The greenways proposed as a resource for the conservation of the cultural and natural heritage of the Region of Murcia, while serving to promote the region as a sustainable tourism destination and allow employment generation and local development, are the objectives of the project 'Our Way: Preservation And Promotion Of Cultural And Natural Heritage Through Greenways', submitted to the call for grants launched by the Interreg Europe programme and selected for funding by the European Commission.
The Minister of the Presidency of the Region of Murcia, Pedro Rivera, explained that the project that is intended to be developed through this call, financed with ERDF funds and led by the Region of Murcia, "has a strategic interest for us, and involves the Tourism Institute, the General Directorate of the Natural Environment, the General Directorate of Local Administration and, because of its transversal nature, the General Directorate of the European Union, Foreign Action and Cooperation.
The challenge is to make the greenways of the Region and our European partners (North and West Region, Ireland, Podkarpackie, Poland, Herault, France, Hadju-Bihar, Hungary, Vratsa, Bulgaria and the European Association of Greenways) become a resource for local communities and a means to protect and promote the heritage present in the territory.
In this regard, the Interreg Europe Programme helps regional and local governments across Europe to ensure that investment, innovation and implementation efforts lead to an integrated and sustainable impact.
The project represents an investment of 967,000 euros, of which 810,000 are financed by ERDF funds and the rest by European partners, with the contribution of the Autonomous Community of nearly 40,000 euros.
The counselor noted that "the instruments we are going to develop to achieve the proposed goals are the creation of a Group of socio-economic agents interested in the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural heritage of the Region of Murcia, interregional workshops of experts in greenways and European cultural heritage for the identification and exchange of models and good practices that improve the governance, financing and promotion of greenways in Europe and the Region of Murcia, and the development of a plan for the management and promotion of the Greenways of the Region of Murcia "
In addition to the presentation of the project, the second meeting of the Regional Stakeholder Group was held the same day: a group of socio-economic agents interested in protecting and promoting greenways in the Region of Murcia and in Europe, which will contribute to the development of the project throughout its execution.
On November 14, the grant contract between the Region of Murcia, through the Ministry of the Presidency, and the Management Authority of the Interreg Europe Programme for the implementation of the project was signed, which will be developed throughout the next four years in collaboration with the rest of European regional institutions and the support of the European Association of Greenways.
