• Regions
• Piedmont
• Valle d'Aosta
• Lombardy
• Trentino-Alto Adige
• Venetia
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia
• Liguria
• Emilia-Romagna
• Tuscany
• Umbria
• the Marches
• Lazio
• Abruzzi
• Molise
• Campania
• Apulia
• Basilicata
• Calabria
• Sicily
• Sardinia

• Categories
• National Parks
• Regional Parks
• Marine Protected Areas
• National Nature Reserves
• Regional Nature Reserves
• Natura 2000 Network
• MAB Reserves
• Other Protected Areas

• The Great Systems
• Alps
• Apennines
• Po River Basin
• Coasts and Islands
• Dolomites
• Rivers and Lakes
• Urban Areas

What has been realized and the expected results

The project is divided into 7 Workpackages grouping together the different project's activities.

WP. No. 1: Coordination and management of the project
Constitution of a Project Committee, of a Technical-scientific Committee, organization of 3 coordination meetings.

WP. No. 2: Good practices for the use of the areas and of the infrastructures
Constitution of two groups of experts for each area (engineers, biologists, landscape architects, tourism experts), setting of the control criteria to be considered for the right use of the area, analysis of the paths and routes within the saltworks' territory, individuation of the needs and of the resources (infrastructures etc…), 2 technical meetings, study of the good practices in two saltworks not belonging to the present project and drafting of guidelines aiming at enhancing the areas.

WP. No. 3: Spread of good practices across the areas
Developing of 4 pilot projects, at least 1 for each area taking part to the project: to develop the Red Tower's functionality in the Comacchio Saltworks, to recover the hexagonal Tower and to place descriptive multimedia panels in the Old Cervia, to fix up the access for visitors to the Sečovlje Saltworks, and to rebuild the pedestrian path leading to the Strunjan Saltworks.

WP. No. 4: Realization of didactic, didactic-scientific, historical-cultural and environmental routes in the Saltworks, and tourist enhancement
Carrying out didactic courses in each area involved in the project addressed to different target groups: university students and researchers, pupils and teachers from elementary and secondary schools. It has been also planned the exchange of the teachers from one partner area to the other.

WP. No. 5: Promotion and marketing
Implementation of a series of common actions such as the realization of 5,000 copies of a joint calendar with the plan of the visits to the Saltworks, the publication of 40,000 copies of a brochure regarding the attractions of the areas belonging to the project (in italian, english and Slovenian), the planning of local events called "Sapori di sale" (Salty tastes) and the printing of 10,000 leaflets, the realization of a project folder (in italian, english and Slovenian) and of a video for the future presentations of the areas in promotional events.

WP. No. 6: Preparatory activities
Since 2007 the project partners have been contacted and 4 meetings have been realized to define project's goals, activities and financial aspects. The preparatory activities concerned the drafting of the Application Form and of the Financial Plan. In order to provide documents in both of the languages foreseen by the Italy-Slovenia Program a translator has been involved to translate from Italian to Slovenian and vice-versa.

WP. No. 7: Communication Plan
Opening of a press office to spread, on a local level, the news about the project activities, creation of web pages, organization of opening and closing press conference to spread and share the obtained results.
The project will lead to an increase in the number of visitors going to the saltworks of about 10%, to a 5% increase in the employment rate as far as the environmental-tourist business is conceded, and to a general improvement of the tourist development as well as of the eco-friendly use of the areas with a consequent larger involvement of the local stakeholders.
The project especially aims at making the Universities and schools of the territory more aware of the natural environments included in the project.
The target groups are mainly young people, university students and pupils, teachers, disabled people, tourists and inhabitants receptive to environmental issues.

The activities realized in 2012

The project was presented to the public on the occasion of the KOM (Kick off meeting) - the first out of three project meetings - which took place in Comacchio on the 29th of November 2011 at the Manifattura dei Marinati. During the press conference authority representatives, politicians, associations working in the environmental and tourist field, schools, universities, journalists and local stakeholders were invited.
Files (italian/slovenian text):

• Project summary (pdf - 544 Kb)
• Funds flow statement (pdf - 720 Kb)
• Eligibility of Expenditure (pdf - 1,5 Mb)

On May 15, 2012, the first of the two technical meetings organized by the saltworks experts and by the CTS (Technical Scientific Committee) took place in Strunjan (Slovenia).
File:

• 1st Meeting Portorose (pdf - 10,6 Mb)

The two teams of experts made two "inspection trips" in important european saltworks in order to personally know a management reality which was different and better organized, as far as the tourist services are concerned,  than the saltworks considered by the present project.

The first inspection trip was made in the Aigues Mortes Saltworks (Camargue, France) from the 6th to the 8th of June, 2012.
The second Inspection trip was made in Margherita di Savoia (Apulia) from the 26th to the 28th of June, 2012.

During the visits the technicians analyzed the problems and the strong points of the saltworks to become aware of the strategies used to solve the difficult issues. These strategies may be adapted to the different environmental contexts and then adopted to enhance the areas involved in the project, furthermore they may be useful for the final feasibility study.
On july, 13, the second technical meeting took place in Cervia (Ravenna): on this occasion the experts, under the CTS's supervision, presented their reports on the environmental analysis and on the tourist use of the saltworks. This analysis will lead to the writing of a handbook and of guidelines aiming to the enhancement of the areas, which will be presented in late September.
Files:

• WP 2 – WP2 Activities (pdf - 303 Kb)
• WP 2.1 – Guidelines structure and contents proposal (pdf - 338 Kb)
• WP 2.1 – Environmental Analysis of Cervia Salt Pan (pdf - 4,4 Mb)
• WP 2.1 - Saltworks of Comacchio Environmental Analysis (pdf - 2Mb)
• WP 2.1 - Analysis and guidelines for tourism valorisation of Comacchio and Cervia saltpans (pdf - 2 Mb)
• WP 2.1 - Report of the environment and tourism analysis of Comacchio and Cervia saltpans (pdf - 5 Mb)
• WP 2.1 - Report of the environment and tourism analysis of Strunian salt pans (pdf - 1,1 Mb)
• WP 2.1 - Report of the environment and tourism analysis of Secovlje Salina Nature Park (pdf - 1,1 Mb)

The bureaucratic and administrative procedures for the realization of the pilot projects involving the four saltworks are currently underway.

Events and activities in 2013

• Didactic crative workshops for schools and training activities for teachers
  

In order to rouse young people's curiosity for the saltworks - which are fascinating but few known environments at the same time - and to clarify the relationship between man and salt, which always characterized these places' history, creative didactic workshops will be carried out for elementary and secondary schools of the territory.

The workshops will take place in all of the saltworks that will welcome school children in areas suitable for the carrying out of the activities. The workshops will deal with recreational activities such as painting with salt, creation of objects using salt paste, naturalistic photography and, if possible, collecting and packing of the salt.

Didactic cards will be realized to provide information about saltworks' environment and main features, about salt history and uses etc…, so that at the end of the activities it will be possible to test pupils' knowledge on the things learned through a quiz game.

A training activity for teachers has been planned too: 2-days-workshops dealing with saltworks' environment, history and culture will take place in each of the saltworks.

Workshops are intended to sensitize professional people working in the teaching and educational field of many issues, that is eco-friendly activities, ecological balances protection, spread of the knowledge of such particular and fragile environments. That way teachers will be able to report their experiences to pupils.

• Summer camp for university students and researchers
  

In each partner area summer camps lasting about 2 weeks will be organized for a maximum of 10 participants, in order to give senior students and researchers the opportunity to delve into the environmental and nature issues learned during university lectures, and to apply them to fragile and elaborate territories ssh as saltworks.

The Summer Camp will be an intensive course consisting of theoretical and practical lessons whose goal is to develop and to share innovative methods to strengthen the connection between local cultural system and saltworks, to foster an co-friendly social-economical development, to preserve nature, to protect and evaluate the cultural potential of both saltworks and surrounding areas.   

Each partner will be in charge of both the contacts with the Universities and the organization of the course and of the Summer Camp planned. The contents of the stage and of the Summer Camp will be confirmed by the Scientific Technical Committee.

• Realization of a joint calendar of visits to the saltworks
  

In order to together promote and sensitize the public of saltworks' environmental and cultural value, a calendar of visits will be organized to discover nature's peculiarities, the fauna and the flora characterizing these territories, as well as the production, processing and marketing of salt.

A series of "study visits" will be carried out to enhance the different activities which can be implemented in the saltworks, so that they can focus on specific themes and be considered as more appealing: hikes dedicated to birdwatching, to naturalistic photography, to the observation of nature life.

Five thousand copies of the calendar will be printed and given out to the partner saltworks and to the information points, and it will be published on the webpages dedicated to the project that will be activated in the already existing websites of the partners.

• Organization of a net of events entitled "Sapore di sale"

In each of the 4 saltworks belonging to the project a "Sapore di sale" event will be organized to involve cities and citizens by restoring popular tradition's memory, and by carrying out conferences, workshops, guided tours, exhibitions an salt-based tastings.

A calendar of local events dedicated to the salt will make it possible for the project partners to take part to each event, in order to promote the knowledge and the biodiversity characterizing each territory as far as their environments, popular traditions and culture is concerned: that way a greater integration of the inhabitants in the cooperation areas will be fostered, also through the particular saltworks' reality.

Ten thousand copies of a leaflet with the calendar of the events will be published too in three languages (italian, slovenian and english).

Purposes | Goals |The Context: the 4 saltworks | Partners | What has been realized and the expected results | Pilot Projects | Materials | News | Contacts