Sustainable transportation in the Carpathians for the Benefit of People and Nature
Published on 09 November 2020
Romania
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About this good practice
The project addressed the negative impacts of transport infrastructure on wildlife and nature in general in the Carpathians. There was an urgent need for identifying innovative solutions to reduce harmful impact of transport and to foster the collaboration with transport planners to co-create viable solutions for mitigating the ecological impacts of transport infrastructure and solving safety issues related to wildlife corridors.
The main objective was to contribute to an environmentally-friendly and safer road and rail network in the Carpathians as part of the wider Danube river basin by integrating Green Infrastructure (GI) elements into TEN-T related transport infrastructure development at the local, national and transnational levels. Cooperation among stakeholders from transport, nature conservation and spatial planning sectors has been significantly improved.
Conflicts between transport planning and GI were minimized by building trust between representatives of relevant sectors and involving them in the elaboration of different project outputs. The tools developed supported capacity building for future transport infrastructure planning. A scientific knowledge base for sound decision-making was created and consisted of a Planning Toolkit based on scientific research and experience handed over to policy makers, planners, and managers. It included among others the Guidelines on Wildlife and Traffic in the Carpathians, an EIA Training Package, and the Road-kill app.
The main objective was to contribute to an environmentally-friendly and safer road and rail network in the Carpathians as part of the wider Danube river basin by integrating Green Infrastructure (GI) elements into TEN-T related transport infrastructure development at the local, national and transnational levels. Cooperation among stakeholders from transport, nature conservation and spatial planning sectors has been significantly improved.
Conflicts between transport planning and GI were minimized by building trust between representatives of relevant sectors and involving them in the elaboration of different project outputs. The tools developed supported capacity building for future transport infrastructure planning. A scientific knowledge base for sound decision-making was created and consisted of a Planning Toolkit based on scientific research and experience handed over to policy makers, planners, and managers. It included among others the Guidelines on Wildlife and Traffic in the Carpathians, an EIA Training Package, and the Road-kill app.
Resources needed
The total budget of the project was 2.5 million euros. Project staff from nine project partners (approximately 36 people) and representatives of nine associated strategic partners with complementary profile and know-how from 8 countries implemented the project.
Evidence of success
The project significantly improved the cooperation between the transport and nature conservation and developed practical results e.g. Guidelines on Wildlife and Traffic in the Carpathians, Joint Strategic Action Plan for Sustainable Transport, etc.
The practice received the EC’s Natura2000 award within the section Cross-border cooperation and Networking (https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/awards/application-2020/winners/networking-and-cross-border-cooperation/index_en.htm).
The practice received the EC’s Natura2000 award within the section Cross-border cooperation and Networking (https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/awards/application-2020/winners/networking-and-cross-border-cooperation/index_en.htm).
Potential for learning or transfer
The project consortium brought in its knowledge and experience, which created synergies at the transnational level for finding solutions, e.g. for the Catalogue of Measures, the Guidelines on Traffic and Wildlife, or the EIA Training Package. Based on practises from more advanced countries such as the Czech Republic, other countries moved forward incorporating these practises into their national processes such as Romania working on the adaptation of the transnational Guidelines for Wildlife and Traffic to the national context. Through the project’s international setting and recognition, local players took the topic more seriously. The project improved the cooperation between e.g. the Min. of Transport and Min. of Environment in Romania. Overall, the project consortium became a transnational network of professionals for integrated transport infrastructure development that has the know how to mainstream biodiversity into transport infrastructure planning and thus minimise conflicts.
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Good practice owner
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other
Romania
Bucureşti-Ilfov
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