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European Projects in the Kent Downs AONB
The Kent Downs AONB Unit is situated at the gateway to continental Europe and has, since 1997, sought European funding to conserve and enhance the AONB. To this end a successful partnership has been formed with the Parc Naturel Régional des Caps et Marais d’Opale, just across the English Channel in France.
For more information about the 'Landscapes and Nature for All' project click here. Details of previously funded Kent Downs based European partenrships are outlined below.
Project Title: The Transmanche Integrated Protected Landscape Management Living Landscapes Initiative
Project Period : January 2005 – March 2007
Total funding generated for Kent Countryside: £997,992
Funding from : European Regional Development Fund, Interreg 3A Programme
Project Partners : Kent Downs AONB Unit, White Cliffs Countryside Project, Kentish Stour Countryside Project, Parc Naturel Régional des Caps et Marais d’Opale, Office National des Forêts.
Project History: Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Parc Naturel Regional des Caps et Marais d’Opale have been working in partnership since 1997.
Both face similar challenges to landscape management but operate in different legal and political contexts. With funding from INTERREG, and in partnership with the Kentish Stour and White Cliffs Countryside Management Projects and the Office National des Forets, a successful shared approach across the Transmanche region was developed to conserve and enhance two protected landscapes with similar cultural and landscape heritages.
This project aimed to deepen and strengthen strategic work started in earlier Interreg projects, and introduces new areas of exchange and co-operation.
Project Outputs : The project addressed built heritage protection largely through Village Design Statement promotion, landscape conservation schemes including the production of a Kent Downs AONB Landscape Design Guide, Access and Education, and Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation including the production of research documents on European protected landscapes and Village Design Statement Effectiveness.
A quantitative summary of the project outputs is provided below:
Number of communities with community planning/design projects |
13 |
Highway Design Guide |
1 |
Number of sites benefiting from improved landscape and biodiversity |
121 |
Hectarage benefiting from improved landscape and biodiversity |
587.5 |
Km of paths improved |
52 |
Number of projects that involve joint working, staff secondments or exchange visits |
13 |
Guided walks |
101 |
Events and talks |
596 |
Seminars and conferences |
5 |
Bilingual newsletters and leaflets |
19 |
Panels and gateway signs |
54 |
Waymarked routes |
28 |
Web-site pages with bi-lingual element |
63 |
Press releases |
41 |
Children and young people participating |
4,630 |
Adults participating |
10,451 |
Elected representatives, staff and officers in exchanges |
57 |
Volunteers/participants in exchanges |
337 |
Public sector organisations in exchanges |
19 |
Private sector organisations in exchanges |
3 |
Community/voluntary organisations involved in exchanges |
10 |
Number of site surveys, research studies, management plans, technical and best practice guidance documents prepared. |
9 |
Village Design Statements: Do They Make a Difference? An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Village Design Statements in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 1998-2005. By Catherine Hughes and Danny Chesterman for the Kent Downs AONB Unit. November 2005.
Looking Outwards: Fresh Ideas and Good Practice in Europe’s Countryside. Europarc Consulting. March 2006.
For more information on Kent Downs AONB European Projects please contact Catherine Brady at the Kent Downs AONB Office
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