mitigate further land-use change and ecosystem fragmentation16. The innovation potential in this sector is aligned with the European ambition of being a leader in creating green jobs.