New project partners – Geirangerfjord World Heritage Foundation
Along with the extension of the Prowad Link project, a new partner was welcomed into the fold this summer, as Geirangerfjord World Heritage Foundation became the latest strategic member of the group. Katrin Blomvik, managing director of the Foundation highlighted the reasons for joining the project and which aspects they particularly hope to work on during the remainder of the project run:
“We are very happy to be accepted as a new partner in the PROWAD-LINK project. After 1 1/2 years of the pandemic, we are looking forward to learn and explore the local and transnational sustainable opportunities for SMEs, especially to explore the opportunities around Dark Sky Tourism. For the upcoming years we need to work closely with our SMEs to support and develop new tourism products and attractions during the cold months during the year.”
Geiranger Fjord is one of two fjords listed as part of the West Norwegian Fjords World Heritage Site, along with Nærøyfjord. The two fjords, among the world’s longest and deepest, are considered as archetypical fjord landscapes and among the most scenically outstanding anywhere. They also feature a range of supporting natural phenomena, both terrestrial and marine.
As with the rest of the regions in the project, the Geirangerfjord World Heritage Foundation faces the challenges of “our tourism sector today is very much concentrated around summer tourism. To be more sustainable we need activities and businesses operating during the whole year.”
The existing partners are happy to welcome the Foundation to the project as they also bring with them opportunities for exchanging knowledge and experience from their own work:
“Over the past year we have implemented video courses and have started to produce our own videos for communication and education purposes.”
In a final note to the existing partners Katrin Blomvik echoes the underpinning concept of the project: “We hope to learn more and exchange skills with our European partners during the upcoming year in the PROWAD-LINK project.”
We very much look forward to seeing what new and innovative ideas and exchanges will take place in the coming year.