11th – 16st September 2022, Prespa National Park, Albania
Application Deadline: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
PPNEA in collaboration with its PrespaNet partners Macedonian Ecological Society (MES), and Society for Protection of Prespa (SPP), will organise a transboundary summer school entitled ”Monitoring and management for conservation in Prespa”, which will be held on 11th – 16th September 2022.
The summer school will include theoretical sessions and practical activities which will take place in the outstanding Prespa National Park, Albania. Participants will experience the beauty and uniqueness of Prespa landscapes and biodiversity, while learning about concepts and methods of research and monitoring of wetlands and birds that are applied by the PrespaNet partners in their everyday work.
PrespaNet is a network of three environmental organisations established in 2013 with members PPNEA from Albania with a main office in Tirana and local office in Dolna Gorica/Gorice e Vogel, MES with main office in Skopje and local office in Resen, and SPP locally based in Prespa. PrespaNet works to enhance nature conservation work in Transboundary Prespa. The partners are undertaking actions in five main programme areas which include
i)Water birds, wetlands and climate change;
ii)Environmental education and Outreach;
iii) Species conservation;
iv)Freshwater islands conservation, and
v)Transboundary collaboration.
The one-week long event will bring together young people from differing educational and cultural backgrounds to exchange skills and understanding, stimulating peer-to-peer learning and experiential growth. It will offer high-quality fieldwork experience in the field to the next generation of conservationists from the wider Prespa area.
Educational Themes:
- Monitoring of wetlands
- Habitat management and restoration work
- Bird identification and monitoring methods
- Threats to wetland habitats and birds; climate change as a high ranked threat
- Local stakeholders’ engagement in wildlife conservation work
Information for applicants
The summer school is open to university students from Albania, North Macedonia and Greece, and will bring together 20 students from bachelor and master degrees in environmental science, natural sciences, agricultural sciences, education and other related fields. The official language used in the summer school will be English and a good standard of English should be demonstrated in the application.
Priority will be given to applicants from the region, or those studying in regional universities, and is also open to recent university graduates and those working in related disciplines in Prespa.
The summer school is free for participants, with food, accommodation, transport and insurance also provided by the project. Further details regarding transport, accommodation and the programme will be distributed to successful applicants.
After successfully completing the summer school, participants will be awarded completion certificates.
To apply for this summer school please fill in the application form available here and send it to [email protected] before midnight 24 August 2022. The notification of the applicants will be done by 31st August 2022.
The summer school is organized by PPNEA, through “The Prespa Project-Biodiversity Conservation in the Prespa basin’’, which is funded by the Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust and the Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation, with support from EuroNatur. This transboundary project aims to strengthen collaboration among PrespaNet network members, i.e. PPNEA, MES and PPNEA, through concrete conservation activities in the region, integrated cross-border actions on biodiversity protection, and working particularly with young people, through education and volunteering initiatives.
