Carpathian Project

The CARPATHIAN PROJECT was a project co-financed by the EU-Community Initiative Programme for transnational cooperation: INTERREG CADSES in the Programming Period 2000-2006. The objective of the Carpathian Project was to enhance the sustainable development of the Carpathian region based on its rich natural and cultural heritage. In the Carpathian Project, 18 project partners from 10 countries joined their efforts to work on common and harmonised data and maps from the Carpathian Space and to develop analyses, recommendations and a common conceptual document covering the contents of the Carpathian Convention (biodiversity and natural heritage; cultural heritage; sustainable rural development, agriculture and forestry; sustainable transport, infrastructure, industry and energy; sustainable tourism and spatial planning) as well as to implement pilot activities for selected topics (e.g. on sustainable tourism). The outputs of the project gave a detailed status quo of the Carpathian region which includes eight Central and East European countries with differing basic conditions. Among the most valuable outputs of the Carpathian Project you can find the Handbook for Local Authorities and Development Actors in four languages, the Carpathian Environment Outlook, the Carpathian Spatial Development Vision (VASICA), the Carpathian Atlas, etc. The Carpathian Project resulted in the formulation of the Carpathian Space Vision. Its main objective is to continue and intensify the provision of support to the Carpathian Space, as an area of economic, social and environmental progress and sustainability in the heart of Europe, in the following programming periods. In order to bring the Carpathian Space Vision into life in the upcoming EU programming period 2014-2020, a full-fledged “Carpathian Space” programme, following the successful example of the Alpine Space programme, should be established, possibly in combination with (an) existing programme(s), or as a stand-alone new programme for the new period.