The Natural Heritage Mission met in Rovinj to set the scene with the thematic projects  and welcomed them into the community

We closed the month of June with the Natural Heritage Mission in Rovinj, Croatia, with a mix of internal joint meetings and steering committees of the governance projects of the mission and the first in-person meeting with representatives of the 13 projects that currently integrate the community. Internal meetings focused on reviewing and updating the Mission joint implementation plan, updating on the results of the recently implemented Summer School focused on the restoration law, and exchanging and shaping key upcoming activities.

The thematic projects arrived just in time to celebrate the #MaritimeDay, on the 26th of June, enjoying a European Maritime Day in your country Mission’s activity. This included a visit to the impressive Batana Eco-museum, listed in the UNESCO Register of Good Safeguarding Practices for the preservation of the intangible cultural heritage of the world. Its interdisciplinary approach and use of multimedia evaluates, protects, interprets, recreates, presents, and communicates tangible and intangible maritime heritage and actively reinforces the cultural identity and uniqueness of Rovinj. The community could then enjoy the rowing trip in several batanas to visit the Spai Matika and enjoy a traditional dinner. A fantastic way to directly engage in the enjoyment and protection of the cultural heritage of the hosting town.

The second day was dedicated to working sessions with the leaders and communication partners of the 13 thematic projects. Our colleagues from CREAF presented the Mission’s amplification room operationalizing a portfolio of services and creating a map of cooperation. The thematic projects participated in an exercise meant to understand the Mission timeline till December 2025, mapping Programme, mission, and project events and milestones.

This was followed by a policy mapping session to set the basis of the in-depth mapping that will be undertaken till the end of the year. IUCN introduced the session with pitches of the thematic projects on their priority policy targets that was followed by a participatory session presented by MedCities to map the WHOs (priority stakeholders to target) , the WHAT (outputs relevant to policy to boost with the support of the Mission), the WHEN (key external events for positioning individual and mission results and recommendations) and the HOW (they means and actions with which the mission can support the thematic projects). This productive session provides key concrete and practical elements to the Mission implementation plan.

We finished participating in a session focused on communication and the desired impacts setting a communication joint strategy for better impact on our targets. This was the moment of the launching of the annual Mission awareness campaign and revealing its topic: nature restoration.

The meeting closed with a review of the next steps, including the celebration of webinars of the 4 different working groups of the Mission to advance a joint policy statement on the EU Nature Restoration Law and its implications for the topics of the working groups to be review and validated in the next annual Dialogue 4 Nature, end of November in Malaga.

The Natural Heritage Mission thematic projects embrace 13 thematic projects addressing topics such as climate-related increased risks, environmental contracts, and governance, efficient management of marine protected areas, nature-based solutions, restoration of ecosystems, the economic value of biodiversity, forest management and carbon sequestration and ports environmental enhancement, among others. Don’t lose sight of the 13 thematic projects:

• ARTEMIS led by Plan Bleu
• GreenList4MMPAs led by Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
• MPA4Change led by Institut de Ciències del Mar-CSIC
• StrategyMedFor led by University of Malaga
• COASTRUST led by Region of Western Greece
• TREASURE led by Agenzia per lo Sviluppo Empolese Valdelsa (ASEV)
• WE GO COOP led by Roma Tre University
• Wetland4Change led by University of Forestry, Faculty of Ecology and Landscape Architecture
• Germ of Life led by University of Patras
• LocAll4Flood led by CT BETA – UVic-UCC
• MedSeaRise led by ANATOLIKI S.A.-Organization for Local Development
• FRED led by University of Rijeka, Faculty of Maritime Studies
• Carbon4Soil led by Agricultural Institute of SloveniaInstitute

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