> international advisory board

"Protected Areas in Europe are in most cases no wilderness and also too small to be protected in the way of "DonÂ’t touch". This makes life hard for nature conservation, in finding ways of positive cooperation with the local human population and itÂ’s a demanding and never ending process trying to find the right way, right amount, right placeÂ…. of human use or withdrawal. But I like aims that are hard to reach and IÂ’m happy to be part of this interesting project that could well be a good step on the way."

" Over 30 years ago, as an eagre young ecologist I left Switzerland for New Zealand to further my credentials as a scientist. Three years later I returned as a conservationist – realising that saving the embattled diversity and beauty of our biosphere is more about management than academic research. Since then I had the privilege of working in many different parts of the world. Everywhere the take-home message from my early research days was re-affirmed: we need well-trained, young practitioners - in big numbers - in order to manage the rapidly growing conflicts between conserving biodiversity and the legitimate use of natural resources by people aspiring for economic development. I am delighted to support the MSc course at Klagenfurt University aimed at having more such professionals looking after our protected areas."

"Since I have been working for PAN Parks Foundation I found very important to educate future decision makers and protected area managers about interpretation of IUCN categories. I believe in third party monitoring of protected area management, as a tool which can help increasing the effectiveness of authorities. My personal mission with the course at KlagenfurtUniversity is to ensure that information on protected area verification and financial sustainability will be elaborated to the participants."

"The public awareness for protected areas has dramatically changed during the last decade. Professional management for these areas is therefore an absolute must which means new challenges for nature conservation managers."

"In the face of increasing human pressure on planetÂ’s resources, an effective global protected area system is the best hope for conserving ecosystems, habitats and species. However the existing global system of protected areas are inadequate in several ways including due to inefficient management. To this end the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted in 2004 a programme of work to support the establishment of comprehensive, effectively managed and ecologically representative national and regional systems of protected areas. In this context, the initiative of the University of Klangenfurt is very pertinent and well timed. I hope this postgraduate programme will generate a cadre of interdisciplinary managers for effective management of protected areas and I am pleased to support the programme".

"As director of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas, I see the importance and interest of a well planned training on international level for the protected areas staff in various fields. Such training will lead as well to an important exchange of experiences between the protected areas managers and especially between protected areas of central and Eastern Europe. The Alpine network is proposing as well different seminars and trainings in conservation and sustainable development issues and we are very glad to cooperate in this process."

From 1987 to 1991, during his PhD research at the Luxemburg University Foundation (Arlon - Belgium), he participated in the development of a Territorial Information System applied to territorial planning of rural communities, in collaboration with ENSAS s.a. (IBM Associate, Belgium), specializing in informatics and digital mapping.
Between 1990 and 1993, he worked in Italy as a consultant for several companies. From 1993 to 1994 he worked for TECHNITAL S.p.A. (Verona, Italy) as a specialist in territorial and environmental information systems and GIS applications; within the context of the numerous interrelated studies and projects of the Venice flood prevention scheme. He was directly involved in the general preliminary design of the interventions to reverse the degradation processes of the lagoon environment, and in the design of an operative Decisional Support System for the management of the Venetian coastal area.

He joined UNESCO, at its Venice Office, in November 1994, where he has been acting, since then, as a Programme Specialist in Environmental Sciences. He is also acting, since 1998, as the UNESCO Regional Hydrologist for Europe. During these years, he co-ordinated regional activities related to some of the major environmental programmes of UNESCO, such as MAB, IHP and CSI, as well as cross-disciplinary initiatives related to Traditional Knowledge. As Project Officer, he also coordinated the implementation of extrabudgetary projects funded by the Italian government concerning Venice and its lagoon (1994-2000), the Adriatic Sea Environmental Master Plan (2004-2006) and Environmental Education for Sustainable Development in South-Eastern Europe (2004-2007).

"After some twenty years of managing Hohe Tauern Nationalpark (Carinthia) I fully agree with the idea of developing a programme to train and educate managers and planners of protected areas. I saw many things go wrong and many things go right, but I did not see any possibility to share these experiences in a clearly structured and condensed way. So I am looking forward to the beginning of the MSc-programme and see an important chance to increase the quality of our protected areas in Europe on a longterm perspective."

"Managers of protected areas are likely to be exposed to diverging interests and strong pressures concerning the ecosystems they have to care for. Thus, they need to learn not only how to maintain the ecological character and biodiversity values of protected zones, but also how to speak to other stakeholders and powerful neighbours, to administrative and government sectors other than their own, and to the public at large, in order to assure the lasting survival of the ecosystems under their responsibility. I am convinced that this M.Sc. course will provide them with the necessary understanding and practical tools to take up the challenges of our modern world."

Europarc Federation is the biggest umbrella organization of the protected areas round the Europe. We are convinced that nature conservation and protection of cultural landscape can be effective achieved inside the protected areas especially if PA are managed properly.
Management praxis in parks, network of Europarc Federation and MPA study at the University of Klagenfurt is important link for successful study programme and effective management of PA. Therefore Europarc sees MPA study as challenge for the park managers and experts to help and contribute with their knowledge and experiences. At the other side we believe that students might become our employees and also good managers of the PA in the future.
Europarc Federation joins to the other important international nature conservation organizations and supports MPA study in Klagenfurt. Proper management of the parks and skilled and well trained staff are basic for our common goal – to protect nature and culture landscape not only in Europe but worldwide.

"A major pillar for sustaining the world's biodiversity is a network of protected areas managed by effective means. As member of the WWF Global Protected Area Team I highly welcome this programme. Protected areas managers are challenged by a multi tasking job. I hope that this programme will offer a brilliant platform for training, exchange and co-operation."

"The MSc programme Management of Protected Areas is an outstanding and innovative educational offer addressed to managers and planners to protected areas. It is not only an important deucation, but also a professional impulse for nature conservation in Europe"

"My 18 years long activity at the sharp end of applied nature protection in the Federal State Carinthia has shown a quantity of technical and organizational problems in the protected area entity. These had to be solved with founded with practice-oriented training with clearly fewer friction losses. The MSc course could become an important information basis for professionals and newcomers in the nature protection field."