On the 1st and 2nd of October, the project WE GO COOP conducted the event “Gathering the Community of Practice and 1st Capacity Building” hosted by the project partner FAMP (Andalusian Federation of Towns and Provinces) in Seville, Spain. It was a first fundamental milestone to establish the Community of Practice of Mediterranean Wetland Contracts, as well as to start transferring the project methodology within the partnership.
The event was the occasion for project partners and associate partners to meet in person. The 1st of October Session was open for online participation to those interested in taking part in the Community of Practice on Wetland Contracts and learn more about Wetland Contracts projects and case studies. The 2nd of October Session was open only to partners in order to start working on the project pilot case studies.
The activities of the first day focused on setting the basis for capacity building (to be further developed during the second day), transferring and networking of Wetland Contracts in the Mediterranean. During the first part of morning, an overview on the state of Wetland Contracts in the Mediterranean area was given to establish a Med Community of Practice on Wetland Contracts and to introduce its supporting digital tools foreseen by the project. The second part of the morning defined the current framework of the main EU funded projects on Wetland Contracts, such as WETNET (2016-19), COASTING (2018-19) and COASTING+ (2021-22), CREW (2018-21) and GREW (2024-26), TUNE UP (2019-22). This dense morning of works concluded with a visioning session for the WE GO COOP Community of Practice on Wetland Contracts to be established. The session explored some of the main features of the community of practice, discussing with the participants the main reasons behind the establishment of the community, its composition and main purposes. Finally, some relevant case studies of Wetland Contracts in the Mediterranean were presented: the Wetland Contract of the Axios river delta (Greece), the Wetland Contract of Odiel marshes (Spain), the Wetland Contract of the Agro Pontino, the Wetland Contract in the Camargue and the Wetland Contract of Palud pond.
The second day of the event focused on the transferring of Wetland Contracts in three new case studies located in Albania, Croatia and Portugal. The project methodological framework, based on the use of the Roadshow participatory process, was explored. Then the three new project pilots were presented: Nature Park Vransko Jezero, Vjosa Narta Protected Area and Carvalhal wetlands. The morning continued with a working group session with the aim to stimulate a possible path to follow to start the Wetland Contract process in the three pilot areas. The session helped them in defining the main topics of their case studies, the main stakeholders to take into consideration, strengths and weaknesses of their areas. A final wrap-up session concluded the second day of capacity building, sharing outputs from working groups and discussing the following steps.
In conclusion, project partners had the first in person steering committee of WE GO COOP, where next steps, activities and deliverables for the following months were discussed.
The meeting was a significant first step for setting the WE GO COOP Community of Practice on Wetland Contracts. These intense days were filled with insightful contributions from partners, associate partners and
stakeholders, who shared their experiences, ideas, and perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. It was a productive occasion to explore the project methodology, discuss wetlands’ sustainability, and the promotion of innovative and collaborative practices to meet the needs of local communities and nature conservation.
