This year, Estonia had the honour of hosting the annual Nordic-Baltic LIFE Platform Meeting for environmental projects, which we organised together in Vihula.

Over three days, LIFE project teams from across the Nordic and Baltic countries came together to share experiences, discuss the impact of their projects and explore how environmental and nature conservation projects can be implemented even more effectively.

As part of Virumaa veed puhtaks, we also took our international guests to Ida-Viru County to show them first-hand how environmental challenges can be addressed while creating new opportunities for areas shaped by mining.

We started at the Põlula Fish Rearing Centre, where we learned about salmonid breeding and its role in restoring Estonian rivers.

We then visited the Estonian Mining Museum to better understand the history of the oil shale industry in Ida-Viru County and its impact on the region's environment.

We ended the day with a safari through Aidu quarry, where we saw how a former mining landscape has been transformed into an entirely new landscape and what opportunities restoration and reuse can offer.

It was great to show our international guests Ida-Viru County not only through project presentations, but by taking them to the actual places where environmental change is happening. And even better to do it together with other Estonian LIFE projects.

Thank you to everyone who helped organise the meeting, our project partners and all the guests who took part!

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