Cooperation Offer

The Flow Country possible World Heritage Site – Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer project with another proposed or existing rural World Heritage Site in Europe

Offer name: 
The Flow Country possible World Heritage Site – Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer project with another proposed or existing rural World Heritage Site in Europe
Expiry date: 
07/07/2017
Offering LAG: 
Highland
Country:
  • United Kingdom
Spoken languages:
  • angielski

Looking to cooperate with

Type of partner: 

Please note that preference will be given to partners in areas with similar geo-social conditions, i.e. a large peripheral rural area with a low population density.

Country(ies):
  • Unia Europejska
Type of area:
  • National / Regional borders, Inland, Island, Lakes & rivers, Coastal, Mountainous, Rural, Isolated / Remote, Mediterranean, Baltic, North Sea, Atlantic
Assets of the area:
  • High Nature Value, Pasture, Non-productive, Protected areas

Project idea

Project type:
    • Cooperation within the country
    • Across regions
    • Transnational cooperation
    • Cross - border cooperation
    • Transnational cooperation
    • With other MSs (no shared border)
    • Transnational cooperation
    • Non EU countries
Project topic:
    • Agriculture & Farming
    • Small farms
    • Economic diversification
    • Tourism / Territorial branding
    • Natural environment & Resources / Landscape
    • Community development
Context: 

In recent years there has been a surge in public support for The Flow Country to be become fully inscribed as a WHS and there has been significant progress towards this outcome. The communities and many different interest groups within the proposed WHS wish to be more engaged in the management process and so, as a learning exercise, wish to send a group of their key community representatives to an area which either already has a WHS or has a site which is on the way to becoming fully inscribed. Our group would wish to look at how the process was managed, how community consultations were carried out and what were the key lessons learned. We would also wish to learn about ongoing management issues and discuss possible future joint collaborative development opportunities.

Project idea summary: 

The Flow Country is an extensive area of blanket bog in the northern of Scotland. It extends to over 200,000 hectares and is regarded as the best blanket bog of its type in the world. The rural and dispersed communities who live and work within, or adjacent to, the Flow Country are looking to learn from the experiences of other rural communities where a World Heritage Site (WHS) has been either established or is proposed.
We are looking to see how the WHS inscription process was managed, how community consultations were carried out and how the development of the WHS took account of issues such as establishing a boundary, ensuring sustainable rural development opportunities were maximised while taking care that the Outstanding Universal Value of the site was preserved or enhanced.

Objectives: 

1. Visit an area with an existing or proposed World Heritage Site, preferably one with similar geo-social conditions, i.e. a large peripheral rural area with a low population density.
2. On the visit our objectives include looking at:
a. How the WHS inscription process was managed.
b. How were community consultations carried out.
c. How was the boundary of the WHS identified.
d. How sustainable rural development opportunities were maximised while taking care that the heritage of the site was preserved or enhanced.
e. How the WHS is, or will be, managed, structured and funded.
3. Opportunities for collaboration between the two areas will also be actively explored with the view to using LEADER funding to develop joint projects and forge strong links between the areas.