Eurosite, in collaboration with Staatsbosbeheer, will be holding a workshop on ‘Living with wilderness in Europe’ on 17-19 September 2014 in Haarlem, the Netherlands. This three day workshop will explore communication strategies for dealing with public perceptions of wilderness areas and populations of large herbivores and carnivores. We have an exciting line up of speakers confirmed, read on to find out more!

On the first day of the workshop, a number of case studies from across Europe will be presented: Wouter Helmer from Rewilding Europe will discuss Rewilding Europe’s strategy and action plans, Sarah Robinson of the Zoological Society of Scotland will deliver a presentation on communicating the Scottish beaver trial, and Coralie Herbst will talk about the reintroduction of large herbivores in Germany.

There will also be presentations on grazing on Odra Delta lands in Poland, the return of wolves to the Netherlands, young people and perceptions of wilderness, and lynx in Spain. The first day will finish with a screening of “The New Wilderness”, which was filmed over the course of a year at the Oostvaardersplassen, a site to the east of Amsterdam managed using non-intervention techniques.

On day two there will be a field trip to Kraansvlak to take part in a walking excursion and witness first hand a Bison pilot project, and a field trip to the Oostvaardersplassen to see the red deer rutting. There will also be presentations from Yvonne Kemp of ARK Nature, and Frans Vera.

The final day of the workshop will include a mini-workshop led by Martijn van Triest, a Marketing and Communications expert. Martijn was leader of the campaign around the movie “The New Wilderness”, he developed the campaign plan and carried it out together with Staatsbosbeheer employees. In his career he has done marketing and communication work for several organisations, such as Natuurmonumenten and Wereld Natuur Fonds. The third day will end with a session to gather together the key messages from the workshop. These key messages will contribute to the elaboration of a communication strategy, which will be published after the workshop.

The deadline for registration is Wednesday 10 September 2014 and places for the field trips are limited. To register, please complete the online registration form.

For the latest information and to view the workshop programme, please visit the workshop webpage.