BearConnect 1st Stakeholders’ Workshop, Bucharest, Romania, 20-22 March 2017
We organised a workshop to present BearConnect to representatives of the main management and research agencies/groups/institutions that have collected data for brown bears in Europe, and to start collaborating with them for the planned project activities. The workshop took place in Bucharest, Romania, on 20-22 March 2017 and saw the participation of 38 stakeholders, working on the 10 brown bear populations in Europe, in 22 countries.
Of great interest were the presentations that stakeholders gave on the brown bear data they collected for the 10 brown bear populations. This allowed us to start evaluating the available data and coordinating with the stakeholders for using the data for the planned research activities. The presentations also highlighted the large amount of valuable data overall collected for brown bears in Europe and their importance for conservation. These information was summarised in a joint presentation for the 25th IBA Conference, held in Quito, Ecuador, in November 2017.
Click here to read the workshop flyer.
BearConnect Connectivity Conservation Workshop, Poiana Brasov, Romania, 04-06 November 2019
From 4-6 November 2019, over 50 scientists, conservation experts, natural resource managers, and policy-makers from 13 countries gathered in Poiana Brașov (Romania) for the Ecological Connectivity Conservation Workshop: Guiding the Carpathian Region. The main objective of the meeting was to advance ecological connectivity1 in Romania and the Carpathian Mountains, one of Europe’s most biodiverse and intact ecosystems. Convened under the leadership of the BearConnect Project Research Consortium, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (the Center) and the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group (CCSG), the workshop brought together diverse stakeholders to participate in the first-ever ground-testing exercise of forthcoming IUCN Guidance for Conserving Connectivity through Ecological Corridors and Networks. This was reinforced with indispensable high quality field data and results from spatial and ecological analyses.
Click here to read the workshop summary report disseminated via https://conservationcorridor.org/ccsg/2020/10/carpathian-bioregion-1st-ground-testing-of-iucn-connectivity-guidelines/
BearConnect 2nd Stakeholders' Workshop, Krakow, Poland, 11 February 2020
The goals of the workshop were to present results from the BearConnect project and discuss collaborative future work and perspectives. Presentation of progress results focused primarily on activities and analyses at the European scale, where stakeholders' data and contribution have been crucial. Then, we engaged with all participants in an open discussion on how to continue in the future the European collaborative effort initiated with BearConnect. One of the most important outcomes of BearConnect is the assemblage of the brown bear data from all 10 European populations. This is the result of a long and engaged process that required extensive communication, exchange, and coordination, with considerable effort both from stakeholders and our side over the past two years. We evaluated and discussed perspectives and options for continuing to work together and value this important resource for brown bear research and conservation in Europe.
Click here to read the workshop flyer.
