For the first time in Italy, the project has trialled the Bear-Smart Communities model. The results achieved now form the basis for a long-term programme. The meeting coincides with the opening day of the 29th Conference of the International Association for Bear Research & Management
After years of fieldwork, testing, dialogue and participation, the LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors project reaches its final conference. An important moment, in which a community of territories, institutions, local authorities, land users and citizens comes together to look at what has been done and, above all, at what will continue to be built together from here on.
The conference is open to all and will be held on 20 September in Pescasseroli, at the municipal marquee in Via Principe di Napoli snc, coinciding with the opening of the 29th Conference of the International Association for Bear Research and Management.
For the first time in Italy, LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors has made it possible to test the bear-smart communities model on a large scale and in practice: a process in which conservation was not conceived as something to be carried out on communities, but with them, not least through the work of the local Committees, which brought together administrations, citizens, local operators, associations and protected areas.
A process in which actions, initiatives, methods and tools for coexistence have been tested, codified and made replicable.
The LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors project helped create the conditions for this to happen. But the work does not end with the close of the project. On the contrary, it is precisely because of what has been built over these years that a long-term programme can now be launched, capable of consolidating the path already under way, strengthening local governance and giving continuity to the work of the Communities and the Committees.
The conference will be structured in two parts:
Project results
An opportunity to report back to local communities and the wider public on the ground covered, the actions delivered, the tools developed and what has been built together.
Coexistence and future challenges
An open discussion on the future of bear-smart communities, the role of the Committees, the challenges of coexistence and the prospects of the new long-term programme, with the participation of the Ministry, the Regions and the project partners.
A commitment, then, that goes beyond institutional duty, and which the partners in this initiative have turned into concrete work for the wellbeing of entire territories of the Central Apennines.
Practical information
Sunday 20 September 2026, from 10:00
Tensostruttura comunale, Via Principe di Napoli snc, Pescasseroli
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