GIFT

GIFT - Green Infrastructure for Forest and Trees

The Green Infrastructure for Forest and Trees (GIFT) Project, funded by the Interreg Europe financial mechanism, represents a collaborative effort involving 10 partner institutions from 9 European countries. The project aims to empower and involve the crucial role of green infrastructure, particularly forests and trees, in contemporary regional and urban development, environmental and biodiversity conservation, agricultural, landscape, forestry and other legislation and strategies.

GIFT’s strategic objective is to embed green infrastructure in policy frameworks across various sectors, promoting an integrated, cross-sectoral approach to policy planning. The project aims to increase the diverse benefits provided by green infrastructure, including its contributions to biodiversity, climate change mitigation, water management, erosion control, landscape enhancement, and human well-being.

The GIFT project not only aims to enrich policy documents but also seeks to catalyse a paradigm shift towards sustainable environmental management. Aligning forestry, agriculture, biodiversity, and nature protection policies with green infrastructure principles, GIFT aspires to develop systemic solutions for the integrated management of natural resources. This initiative holds immense societal value, serving as a blueprint for harmonious coexistence with nature and ensuring a greener, more resilient future for all communities.

Key Characteristics:

🌳 Focus on Forests and Trees: Centralizes the importance of trees and forests in the provision of various ecosystem services.

🌐 Innovative Cross-Sectoral Approach: Integrates green infrastructure into policy documents across different sectors, aiming for holistic policy planning by adapting to different scales of analysis.

🌍 Enhancing Regional Policies: Advocates for the necessity of sufficient tree and forest coverage as a fundamental measure to halt biodiversity loss and combat climate change.

🤝 Multi-Stakeholder Partnership: Encourages the involvement of policy makers and regional stakeholder groups to foster collaborative decision-making and implementation in policies.

📝 Pilot Actions and Learning Process: Features a series of pilot actions, seminars, workshops, and peer reviews, under the coordination of Latvia University.

📢📚 Communication and Knowledge Dissemination: Aims to enrich the understanding of green infrastructure, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate change among policy implementers and professionals.