PROGRESS-EN – TMFÜ Tolna Megyei Fejlesztési Ügynökség

PROmoting the Governance of Regional Ecosystem ServiceS

More about the project:

The PROGRESS project, funded by the Interreg Europe program, aims to launch a policy change to preserve policy on biodiversity, goods and services.

Ecosystem services are the natural basis for economic prosperity and quality of life. However, maintaining production levels without caring for natural processes contributes to ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss.

There is therefore an urgent need to improve regional policies in this area and to find solutions for the protection of the population and the sustainable use of natural resources. PROGRESS partners therefore meet frequently with stakeholders to encourage multidimensional and dynamic exchanges of experience in order to gain a broader understanding of how to improve their regional policies on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

All members of the consortium will build this interregional cooperation during the two phases of the project. During the three years of the first phase, the partners will develop their Action Plans for policy instruments, which will be prepared by the identification, analysis and exchange of good practice on the following four themes:

Determining the status of natural and near-natural ecosystem services by measuring the costs and benefits / opportunities associated with their exploitation
integrating ecosystem protection as a horizontal principle into policies;
mapping opportunities for sharing the costs of maintaining ecosystem services (internalising external costs);
development of economically and environmentally sustainable ecosystem management systems, development of existing practices

The second phase of one year is used to monitor the implementation of previously developed action plans. The project partners will next meet in Barcelona in March 2020, where the first round of selection of best practices for measuring ecosystem services will also take place.