New Guide outlines funding opportunities for Wadden Sea World Heritage projects
Finding and acquiring funding for projects can be a tedious process. A new systematic analysis now gives a comprehensive overview of third-party funding opportunities specifically for projects in connection with the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage. The “Wadden Sea Funding Guide” (German version: Förderhandbuch für das Weltnaturerbe Wattenmeer) is intended to support the broad range of organisations and stakeholders participating in the trilateral Partnership in support of the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage in making use of national and international funding opportunities. The publication has been developed within the framework of the PROWAD Link project, commissioned by the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park Authority and with support of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat.
“With the funding guide we want to provide a valuable resource for everybody looking for suitable funding programmes to realise a new transboundary and cross-sectoral project idea to activate the trilateral partnership and the Partnership Hub.”, says Margrita Sobottka, Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park Authority.
The funding guide, elaborated by REM consult, Hamburg, covers five topics closely related to the trilateral partnership: nature conservation, sustainable regional development, international cooperation, education and interpretation, as well as governance and World Heritage brand communication. The report gives examples for potential funding by EU programmes, amongst others the Interreg programmes, Horizon, Life, and Erasmus, and informs about national and sub-national programmes and private funds.
For three specific themes, sustainable tourism, energy transition and climate change adaptation, scenarios are given showing possible matches with funding programmes. For each of the themes it is analysed which of the programme priorities or clusters are most suitable for specific potential project objectives and activities.
The idea of the funding guide is to reduce the increasing complexity of the funding landscape by providing one comprehensive and concise overview on funding opportunities relevant to the transboundary context of the Wadden Sea World Heritage and its diverse range of stakeholders.
The Interreg VB project "PROWAD Link: Protect and Prosper: Benefits through linking sustainable growth with nature protection” aims to unlock the potential of natural areas as a driver for jobs and sustainable development in the pilot regions of the Wadden Sea (DK, D, NL), Geiranger Fjord (NO), Wash & North Norfolk Coast (UK). The project is co-funded by and carried out in the framework of the Interreg North Sea Region Programme under the Programme Priority 1 “Thinking Growth”. The programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union.