Association
The European Green Belt Association
The European Green Belt Association e.V. is the governance organ of the European Green Belt Initiative. The Association was founded 2014 at the 8th Pan-European Green Belt Conference, when 23 organisations from 14 countries—both governmental and non-governmental—came together. The decision to form an association was made because it best reflects the spirit of the European Green Belt: member-led, democratic, and built on cooperation. Today, the European Green Belt Association has 35 members from 17 countries.
According to its own statutes, the European Green Belt Association aims to support the implementation of the European Green Belt Initiative's vision: conserving and restoring the European Green Belt as shared European natural and cultural heritage, and as an ecological network linking high-quality natural and cultural landscapes across Europe.
The Association's mission is therefore to ensure the effective protection of the European Green Belt and promote its sustainable development by facilitating continuous, coordinated transboundary cooperation at all levels and across all sectors of society. Furthermore, it creates a space for learning and exchange between partners along the entire length of the European Green Belt, and communicates important achievements to various EU bodies, countries, potential donors, and regional and global networks.
Programme of Work
The Programme of Work defines the Association's priorities for a period of two years. It is adopted by the members during the bi-annual General Assembly. The activities of the European Green Belt Association are aimed at the pan-European level in order to improve cooperation across institutional and national boundaries accross the European Green Belt. They include developing conceptual and methodological approaches or developing the European Green Belt into a recognised implementation mechanism for commitments of countries along the European Green Belt, particularly in relation to the implementation of the EU's Natura 2000 network and green infrastructure. The expertise and support of governmental and non-governmental organisations is key to the successful development and implementation of related policies.
Board
The role of the Board is to coordinate the implementation of activities, events and projects defined in the current Programme of Work.
List of the current Board members (representing a total of 8 organizations):
- EuroNatur (Regional Coordinator Balkan Green Belt), Chair
- Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF) (Balkan Green Belt), Deputy chair
- BUND Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (state branch of FoE Germany) (Regional Coordinator Baltic Green Belt)
- Latvian Green Movement (Baltic Green Belt)
- BUND, Friends of the Earth (FoE) Germany (Regional Coordinator Central European Green Belt)
- Environment Agency Austria (Central European Green Belt)
- Rete Italiana European Green Belt (Central European Green Belt)
- IUCN (Advisor)
Scientific Committee
The European Green Belt Scientific Committee supports the European Green Belt by safeguarding research integrity, strengthening scientific cooperation across the network, and providing independent scientific advice for initiatives and projects. The Committee is guided in its work by a shared set of principles that shape professional conduct and day-to-day collaboration across the European Green Belt network.
- Scientific integrity means conducting all research with accuracy, rigor, and reproducibility while avoiding any form of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.
- Independence and impartiality require members to openly declare any interests, actively manage conflicts of interest, and step aside from decisions or activities when impartiality cannot be maintained.
- Transparency involves clearly disclosing research methods, limitations of data, sources of funding, and European Green Belt affiliation in all scientific outputs concerning research on or within the European Green Belt area.
- Inclusivity and collaboration call for making full use of the European Green Belt network’s collective expertise and fostering equitable partnerships across countries, cultures, genders, and scientific disciplines.
- Open science and stewardship mean sharing research data, code, and results whenever it is lawful and ethical to do so and using approved European Green Belt repositories for long-term access.
- Legal and ethical compliance requires following all relevant laws, obtaining necessary permits and licenses, and meeting recognized standards for institutional review and animal welfare.
- Safety and respect mean prioritizing nature conservation in research and conducting all scientific activities in a way that safeguards the European Green Belt’s natural values, respects its habitats and species, and ensures a safe, inclusive, harassment-free environment for all collaborators.