The BALANCE project aims to develop and implement new methods and best practices to balance nature development and recreation possibilities in peri-urban areas in the maritime region, by using a bottum-up approach with local people. The related objectives are:
a) jointly collect and share experiences and methods for developing, creating and managing natural spaces and habitats in urban areas, combined with recreational infrastructure;
b) jointly collect and share experience and methods to deal with public participation and the bottum-up approach in balanced projects;
c) execute investments to improve the quality and accessibility of new green sites in rural and (peri)urban sites on different locations in the 2 Seas programme area, based on the expertise of the cross-borderness,
d) jointly evaluate the socio-economic effects of these new sites in the different locations,
e) spread the experiences collected in the project to other actors responsible for developing, implementing and managing new balanced sites
f) to report to policymakers and make them aware of the multiple positive effects of similar projects.

By implementing the experiences, results and best practices of other 2 Seas project such as Urban Habitats, STEP, Natura People and ATC, the project BALANCE creates an added value for the region.

BALANCE aims to ensure creation and maintenance of sustainable habitats in peri-urban and rural areas to expand and increase the resilience of sensitive priority wildlife in areas subjected to high recreational and urban related uses. The creation and maintainance of natural habitats is an essential component to delivering high-quality living environments in and around large human settlements. A number of studies were done.

Besides the studies, work is also done on the field. The greenways in Schelde-Leie were adapted to give them a higher ecological value (LP). Tidal nature areas are created at two locations along the river Spui in Holland (PP2). In Kent 5 ha of chalk grassland and 5 ha of woodland were created (PP3). Heathlands, wetlands and coastal habitats in Soutwest England were enhanced (PP5).

The community has been involved in establishing a balance between the urban community recreational needs and nature. In Cyclopark, community involvement consolidated local ‘ownership’ in the establishment of the green corridor. Through the creation of the Cyclofriends Group, a local community group that is active within the peri urban area, understanding the need to balance the area for both recreation and nature was broadened and improved(PP6). Events were held with landowners to encourage the take-up of agri-environmental schemes to optimise habitat for Cornwall's chough population (uptake of grazing and protection of nests) (PP5). In Flanders, farmers and landowners were contacted to inform them on possible agri-environmental agreements to raise the ecological value of the lands adjacent to the greenways (LP). Through joint workshops with all partners, experiences are exchanged and implemented in the realisation of nature areas.

The second activity in the BALANCE project revolves around the improvement of the accessibility of green areas of each project partner for the different identified target groups. By improved accessibility, we mean physical access, through physical construction or restoration of infrastructure, eg. paths, and mental access by involving, educating and engaging people and encouraging them to enjoy, respect and help protect sensitive wildlife and habitats. There are 3 different kinds of subactions in this activity:

- Study of the network of paths in the different green areas, resulting in a plan for the physical paths which should be preserved and the new ones that should be arranged.

- Physical construction of new paths or improvements to existing paths.

- Enhance ‘mental accessibility’ by informing, involving and engaging visitors,eg. by developing an information centre and interpretation facilities, organising workshops or festivals and events, etc.



The positive socio-economic effects of the activities and investments implemented in BALANCE, are researched and emphasized. In each region, interviews were done with a standard questionnaire. The overall data were studied and crossborder recommendations were written down in a report. In Suffolk a detailed socio-economic study of 3 long distance routes is available.

For nature and accessibility, there were many results:

- realisation of 5 ha of chalk grassland and 5 ha of woodland in Kent

- realisation of nature areas along the river Spui

- restoration and enhancement of heathlands, wetlands and coastal habitats in South-West England

- restoration of 10 greenways in Schelde-Leie region

- planting of trees

- fencing and deer control at Arne

- 5 kms of innovative multi-use routes, 3 bridges, 2 accessible ramps and 2 gates, 2 crossing points are constructed, BMX track and Mountain bike route created

- new family trail installed at Radipole

- PP4 inspired Suffolk Wildlife Trust & other organisations to use the BALANCE standard advisory signs for dog owners at nature reserves, a new trail for heathland nature on the Sailors’ Path was developed, improved routes cross the AONB & specific sites e.g. Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve.

A number of studies were done:

- study on the ecological opportunities for nature and landscape directly linked to the greenways

- Tourism strategy for 3 long distance routes

- detailed socio-economic study of 3 long distance routes

- socio-economic report with crossborder recommendations for local and regional policymakers

- study on the effects of recreational watersport activity on an internationally important wintering waterbird populations at Exe estuary

- The management plan for the greenways and the study of the opportunities of a bridle path network along greenways in Schelde-Leie region are ready.

The main target group and beneficiaries of the cross-border BALANCE project are users of the project areas. These are the inhabitants of the cities in the neighbourhood of the BALANCE projects. They have greatly benefited from the project results/investments. In addition, visitors and tourists will benefit from the recreational possibilities in these regions. The beneficiaries of the project are closely involved in the project. The beneficiaries are school children, commuters, walkers, cyclists, horse riders, mountain bikers and other recreational users of green space, of different ages. They were consulted and gave input for the development of the different regions.
A second target group of the BALANCE project are the professionals in nature and recreational infrastructure management. They were invited to the project conferences and expert workshops in the Netherlands, the UK and Flanders.
A third target group are the local entrepreneurs. Some entrepreneurs sponsored some of the Balance results e.g. Suffolk's explorer guides and information boards. More recreation and more visitors and tourism provide opportunities to local entrepreneurs. The results of the socio-economic study are very usefull to them to get insight in the profile of the visitors.
The fourth group consists of policymakers at the local, provincial and regional level, responsible for ensuring the development of rural and (peri) urban areas. The results of the BALANCE project are communicated to these policymakers.
All partners/ territories did benefit from all of these results.

Each partner's project resulted in easier access to nature sites, increased knowledge, a general feeling of wellbeing for the people living near the nature areas and the visitors. A direct increased breeding success ocurred as a result of the habitat restoration. RSPB had a proven success of using waste from the reserves as biomass fuel. The project resulted in community ownership of species protection. More knowledge was gained by the partners about possibilities to get economic revenues/benefits from nature sites.
The effect for all Territories involved is that the public is more aware of the existing habitats, the effort it takes to maintain this, and the fact that the partners and Europe feel responsible and assist (financially) to provide healthy and enjoyable living surroundings.

Different partners have different apporaches to the same tasks. These were sometimes small things, such as organising events mainly focused on kids (RSPB - workshops with kids), VLM would probably not have had the idea to organise nature/greenways workshops for kids. Another thing was involving volunteers. All partners used them, but clearly the English partners had a lot of experience on how to organise this, give them responsibility and use them for all kinds of tasks, going from taking questionnaires, to managing the landscape/infrastructure created. Also involving entrepreneurs more, and mentioning catering/sleeping/shopping possibilities on leaflets and information boards, was an inspiration for the Dutch and Flemish partners. The English partners were highly impressed by the extensive cycling networks in the Netherlands and Flanders. Although these last two learning points may not have led to direct results in the Balance project, but they are things that certainly will be kept in mind and incorporated in future projects.

4 of the Balance partners have developed cluster projects with other partners/projects. KCC is partner in the Proximity cluster, Suffolk County Council is associated partner in the proximity cluster. RSPB and VLM are partners in the Care-Lands cluster.

The Proximity cluster will support and empower tourism providers, in the private and volunteer sectors, to develop innovative and sustainable products and services that can be marketed specifically to the near-by tourism markets. This capitalises on the resident population of the region encouraging repeat as well as new visitors. The aim of this cluster is to increase and enhance the near-by tourism market in the 2 Seas Region.

The Care-Lands cluster will work on carbon reduction and the use of renewable energies in protected nature and landscape areas. The partnership will also identify businesses who want to be engaged in carbon reduction.

Different type of activities are developed to balance nature and recreation development and to develop a bottom up approach. Nature conservation and public recreation are compatible when managed and communicated carefully. But different audiences require different messages and methods of dialogue. Every partner learned a lot from his own activities and the exchange between the different partners about technical, communicative and organizational issues. Some specific lessons learned are:

• With some small additions newly created nature reserves can become much more attractive for recreants.

• The specifications demanded for infrastructure need to be of high quality and compatible to the landscape. This gives best value for money.

• Keeping up with and taking advantage of technological advances ie smart phone and ipad apps, to engage with a younger audience.

• Obtaining sponsorship from local business eg breweries to enhance budget to good effect around communications

• Celebrate and launch your achievements creatively and in style

A general lesson was that it was not (most often) possible to follow the planning of the different activities. If you want to work bottom up you need a less detailed planning of activities and a strong supervision.

The projects covered by Balance are sustainable. The created habitat and infrastructure will remain in place and will be restored if necessary with funding from the partner's core funds or with alternative sources. The infrastructure (e.g. greenways, information birds, birdwatching tower, ...) are built to a high specification and should last for many years. The explorer guides (Suffolk) are available as web downloads. The availability of printed copies in the future depends on continued sponsorship of entrepreneurs ans other organisations. People engagement was very important within BALANCE and volunteers will be recruited from the local community by some partners to fill any gaps (e.g. RSPB, Cyclopark, VLM). By adding Cyclopark Trust to the partnership, the investments made through the EU funds on behalf of Kent County Council will be sustained.

All partners will continue to network with the other partners to share information. We all know each other (organisational and personal) very well now and won't hesitate to contact each other in case of problems, feedback or suggestions/ideas. The partnership planned to come together in September 2014 to have a meeting to discuss future cooperation.

The partnership has planned to come together in September 2014 to have a meeting for future cooperation. We would like to develop a follow-on project in a future Cooperation Programme and welcome the opportunity to apply for further funding. The planned meeting in September will make clear how the future project will be shaped exactly. VLM sees future cooperation around further promoting cycling and walking (carbon reduction), work with local entrepreneurs (farmers) who use land adjacent to nature areas to reduce the impact of pesticides and manure to the nature area. We also want to work on individual guidance of local farmers to reduce nutrients in the soil and to improve the yield of their crops. For RSPB, future projects would include increasing their presence and opportunities for people engagement and connections with local businesses in the urban courbations of Bournemouth and Poole in Dorset where they are establishing a partnership with Bournemouth City Council.

Province of South-Holland thinks about developing nature in cooperation with private parties. As this is a totally different approach in The Netherlands; they will try to find external funding and knowledge. Also, Kent County Council and Cyclopark are very keen to be involved in future projects with the partners of the BALANCE project. For Suffolk County Council, future plans flow from the BALANCE Tourism study. Suffolk definitely needs to apply for external funding as the national budget for AONBs has been cut and will be cut in the future. Local authorities also have their funding cut. Whether the external funding for future plans will include a bid to a Cooperation programme is the decision for the new AONB manager and the advisory committee. Suffolk is partner of the 'Proximity' cluster project. VLM is partner in the Care-Lands cluster project.