Estonia hosted the first LIFE National Contact Point (NCP) twinning seminar in Tallinn, Estonia 9-12 June 2025. The event brought together NCPs from Lithuania, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Iceland, and Estonia, marking the beginning of a four-part seminar series designed to enhance cooperation and knowledge-sharing across Europe. The seminar provided an engaging programme of presentations, peer discussions, and interactive group work. Several field visits to Estonian LIFE project sites offered participants hands-on insights into project implementation and the real-world impact of the LIFE Programme.
National capacity building was one of the seminar’s focused topics. Capacity building at a national level is essential to offer strategic and coherent assistance to applicants participating in the LIFE Programme. Representatives from Portugal presented LIFE CAP PT II, a comprehensive support initiative for applicants with thematic training sessions, tailored consultations, open-desk approach etc. The Irish participants introduced Ireland4LIFE, a national initiative designed to support local authorities and less experienced applicants.
NCPs play a critical role in advising applicants to design proposals that are technically sound, goal-oriented, and internally coherent. At the Twinning, NCPs discussed and shared experiences on common pitfalls in application reviewing. Estonia in particular, shared lessons learned in common pitfalls through the AwaRaEst LIFE project which gave a valuable input for the advising and reviewing part of their work.
Because the LIFE programme typically covers only up to 60% of the total financing, the co-finance part of the proposals can be a challenge for applicants. Several national solutions to the challenge were showcased at the Twinning. These solutions aim not only to assist applicants overcome financial barriers but simultaneously mean to increase national participation in LIFE. Lithuania provides up to 40% co-financing for public and non-profit organizations, including municipalities, universities, and NGOs. Greece operates the Green Fund, a public financing mechanism that both supports and participates in LIFE projects. Finland has a specific LIFE roadmap and a logical project planning tool that helps applicants align their proposals with national environmental and climate policies.
As part of the agenda, the Twinning participants were invited to visit four Estonian LIFE projects on site to see LIFE’s impact in action. The LIFE-SIP AdaptEST project is aimed for adapting climate change. The goals are meant to improve national resilience by protecting forests and water bodies, to promote sustainable water use, and develop advanced weather forecasting and climate projection tools. The visitors were also offered to observe grayling monitoring. A relocation effort to enhance spawning success and practical methods used in fish translocation. The LIFE Revives project focuses on restoring freshwater pearl mussel populations in Estonia, Finland, and Sweden. Participants learned about monitoring techniques and the use of underwater cameras. At last, the Viimsi Municipality invited the guests to explore LIFE projects and other EU-funded initiatives aimed at enhancing urban climate resilience: The LIFE UrbanStorm addresses urban stormwater management through nature-based solutions such as rain gardens, green corridors, and permeable pavements. The LIFE LatEstAdapt, developed in collaboration with Latvian partners, is a support mechanism for municipalities to integrate climate adaptation into urban planning. Smart stormwater technology and sustainable urban drainage are also examples of systems of tangible products that were demonstrated at the session.
According to participants, the Twinning in Estonia turned out to be a successful and a valuable platform for peer learning and practical cooperation. It proved beyond any doubt how regular, hands-on exchange helps build trust, strengthen cooperation between NCPs and will in the long run improve support for LIFE applicants.
