The partnership of the “DIANA” project met in person at the second transnational meeting, held on 24 and 25 June in Skopje, North Macedonia.
The Erasmus+ project DIANA – “Developing Inclusive and Accessible Natural Areas” (2023-2-IT01-KA210-VET-000175181) aims to support the development of accessible and inclusive skills among tourism operators working in natural areas.
Behind this initiative is a partnership made up of DAFNE Soc. Coop. Impresa Sociale, project coordinator (based in Genoa, Italy), ABAT Balkania (North Macedonia) and KOAN Consulting (Spain). The partners designed DIANA and joined their energies and skills in order to improve the accessibility of protected natural areas, starting with those in Italy and North Macedonia, for all kinds of visitors, reducing the shortage of trained staff able to meet the accessibility needs of customers in the tourism sector.
The project began in January 2024 and since then the three partners have been working on the methodology for a compendium of good practice on “Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism” in protected natural areas: a one-of-a-kind document that aims to gather good practice and examples of accessible solutions applied in natural areas around the world. To make this possible, the project partners used several research methods, including surveys, round tables and desk research.
This first output will be combined with the development of two others: the creation of a toolkit (practical handbook) to improve the skills of nature and hiking guides in promoting and running inclusive tours in natural areas, and the design of a training session to validate that toolkit with Italian and Macedonian guides.
To ensure these outputs are properly delivered, and the project properly managed, the partners took part in a second transnational meeting, the first in person, in Skopje. After an initial online meeting, it was finally time to get to know each other, over two intense days of coordination in which the partners discussed important issues for the project and also enjoyed the North Macedonian capital and the remarkable Balkan setting.
The meeting began on Sunday 23 June with a day trip to the Matka Canyon, the great natural attraction near Skopje, allowing free time to relax and build trust while discovering the natural environment and local food. This first informal gathering was followed by a two-day agenda in which the partners discussed the production of the three outputs, project dissemination, reporting, quality management and the next steps towards more accessible and inclusive tourism in Europe’s protected natural areas, starting with Italy and North Macedonia.
Once back home, the partners will carry on working on the project’s aims and activities, in particular on the compendium of best practice, which will be available soon.
But, before it is published, you can still take part in its development by answering a questionnaire, available in two versions: one for users and one for the public authorities that manage protected areas.
The questionnaires designed by the DIANA partnership are mainly intended to map real needs, expectations and problems in a collaborative way. Click here if you would like to contribute to universal accessibility and inclusiveness in protected natural areas
If you are interested in the project’s theme, you can find more information on the website and send a message to the partnership by clicking here.
