The beginning of Interreg Europe GIFT project
March 2023 - Green infrastructure can provide many ecosystem services related to biodiversity, climate, water, erosion, landscape, human well-being, etc. The Interreg Europe Green Infrastructure for Forests and Trees (GIFT) project focuses on green infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of forests and trees. In the GIFT project, 10 partner institutions from 9 European countries aim to integrate the Green Infrastructure of forests and trees into sectoral policies to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The aim of the project is to develop an innovative cross-sectoral approach to the design of green infrastructure of trees and forests and to promote their connectivity in different landscape types by introducing them into policy documents of different sectors and achieving an integrated cross-sectoral approach to policy planning. This requires knowledge of green infrastructure, biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate change among policy makers and professionals.
The innovative approach of GIFT aims to improve European regional policies by raising awareness that sufficient tree and forest cover is the first requirement to stop biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change. The communication strategy focuses on disseminating new management models for the multifunctionality of green infrastructure. The project builds on the multi-stakeholder partnership approach and involve policy makers in regional stakeholder groups.
The project will take place from 1. 3. 2023 to 31. 5. 2027. The project partner consortium includes Instituto de Estudos do Territorio (Spain), County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland (Sweden), Flemish Land Agency (Belgium), Province of Fryslân (The Netherlands), Aufbauwerk Region Leipzig GmbH (Germany), Provincia di Rimini (Italy), Slovenian Forestry Institute and BSC, Business support centre L.t.d. (Slovenia), University of Latvia (Latvia) and City of Zagreb (Croatia). The activities are made possible by the Interreg Europe mechanism of the European Union. The total budget of the project is 1.971.182 €, with 85% EU contribution.