Eurowa Network meets in-person under EUROWILD project

Last week, the EUROWA Network met in Altafulla, Spain, to discuss our latest developments with the EUROWILD project including the new Assessment Course and have our annual General Assembly. 12 organisations plus 3 experts, as well as the Secretariat, gathered over the successful 3-day event.

The meeting started with a short introduction from each organisation about who they were and their experience with oiled wildlife. We then moved on to presenting some deliverables of the EUROWILD project, funded by the EU’s Erasmus Plus Programme which also provided the funds for the in-person meeting. The new EUROWA Specialist Course was presented, as well as the new online Basic course. There were also discussions about the upcoming Train the Trainer course to gather feedback from the Members on its content, as well as an introduction to the authority workshop planed for February next year in Finland. The Secretariat also ran a WildX serious game session to familiarise the Members with the tools available and to get further feedback.

On day 2, the focus was on the Assessment Course, which consists of a new Assessment Manual, new WildX games, and accompanying training materials. The meeting was an important opportunity to receive feedback on these EUROWILD deliverables including a new 7-meter long WildX Assessment serious game (see picture above), and to discuss how the new Course can be used as part of the EUROWA trainings.

The annual EUROWA General Assembly was held on the last day covering member updates on wildlife preparedness and response, the work programme and other administrative matters. During the day, there was also a session focused on the Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference which had a number of EUROWA attendees. To finish up the meeting, a SWOT analysis was done to reflect on EUROWA and to outline ideas for the future of the Network.

Overall, the meeting was an important moment to get feedback and new ideas for the EUROWILD project deliverables. It was also a lovely moment for the EUROWA network to gather once more in-person, celebrate our successes and look to the future.