The 2nd RSG meeting was organized on 11th July of 2019 in the Valencia Region Council of Chambers of Commerce (VCCC) Office. The RSG was represented by actors from government, academia, industry and community: 1) Government (GVA_Regional Government) -General Directorate of EU Funds; Regional Ministry of Finance (GVA), responsible for the management of ERDF in the Valencia Region; IVACE Innovation (GVA), Responsible for European Projects; Albufera Natural Park, General Manager of the PNA; Valencia Town Hall: Technical Office of Devesa-Albufera. 2) Academia- Assut Foundation in representation of the Polytechnical University of Valencia (UPV): Higher Technical School of Agronomic Engineering and the Natural Environment, Dept. of Rural Engineering and Agri-Food. 3) Industry- Chamber of Commerce of Valencia, Responsible for Tourism Area. 4) Community- Tancat de la Pipa; Fundació Assut.
The new stakeholders were invited from the Tancat de la Pipa, Technical Office of Devesa-Albufera from the Valencia Town Hall and the Palmar Fisheries Community.
The main topics discussed during the meeting were next: (1) Presentation of the two good practices selected, published on the project website; (2) Discussion on the proposed case study: sustainable tourist activities in the PNA (Albufera Natural Park); Regulation of boat trips; (3) Discussion about the actions to include in the Regional Action Plan.
All participants agree there is much to do in the PNA to protect the environment and make the tourism activities sustainable.
All members of the RSG will have a crucial role in each specific area, but considering the policy instrument, especially the regional government- the General Directorate of EU Funds from the Regional Ministry of Finance (GVA), Responsible for the management of the ERDF in the Valencia Region; also, the Managing Director of the PNA will have a crucial role in the group; for the case study selected, the Technical Office of Devesa-Albufera, the UPV and Tancat the la Pipa will play an important role.
The main concluding points from the stakeholders were: need to do a SWOT analysis of the PNA; how to balance tourist use and cultural values with natural resources, sustainable tourism; more networking from different operators of the PNA; need for Public Investments; analyse the existing regulations to make recommendations to the decision makers for improvements.
For the following meeting, stakeholders decided to start working on the case study, to check all the info and data, to work with four stakeholders: General Director of the PNA, the Technical Office of Devesa-Albufera, the UPV and Tancat the la Pipa. Moreover, the plan is to organise bilateral meeting during the next quarter of 2019 with some of the stakeholders in order to make progress in the work to be done. The following meeting is planned in November-December 2019.
