 Photo: Rolf Diamant |
Building on Marsh's legacy and these historical connections,
the National Park Service (NPS) and the Italian Nature Conservation
Service (Servizio Conservazione della Natura) of the Ministry
of the Environment (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del
Territorio) of the Republic of Italy signed an international agreement
in 2000 for professional exchange on a variety of landscape and
park management issues common to both countries. These exchange
programs encourage innovative thinking as a result of sharing
experiences and practical models between the U.S. and Italy. The
international agreement was developed by the U.S. Department of
State with significant support from the officials at the U.S.
Embassy in Rome on behalf of the two participating agencies. The
Science and Technology section of the Embassy have continued to
play a critical role in the implementation of this agreement consistent
with its mission. The director of the National Park Service delegated
responsibility for implementation of the agreement for the agency
to the NPS Northeast Regional Director Marie Rust in 2000.
The agreement outlines several activities of mutual interest and benefit in the following areas:
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exchange of information, scientific data,
and experiences about parks |
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defining methodologies for national parks
management and monitoring programs |
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evaluation of innovative strategies for management of new national parks |
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promotion of environmental education programs |
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promotion of sustainable tourism inside parks. |
In June 2001, the NPS convened a workshop on "New Directions in Parks and Protected Areas: Opportunities for U.S.-European Cooperation and Exchange" in Philadelphia and Valley Forge National Historical Park to further refine areas of mutual interest and benefit and to create an action plan for future collaboration under the agreement. Workshop participants included a delegation of Italian park professionals and other European conservationists, and NPS managers and park partners from across the U.S.
 Photo: Nora Mitchell |
The first activity under the action plan was a workshop, "Local Typical Products: Parks and Communities Working Together for a Sustainable Future," in May 2002 hosted by the Italian Nature Conservation Service in Cinque Terre National Park and Rome, Italy (headquarters for INCS). A delegation of Americans, including seven National Park Service managers and NPS partners, joined Italian counterparts to discuss strategies for marketing and branding traditional products and crafts in and around parks as a means for strengthening local community economic sustainability, resource stewardship, and ties between local communities and parks.
National Park Service participants in a recent exchange reflected, "we learned that the challenges facing many of the U.S. national parks, particularly the new partnership parks and heritage areas, are quite similar to those facing parks, nature reserves, and protected areas in Italy. We discovered mutual interest in testing new models of sustainable cultural heritage tourism and exploring ways to enhance partnerships with local communities, nongovernmental organizations, and volunteers."
 Photo: Rolf Diamant |
The latest step in this international exchange was an education study tour and workshop, "New Strategies for Education Partnerships: Strengthening Ties between Protected Areas, Communities, and Their Schools," held October 20-25, 2002 in Vermont. The program encouraged educational innovation and new ideas based on the sharing of experiences and practical models from the U.S. and Italy. Participants in this workshop included 14 U.S. and 13 Italian park, regional, and national managers, educational program coordinators, and park rangers. Outcomes of the program included sharing promising practices in community-based educational programming and the development of opportunities for future bilateral professional development exchanges.
