Supporting sustainable nature tourism in transboundary coastal areas in the SB Region via establishing a common education scheme for Local Guides

Programme 2014 - 2020 INTERREG V-A Poland - Denmark - Germany - Lithuania - Sweden (South Baltic)

Date of latest update: 2023-03-10

Description

Description (EN):

The project SB Nature Guides will contribute to increasing the share of skilled labour force in the green economy sector in the SB region by establishing a new qualification with significant job market potential: The Nature Guide, a tourism expert that is able to meet an urgently demanded offer for tourists coming to the partner regions. Target group analyses have identified qualified guided tours as one important point of interest here, professionalization strategies as implemented in SE, DK and UK demonstrated that professionalisation enhances the perception of such regions as high quality tourism offers, which, again turns the former voluntary worker service into a reliable source of income for professionals, and also stabilizes associated services (accommodation, catering, tour organisation etc.). The project will make use of this experience for developing a job profile tailored to the needs of the involved SB regions, jointly learning from the experienced countries, but also profiting from each others expertise in different relevant fields.

Achievements (EN):

After 4 years of both international and local cooperation and further the establishment of a partnership network for nature guides in Poland, Lithuania and Germany, the Nature Guide Network (NGN) project is coming to an end – but the work to support these guides and a related sustainable regional development through nature tourism offers will continue. Accompanied by an almost two-year corona pandemic, some goals and measure had to be creatively adapted or newly developed, especially those related to network expansion and maintenance. Nevertheless, we were able to record some successes. This includes, for example, the development of an internationally developed Nature Guide Job Description – based on international best practice examples – with the corresponding framework curriculum. On this basis and within the framework of a previously developed Quality Assurance Methodology for a successful Nature Guide training, pilot trainings were designed, carried out and evaluated in the three project countries. In order to give the trained guides the opportunity to better prepare themselves for international guests and foreign-language tours, a 4-language dictionary with relevant vocabulary was developed and made available online. In addition to this qualification approach of nature guide professionalization, an international network of both active guides and actors from nature conservation, administration and tourism has been set up to support the work of nature guides and to give more importance to nature tourism offers in the traditional tourism sector and for political decision-makers as well as for society as a whole. For this purpose, among other things, network events were held in the form of a webinar series with guide experts from different countries and various advertising and PR materials were developed. In parallel to the international efforts, the project partners of the three countries also carried out activities specifically geared towards regional actors in order to win active nature guides and network partners from the southern Baltic Sea for the NGN idea on a smaller level and to inspire actors from other countries. Lithuania: In case of the easternmost project partner this is the Nature Guide Handbook which is dedicated for nature guides leading groups in the Curonian Spit National Park and written by experienced nature guide-interpreter and Curonian Spit National Park Administration staff. This booklet contains the collected knowledge and insights from the last four project years and consists of three parts: methodology in nature guiding, essential information about Curonian Spit National Park and FAQ about Curonian Spit nature. The handbook is full of pictures, illustrations and infographics that make complex information easier to understand and are also very representative for the audience. It will be printed in Lithuanian language and available in English in pdf version (soon here at the webpage). This is knowledge that will fortunately also be available to guides from other countries and that may help facilitate guide partnerships in different countries who offer multilingual tours to international guests in mixed teams. The NGN promotional short films of the Curonian Spit National Park, which were published in Lithuanian and English, are particularly successful and bring the importance and beauty of nature in the national park closer to both the local population and international guests and make them want to visit. In addition, the videos give a wonderful insight into the work of the nature guides and are intended to encourage guests to take a tour with a nature guide or at least to be respectful of nature. Since the demand for a Nature Guide training remains high and the National Park attaches great importance to qualified guides, the continuation of the Nature Guide training is already planned. Poland: Due to the comparatively small number of guides that are explicitly geared towards nature tourism, at least in comparison to Germany and Lithuania, the Polish team has focused on attracting the nature guide’s offspring and its most recent activities are aimed primarily at the younger generation. In the past few months, the NGN was not only advertised at typical tourist and nature conservation events, but also information events were held at schools that reported on the possibilities of nature and environmental protection on the one hand and the activities of nature guides on the other. In this context, the polish team is currently working on an environmental education game for children and young adults. For this purpose, specific animal and plant species of the southern Baltic Sea have already been compiled and the species names and their respective spatial distribution have been translated into the three languages of the project partner countries (Polish, German, Lithuanian) and English. For a visually appealing variant of the game, realistic drawings and graphics are now being created. As soon as the environmental education game is finished, it should be made available to the schools and environmental education associations within the three project partner countries. In addition, the game can also help to playfully support the work of the Nature Guides and at the same time to make the NGN better known. Germany: In order to get a solid scientific assessment of the situation of the nature guides in the federal state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MV), a graduate of the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development could be won over to write his master thesis on the central questions about network formation, qualification and professionalization of nature guides. For this purpose, over 300 certified nature and landscape guides (ZNL) were contacted and asked to take part in a survey on their situation. Almost 90 people (around 26% of all those asked) took part in the survey and thus offer a certain insight into the reality of life of nature guides in Northern Germany and thus a basis for discussion and research for the situation in other countries (the abstract of the master’s thesis is also available in English, page 7). The results of the survey clearly showed that, on the one hand, uniform quality assurance and qualification through centrally organized training are required. On the other hand, the respondents would like appropriate recognition and appreciation of the Nature Guide activities, especially on the part of the tourism industry. One of the reasons why this form of recognition is needed is that people who offer nature tours can also make a living from it and no longer work on a voluntary basis or for “small fees”. In addition, the need was expressed at some points to receive better support from the administrations of the larger protected areas, such as nature parks, national parks and biosphere reserves, in the form of marketing offers and specific networking. Initial discussions and developments have already taken place with regard to a uniform nature guide qualification by the State Environment Agency and the MV-wide adult education center association, as well as the optimization of cooperation with the protected area administrations – further meetings and measures are planned for 2022, which will pass on the project knowledge and network partnerships. The NGN project time is coming to an end, but started activities and actions are not! The entire Nature Guide Network project team from Lithuania, Germany and Poland would like to take this opportunity to thank all project and network partners as well as other supporters for the successful four years, for the extensive information and countless good tips and suggestions as well as the good cooperation – without you we would not have come this far! We hope that we have set a few stones in motion in the nature tourism industry and in the region of the southern Baltic Sea and will continue to work on the NGN development, even if not full-time!

Website: https://southbaltic.eu/

Expected Results (EN):

Nature guides in the project context are ambitious experts of the regional landscape and its special natural environment,who share their profound knowledge with visitors in the context of organized (bookable) tours. Based on this understanding, the project intends to fully exploit the job market potential of this sector by turning existing few-day training courses for enthusiasts and volunteers into a professional certified qualification and prepare the ground for highly professional offers, available also for international tourists and offered according to international tourist standards by interconnecting existing related ideas and approaches from DE, PL and LT and learning from Sweden as a country with highly developed nature tourism, where "wilderness guides" are already a full-fledged profession, which requires a multi-year, practice-oriented vocational training with a final national degree. The economic success of this sector and the sustained economic effects in the expanded service context have been demonstrated in Sweden over many years. Based on this model, the development of a scheme for professional guides is the basis for new career prospects in the South Baltic region.

Expected Outputs (EN):

1) SB-wide implemented training/qualification programme Nature Guide, 2)Participants in the SB Nature Guide training programme, 3) Education, nature, tourism and administrative experts actively supporting the job profile establishment and promotion of the professionalized Nature Guide offers, 4)Professional Nature Guides working in this field professionally and with reliable income in all involved SB countries.

Thematic information

Tourism

Specific Objective: Increase the share of skilled labour force working in blue and green economy sectors of the South Baltic area through joint cross-border actions

Thematic Objective: (08) promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility by:

Investment Priority: (08 ETC) ETC specific, for cross-border cooperation: promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility by integrating cross-border labour markets, including cross-border mobility, joint local employment initiatives, information and advisory services and joint training

Partners (6)

Lead Partner: Klaipeda University

Address: Herkaus Manto 84, 92294 Klaipeda, Lithuania

Legal status: public

Website: www.ku.lt

Total budget: EUR 355 500.00

ERDF budget: EUR 302 175.00

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH)

Name: Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH)

Address: Breite Str. 26, 17438 Wolgast, Germany

Legal status: private

Website: www.duh.de

Total budget: EUR 236 200.37

ERDF budget: EUR 200 770.31

Kuršių nerijos nacionalinio parko direkcija

Name: Kuršių nerijos nacionalinio parko direkcija

Address: Naglių g. 8, LT-93123 Neringa, Lithuania

Legal status: public

Website: www.nerija.am.lt

Total budget: EUR 126 295.10

ERDF budget: EUR 107 350.84

Association of Friends of the Ina and the Gowienica Rivers (TPRIiG)

Name: Association of Friends of the Ina and the Gowienica Rivers (TPRIiG)

Address: Chrobrego 17, 72-112 Stepnica, Poland

Legal status: public

Website: www.tpriig.pl

Total budget: EUR 240 020.03

ERDF budget: EUR 204 017.03

HOP Transnationales Netzwerk Odermündung e.V.

Name: HOP Transnationales Netzwerk Odermündung e.V.

Address: Hafenstrasse 3, 17438 Wolgast, Germany

Legal status: private

Website: www.hop-transnet.org

Total budget: EUR 236 020.00

ERDF budget: EUR 200 617.00

Północna Izba Gospodarcza w Szczecinie

Name: Północna Izba Gospodarcza w Szczecinie

Address: Al. Wojska Polskiego 86, 70-482 Szczecin, Poland

Legal status: private

Website: www.izba.info

Total budget: EUR 139 580.00

ERDF budget: EUR 118 643.00

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Supporting sustainable nature tourism in transboundary coastal areas in the SB Region via establishing a common education scheme for Local Guides

Project acronym: SB Nature Guide Network

Project start date: 2018-01-01

Project end date: 2020-12-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 333 615.50

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 133 573.18

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, .

Documents

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Flyers

Jointly developed job description “Nature Guide” for Germany, Lithuania and Poland

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Flyer

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2020-12-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Become a part of the Nature Guide Network

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Flyer

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2020-12-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Reports

Nature Guides Training Courses Quality Assurance

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-12-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Drafting Of The Nature Guides Training Programme: Join Perspective For Lithuania, Germany And Poland With National Adaptations

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2019-11-29

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Videos / films

Lithuanian Nature Guides

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-06-18

Languages: lt, en

PATIRKITE/ EXPERIENCE

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-10-11

Languages: bg, en

PAMATYKITE/ OBSERVE

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-10-11

Languages: lt, en

SAUGOKITE/ PRESERVE

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-10-11

Languages: lt, en

PAŽINKITE/ EXPLORE

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-10-11

Languages: lt, en

ATRASKITE/ DISCOVER

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://nature-guide-network.eu/

Publication date: 2022-09-28

Document date: 2021-10-11

Languages: lt, en

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 INTERREG V-A Poland - Denmark - Germany - Lithuania - Sweden (South Baltic)

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2024-03-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

155 / 155 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

589 / 870 (67.7%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Data from 66 projects (Seed Money Projects) was retrieved by Interact from the programme´s website on the 2024-03-01. Regarding partners only data only main partners is available. Achievements were retrieved by Interact from the Programme website (https://southbaltic.eu/), or a website directly linked from it, on 2021-11-24 and 2023-01-24.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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Supporting sustainable nature tourism in transboundary coastal areas in the SB Region via establishing a common education scheme for Local Guides

Description

Thematic information

Partners (6)

Partners map

Summary

Documents

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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