The last six months of the Regenera Water Sport project will see a couple of important outputs which would look back at the previous activities and various observations and conclusions that were made and at the same time provide an outlook and suggestions for mainstreaming certain solutions and approaches that were put forward by the project. The work needed for these outputs to be produced requires a wider consensus and consultations and this is why the Regenera Water Sport’s Advisory Board met on 12 June.
With the participation of Jana Janotova of the IUCN’s Sports for Nature programme, Adeline Ple of Surfrider Foundation and Alberto Robles Garcia of the European Network of Outdoor Sports, the meeting wanted to look at the two key outputs that would target a wider audience and summarise the concerns, challenges and opportunities lying within water sports for healthier, more sustainable and environmentally friendlier operations and processes around inland water bodies and events taking place in those environments.
Apart from the recently published series of webinars which was presented for further dissemination, something that the Advisory Board contributed to, two major publications found their place on the agenda, too. One of them were the Sustainability Plans – a set of conclusions coming from the projects’ three pilot sites in Ireland, Catalonia and Finland and an action plan that would secure the longer lasting effects of the project on them, which would be tailored to the various challenges and experiences encountered in those places during the implementation of the project.
The plans would reflect on securing financing, stakeholder engagement and in general – a governance which would allow those sites to maintain certain environmental safeguarding, whether in case of events, toruism activities or the interaction between the local communities and those sites. The Advisory Board members confirmed that such plans can contribute to the long-lasting effects of a certain initiative, and the more perspectives they include the more purposeful and engaging they would be.
ACR+, as the task leader will open a consultation phase with the pilot sites in order to identify the areas of improvement which would give these plans as much meaning as possible. Another key output which can be expected towards the end of the project are a set of policy recommendations for mainstreaming good and responsible governance around water bodies. This particular publication will be a perfect example of the collaborations between the project itself and many other initiatives, organisations and campaigns that it built synergies with throughout the years.
The fact that the Advisory Board members have strong campaigning and advocacy activities will ensure that the Regenera Water Sport project’s policy recommendations are enriched and comply and complement other such European efforts in making water sports more sustainable, regenerative and responsible towards the environment – exactly what the Advisory Board members confirmed.
