Based on recent studies, Wildlife Vehicle Collision (WVC) is a serious issue affecting both biodiversity and society through various environmental, social and economic impacts. The number of accidents involving wildlife in some European countries is on the increase. According to recent study (Antonio et. al, 2015) in Spain there have been 74.600 WVCs reported from 2006 to 2012, a number comprising up to 8.9% of all reported road traffic accidents in the Country. Through this research, the first assessment of the economic costs of WVC interaction was made, with an estimate calculated at €105 million per year. The EU through legislative measures is addressing a number of obstacles related both directly and indirectly with WVC and its impacts to environment and road safety. EU-wide policy initiatives must be complemented with on the ground, national and local educational efforts targeted at adult professionals who work in relevant sectors as well as educators who may raise public awareness particularly with young people. This complementary work needs to have an EU wide impact and must be evidence-based and user-led. Responding to this need, EnVeROS brings together key partners from three EU countries to exchange ideas and practices and develop a training programme for young adults and professionals working in the environmental and conservation sectors, providing insights on mitigation measures and reactions best addressed on a case by case scenario. All partners have relevant expertise and track record in the major fields covered by the proposal i.e WCV (OUC, CDN, EURAC), road ecology (OUC, EURAC), adult and youth education (OUC, EURAC, LAONA) and ICT (OUC, EURAC) in addition to experience in managing and working on recent EU Funded projects. The partners will adopt a user-led methodology by constructing educational tools that will sum up WVC situation, impact and mitigation measures at a EU level and project it according to the actual needs of each participant. This will be promoted both internally (between partners) and externally (nationally and EU wide). All educational materials produced will be published in online OER (Open Educational Resources) repositories with CCSA (Creative Commons Share Alike) licenses. The objectives of the project will be achieved through a number of major activities undertaken by the project including: - a needs analysis which will elucidate the current state of art, good practices, pedagogical approaches, and the needs of the target groups regarding WVCs. - an e-learning course with key concepts, best practices and case studies modules on WVC - curriculum development on incorporating WVC material in secondary but also non-formal youth and adult education targetting teachers and trainers of the above groups - WVC online platform, an interactive multifunctional portal where all target groups will interact through a diversity of digital content which will also host the project's website. - WVC comprehensive replicability e-package which will provide with the material necessary and a 'road-map' to anyone who would wish to replicate and adapt the work by EnVeROS to their own geographical or educational context/needs. The above intellectual outputs will be consolidated with multiplier and training events targeting diverse audience groups and a final international conference. The main expected result is the establishment and the communication of a knowledge base on the topic of WVC. In particular this improved knowledge basis, through a series of activities described above will have the following concrete and measurable results: - raising awareness among the wider learning community but also in government departments and the media - update existing or create new monitoring protocols for WVCs - enhance management and mitigation of WVC from both environmental and road safety perspective - introduce the WVC topic in formal and non-formal education activities at different education levels and groups - minimization of threats to wildlife and negative impacts on habitats. There will be multiple impacts for the target groups including exchange of experiences between partners who will gain skills by working and training in different geographical and educational contexts. In addition for some partners as well as involved stakeholders from partners countries there will be acquisition of skills on monitoring, management and mitigation of WVC while for others there will be pedagogical and ICT related skills. In addition the project will provide access to education material created and developed by the project, to trainers of various age groups at different educational levels. The project will be promoting multi-national and cross-cultural educational networks while through the Associate Partners and stakeholders groups involved it will ensure sustainability of the results in the long term.
Wildlife Vehicle Collision (WVC) is a serious issue affecting both biodiversity and society. There are many areas of Europe and the world where WVC are under-reported or not reported at all. The impacts on the ecosystem, especially at finer spatial scales, are currently unknown. Environmental education currently lacks material related to WVC. The aims of the EnVeROS project were to create educational material to contribute to the mitigation of the phenomenon and promote citizen science. Objectives 1) Collect all the WVC related information in a document that will serve as a key reference material (IO1). 2) Use this material to produce the e-learning course. 3) Create educational material to be used by educators for primary; secondary and adult education. 4) Built the EnVeROS web map and app for promoting citizen science and adult education. 5) Create a comprehensive replicability e-package for education & training activities related to Road Ecology and Wildlife Vehicles Collisions. The IOs (2,3,4,5 and the layman report based on IO1) were delivered in five languages (EN, GR, CZ, IT, GER) to support wider uptake. Results and impact attained The results and impact of the EnVeROS project are related to 1) the work done for the IOs, 2) the multiplier events for promoting the IOs to the stakeholders, educators, and VET providers, 3) the Webinar, 4) the LTT (joined staff training) activity, 5) the dissemination work and 6) the project management. IOs IO1: the report contains all the aspects that are related to WVC (i.e., Road ecology, citizen science, pedagogical aspects). Citizen science aspects are highlighted. Moreover, questionnaire research in the project regions is included, involving 508 citizens and 103 experts, from the project areas (Italy, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic) and beyond. IO2: The e-course contains all the relevant topics (e.g., effects of roads on ecosystems, socioeconomic impacts, monitoring). The material was produced with the use of software that is tailored for interactive presentations. Feedback from 100 individuals (stakeholders; online questionnaires) was collected (overall satisfaction rate 4.1/5). IO3: The educational activities focus on 1) primary and secondary education and 2) adult education. The activities are built to be introduced in existing curricula in primary and secondary education as well as in adult education/VET related to sustainable environmental resources management (e.g., protected areas management). This material could cover the existing gap in material related to Road Ecology and Citizen Science in adult education and VET. IO4: The project platform (www.enveros.eu) was built early in the project to host all the information relevant to the EnVeROS project. Information about the project and WVC are provided. The e-course and the web-map are hosted. Documents and news section are also there and link to the Facebook page and the email. The webpage (and the IOs) is available in five languages. 1714 users from all over the world visited the website (March 2019-December 2020). Top five countries: Italy, USA, Cyprus, Canada, Germany. IO5: For the last IO of the project, the team created a WVC comprehensive replicability e-package that will allow anyone interested to design vocational/educational activities for different target audiences (available in 5 languages). Also, it provides instructions on how to incorporate this material in different training events. E1-3: Multiplier events took place in all project areas. Participants: 104 in Cyprus, 40 in Italy, 50 in the Czech Rep., 68 in the webinar. TOTAL: 262; 340% above the target (e.g., VET providers, public authorities, NGOs). C1: The LTT event was held in the Czech Republic, in CDV between 5-7 June 2019. Staff from the partners were present (11 people) and it was also an open event (20 participants in total). The main training topic was the WVC monitoring system that it is established in the Czech Republic, as cooperation of CDV, the police, and volunteers. Webinar: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the E4 event in Cyprus was held as a Webinar. During this event, 14 Road Ecology and Citizen Science experts presented the EnVeROS project and other relevant projects’ actions to 68 participants from several countries (Europe and beyond; e.g., Egypt, S. Africa). The webinar was recorded and is available via the project and OUC website. Dissemination: A dissemination plan was prepared and followed early on in the project. The project material reached 2861 people (e.g., multiplier events, training, website). Longer-term benefits: The IOs of the project (e.g., web-map and app., website, e-course, training guidebook) were designed and implemented in a way that guarantees their use, during the everyday activities of the project partners and anyone interested to provide training in the topics of Ecology and Citizen Science.