Scope of the programme

• Countries impacted: Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Denmark, Slovenia and Italy
• Thematic axis: Reduction of light pollution, protection of dark night skies, biodiversity preservation and sustainable tourism development linked to dark-sky areas
• Funding programme lineage (EU, national, regional): EU

Description of the project

• Project objective(s): The project aimed to improve regional policies to reduce light pollution, protect dark night skies and use these protected natural assets to support more sustainable territorial development. For Nature Park Our, the objective was to reduce light emissions in municipalities, strengthen environmental protection in vulnerable rural and protected areas, and support the development of sustainable dark-sky tourism initiatives.
• Duration: 2017–2021
• Main activities:
  - Participation in interregional learning and policy exchange on light-pollution management
  - Mobilisation of regional and local stakeholders around dark-sky protection
  - Identification and transfer of good practices from other European regions
  - Preparation of a regional action plan to reduce light emissions in municipalities
  - Awareness-raising and policy work linking environmental protection with sustainable tourism opportunities
• Outputs:
  - A regional action plan on light-pollution reduction
  - Stronger integration of light-pollution considerations into local and national policy frameworks
  - Increased awareness of dark skies as both an environmental and tourism asset
  - Improved basis for sustainable dark-sky tourism development in the region

Type of application

• Single applicant: No
• Consortium members: Province of Fryslân (Lead Partner), Hajdú-Bihar County Government, Avila County Council, Nature Park Our, Samsø Energy Academy, Business Support Centre Kranj, Basilicata Region, Matera-Basilicata 2019 Foundation, and Island Government of La Palma
• Subcontractor: No

Success Factors

• Access to information: A strong enabling factor was access to reliable programme information and support structures that helped identify relevant opportunities and understand how the project idea could fit Interreg priorities.
• Effective partnership building: One of the main success factors was the quality of the consortium. The project relied on a partnership made up of committed and experienced public actors from different European regions, which created trust, continuity and a strong basis for cooperation.
• Previous experience with funding: Prior experience with programmes such as LEADER and previous Interreg initiatives helped the organisation understand funding logic, cooperation requirements and the type of work expected in European projects.
• Strategic fit with call priorities: The project responded to a real territorial need: reducing light pollution in a protected rural area while exploring sustainable ways of valorising dark skies. This gave the proposal a clear policy rationale and a strong fit with environmental and sustainable development priorities.

Barriers & Challenges

• Administrative burden: Administrative and financial reporting requirements were one of the main challenges, particularly in relation to controls, documentation, staff-cost reporting and programme-specific procedures.
• Time & resource constraints: As a small organisation with limited internal administrative capacity, managing a European cooperation project required a significant effort and placed pressure on available human resources.
• Partnership & consortium risks: Building and managing a strong partnership is essential but also challenging. The success of this type of project depends heavily on the reliability, continuity and commitment of the partners involved.
• Complexity of the call: Interreg-type projects can be highly complex for organisations that do not work with these procedures on a regular basis, especially when it comes to proposal preparation, financial planning and implementation requirements.

Lessons learned

• Reliable partnerships are critical to success: A strong consortium based on trust, continuity and real commitment is one of the most important conditions for a successful European project.
• European cooperation projects generate value beyond funding: Their impact lies not only in the financial support received, but also in the exchange of knowledge, policy learning, capacity-building and long-term relationships that they create.
• Small organisations need support structures to access complex funding schemes: Access to programme guidance, contact points and practical support can make a decisive difference in enabling smaller territorial actors to participate successfully in European funding.

This best practice illustrates how a small public tourism-and-environment stakeholder can use European interregional cooperation to transform a local environmental challenge into a broader policy and tourism opportunity. Nature Park Our’s experience shows that successful access to European funding depends not only on financial resources, but also on strong partnerships, good programme intelligence and a project idea clearly rooted in territorial needs. It represents a valuable example of how sustainable tourism can emerge from environmental protection, policy learning and long-term regional cooperation.