Information and awareness-raising

To declare a project successful, you must have the backup of the public. From neighbours to public associations and students, the aim of this action is to promote Life-Nieblas and inform about the reasons, objectives, improvements and benefits that this sort of project brings to our society.

To achieve this objective, efforts are united with Action E.1. Technical communications were targeted towards environmental collectives, students in relevant fields, politicians involved in the environmental sector, and other people within the environmental community.

From the project beginning, GESPLAN and CREAF have carried out over 51 media communications (television, radio, and newspapers) as part of the Life-Nieblas actions. Additionally, CIM VDL has also locally communicated about the project to various media outlets in Portugal, with over 12 communications made.

In addition to these communication actions, Life Nieblas has participated in a variety of congresses, forums and networking events to present methodologies implemented and results. The project has participated in events such as:

• FOIL-CILIFO (06/24/2021), seminar on prevention and habitat recovery after forest wildfires;
• EU Green Week (06/04/2021), conference with water supply companies and water scientist experts;
• SER Europe (09/10/2021), conference focus about 'A new Green Deal for Europe's nature”;
• Move-on (11/10/2021), congress setting anchor case studies on MAES (assessment of ecosystems);
• Conama (06/04/2021 and 11/14/2022), , islands connectivity congress in adaptation to climate change;
• Canagua (11/09/2022), the International Water and Energy Fair
• Ecoislas (02/02/2023), international Forum launches on ecological transition in island environments.

The central themes at these events were varied, such as climate change adaptation, habitat restoration, zero pollution ambition, fire fighting and water supply all in which methodologies developed in Life Nieblas are relevant.

Life Nieblas also focused on the education sector. By the end of 2022, nine conferences had been held with students from different sectors (forestry management, A-levels, environmental control and education, and grapevine specialised courses). In order to monitor the success of such engagement with the educations sector, a survey was conducted to verify their satisfaction. Out of all the participants, 56 students responded, giving an overall rating of 4.4 points out of 5 for the conferences.

Finally, Life Nieblas also participates in other professional groups, such as the Life Primed, Inida, NEWLIFE4DRYLANDS, Life Tecmine, and Vaersa networks. These interdisciplinary and multinational cooperation missions would lead to potential partners for present and future collaborations. Sharing knowledge and best practices, Life Nieblas constantly seeks opportunities to improve and strengthen the project. Networking also allows expanding strategic partnerships with organizations and experts who can help promote and strengthen the visibility of the project.

Details of all communication and dissemination activities carried out as part of Life-Nieblas can be found in the Mid-term report.

In summary, Life-Nieblas has understood the importance of communication and dissemination. Communication actions undertaken with local residents, public associations, private stakeholder, technical/scientific community and students have promoted Life Nieblas’ objectives, has improved project’s visibility, and overall benefit population awareness in regards to environmental development projects.