Support for sustainable development of the Carpathian Mountains

Autor zdjęcia: Piotr Mikołajczyk

The Project of „Support for sustainable development of Carpathian Mountains through environment friendly tourism” is implemented by the Environment Information Centre UNEP/GRID - Warsaw (Centre for the National Environment Protection Foundation) in partnership with Ecopsychology Association and ANPED (Northern Alliance for Sustainability) organisation from the Netherlands. The undertaking was covered by an honorary patronage of the Ministry for Environment and Małopolskie, Podkarpackie and Śląskie Voivodeships Marshalls’ Offices. Activities are conducted in agreement with both the Interim Secretariat of the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians in Vienna, and in the Polish National Contact Point of the Convention established in the structures of the Ministry of Environment.

The project is directed at representatives of Carpathian Communes: self-governments, Non-Governmental and Tourism Organisations, owners of bed and breakfasts, local communities in małopolskie, podkarpackie and śląskie voivodeship. Its main aim is to popularise the rules of sustainable development in tourism activities in Polish Carpathians. Promoting the good practice of sustainable tourism used in Carpathians, trainings for self-government employees, and supporting local partnerships established in order to prepare outlines for strategies / concepts for sustainable tourism in Carpathian communes will help to develop an effective mechanism for implementation of the Framework Convention of the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (the Carpathian Convention) and the Strategy for Future Development of Carpathian Tourism at the local and regional level. Project implementation will allow creation of an experience exchange platform, a partnership of stakeholders, and dissemination of knowledge about the Carpathian Convention and environment friendly tourism.

Main activities in the project:

Cataloguing good practice and sustainable tourism in the Carpathians

Promotion of examples of selected Carpathian communes successfully implementing undertakings connected with environment friendly tourism. Selected good practice (together with information helping in transferring them locally) will be presented in a printed handbook and at a „Virtual Carpathians” website which is a virtual Carpathian information centre directed at communes, local societies and tourists visiting Carpathians.

Consultation seminars

A series of consultation seminars (in each Carpathian voivodeship) for representatives of Carpathian communes: self-government authorities, Non-Governmental and Tourism Organisations, the media, and others. The seminars will concern the methods for implementing regulations of the Carpathian Convention in the field of sustainable tourism in the region.

Local partnerships for sustainable tourism

Commune partnership groups will prepare an outline of a strategy/ a concept for development of sustainable tourism in their own communes based in the Carpathian Convention, together with a plan of implementation. It will be possible for the partner group to include, apart from representatives of the local government, representatives of local NGOs, tourism organisations, culture centres, service providers (including lodgings providers), representatives of protected areas management, foresting services, and others. Strategy outlines will participate in a competition.

Information campaign

Aim of the campaign will be to focus Carpathian society’s attention towards sustainable tourism in development of the commune and the region. We appear at selected Carpathian regional events, spreading information about sustainable tourism and the Carpathian Convention among local societies and tourists who visit the region.

The Carpathian Conference

The culmination of the Project will take form of a two-day conference (autumn 2010) organised to discuss and exchange experience on development of sustainable tourism and regional co-operation in that field. The competition for the outline of sustainable tourism strategy will be summarised and the winners will be awarded. There will be presentations of good practice, the handbook, and the “Virtual Carpathians” portal. Invitations will be sent to the representatives of the Carpathian Convention Secretariat in Vienna, Convention’s National Contact Point at the Ministry of Environment, national and self-governmental authorities of Carpathian voivodeships, Carpathian protected areas, the media, and other interested institutions and organisations.

etailed information about the Project will be provided by the following persons:

Piotr Mikołajczyk (UNEP Centre/GRID-Warsaw) – tel. 022 840 6664 ext. 105; fax 022 851 6201;

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Monika Ochwat-Marcinkiewicz (Ecopsychology Association) – tel. 604 93 63 49; fax 014 66 53 459;

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>> More information at the project website <<

We invite you to read additional materials prepared for the project:

• Good practice map
• Project presentation - 31 pages