Volunteering Initiative for a sustainable PO

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

The river Po and its tributaries in the Piedmont region, in northern Italy, have specific environmental problems that need addressing. First, the river is currently burdened with a significant amount of waste on the river banks and in its waters due both to floods and the littering of visitors. Second, invasive alien species, mostly algae, spread by accidental introductions and due to changing climatic conditions, are now threatening the local river ecosystem and contributing to biodiversity loss. Third, the whole area still receives too little attention from local citizens, tourists, local administrations and businesses, and its potential for social (e.g. sport and leisure) and economic (e.g. business opportunities in tourism and leisure) activities remain largely untapped. Similar challenges characterise the Hungarian part of the Danube, which has therefore been embedded in the project’s scope as a small-scale validation test for the replication of the project across the EU.

OBJECTIVES

The LIFE VisPO project will focus on the environmental problems in the area of the river Po in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. The consortium aims to implement a set of activities to clean up the river banks and river bed, with well-structured, awareness-raising activities to foster a more positive perception of the Po river area among local citizens and tourists. Activities carried out on the Po river will be twinned with similar actions, on a smaller scale, in the Hungarian Danube region.

The project intends to address the challenges through a set of actions aiming to:

Develop an effective model for volunteer involvement in river clean-up activities and for supporting scientists and researchers;

Change the perception of civil society towards the river area, valorising it as a space for social and leisure activities;

Propose a working method matching environmental protection with sport activities;

Raise awareness of the necessity of the valorisation of the river at local (Piedmont), trans-regional (Northern Italy) and EU level; and

Test the actions that were designed for the Po on another major EU river with comparable characteristics, namely, the Danube in Hungary.

Expected results:

250 volunteers trained and involved in project activities;

Clean-up activities carried out in 40 Natura 2000 network sites in Piedmont and one in Hungary;

Formulation of a training programme for volunteers (in Italian, English and Hungarian);

Creation of a project website in Italian, Hungarian and English as a main access point to all project information, and related social media accounts;

Organisation of a kick-off and final conference in Turin, along with 12 events targeting local stakeholders in Piedmont, regional events involving institutions from all four Po regions (Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna), three events at rowing clubs in Turin, and an event targeting local institutions in Budapest;

Five volunteers from Italy and five from Hungary participating in an exchange experience;

Collection of at least 40 best practices at European level.