BESTbelt Pan-European Conference 2026

The BESTbelt Pan-European Conference took place from 22 to 25 June 2026 in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy, right at the heart of the Italian-Slovenian Green Belt.

Around 120 participants from 25 countries and 80 different organisations, took part in the two-and-a-half-day conference. As this was the final conference of the EU-funded BESTbelt project, the conference focused particularly on the results of the 49 small-scale projects implemented along the entire European Green Belt. In addition to the indoor sessions, participants visited two BESTbelt projects and one European Green Belt model municipality on a one-day field trip in the region. 

Conference programme

Opening and welcome 

Session 1 (Part 1): BESTbelt - More power for the European Green Belt 

• Introduction into the BESTbelt Project, Jörg Schmiedel (BUND Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
• Presentation of exemplary BESTbelt funded projects
  • Ances Nature Reserve: Reviving Biodiversity – Dace Samite (Association “Popes Manor")
  • BEE-BIO-NET: Blooming landscapes for wild bees and other pollinators in the Marchfeld region in Austria – Lisa Steiner (Bienenzentrum Vienna)
  • Empowering rural women through creating small sustainable businesses – Frosina Pandurska -Dramikjanin (Agrobiodiversity Conservation Organization for Rurality and Nature ACORN Skopje)
• Exchange and discussion
• Project Rallye of BESTbelt funded Projects
• Plenary Session

Session 1 (Part 2): BESTbelt - More power for the European Green Belt 

• Reflection of overarching results & impact & lessons learned – Anne Katrin Heinrichs (EuroNatur)
• Long-distance “European Green Belt Hiking Trail” as E-Path 13 – Andreas Aschaber (European Mountaineering Association) and Vincent Babl (National BUND Competence Center Green Belt for European Green Belt Association)
• Taking stock – Reflection after 5 years of BESTbelt
   

Session 2: Implementation of National Restoration Plans along the European Green Belt

• With best practices from Italy and Bulgaria, Michela Tomasella (Biodiversity Department of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region – Organisational Unit for the Biodiversity Observatory and Large Carnivores) & Sergey Aleksandrov (Bulgarian National Nature Protection Service Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Water)

• Q&A

   

Session 3: Opportunities to support the implementation of the European Green Belt Initiative's vision

• The European Green Belt Association and its activities – Florian Danzinger (Environment Agency Austria for the Board of the European Green Belt Association)
• Scientific Committee of the European Green Belt Association, Liana Geidezis (National BUND Competence Center Green Belt)
• Current initiatives to promote the European Green Belt with Susie Lunt (writer and journalist), Jürg Mäder (filmmaker), and Giel van Doorn (journalist and filmmaker) 

European Green Belt Fair
Traditional food and drinks from along the European Green Belt

BESTbelt on the road

• Slovenia: BESTbelt project: Mitigating the effects of electrocution on eagle owls in Western Slovenia
• Italy: BESTbelt project: Restoring biodiversity along the Italian Green Belt: forgotten bunkers, abandoned meadows and disappearing ponds
• Italy: Stregna municipality: Model municipality of the European Green Belt - transboundary cooperation best practice, meadow management through landowner association, sustainable tourism

Session 4: Learnings from the last days

• Wrap-up of field trip and main findings of the first conference day
• Outlook on the last conference day
   

Session 5: The German Green Belt on its way to becoming a World Heritage Site

• The Green Belt as UNESCO World Heritage Site – Current Developments in Germany – Alexandra Kruse and Melanie Kreutz (National BUND Competence Center Green Belt)
• Species diversity with focus on insects along the German Green Belt – Vincent Babl (National BUND Competence Center Green Belt)
• Q&A
   

Session 6: Cooperation with local communities along the European Green Belt

• Bear Smart Community as an innovative, community-based conservation approach - Spyridon Psaroudas (Callisto Environmental Society)
• EGTC GO and cross-border cooperation among local authorities on conservation of nature, sustainable territorial development and valorization of the historical and cultural heritage – Ezio Benedetti - EU Projects Coordinator (EGTC GO - European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation of Municipality of Gorizia (Italy), Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Šempeter-Vrtojba (Slovenia)
• Q&A

Session 7: The European Green Belt in times of change 

• Creative brainstorming for future activities

Wrap-up and closing of conference