MONA

Running from 2023 to 2027, the MONA project aims to promote sustainable tourism in nature areas. How, exactly? By promoting a shift to more sustainable modes of transport in national parks, implementing inclusive route planning, and encouraging all users to adopt more sustainable behaviour. 

The growing interest in nature-based tourism has led to a significant increase in the number of visitors to nature areas, making them important tourist attractions. However, this increase in visitor numbers has also had negative impacts on these areas, such as traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, and parking problems, which affect the quality of the visitor experience.

As a result, effective traffic management in nature areas has become crucial to enable sustainable tourism. This is where the MONA (MOdal shift, routing and nudging solutions in NAture areas) project comes in.

Launched in 2023, MONA aims to promote sustainable tourism in and around the nature areas of north-western Europe for the benefit of nature, the environment, visitors, and the local economy. The project does so by promoting a modal shift, supporting sustainable transport, implementing inclusive route planning, and encouraging visitors and stakeholders to adopt more sustainable behaviour.

Together, these strategies will help to manage visitor flows, reduce negative impacts on the local environment, and promote inclusive access to nature areas.

The key activities carried out by MONA project partners include:

1. Evaluation of local impacts and development of innovative strategies: MONA partners monitor and assess the impacts of visitors and local mobility options on nature areas. Based on their findings, they develop new solutions to minimise observed harmful impacts and increase the overall sustainability of nature-based tourism in north-western Europe.

 

2. Solution testing: All strategies developed by MONA's partners are put to the test to determine their suitability in local contexts. In particular, the project focuses on the joint testing of solutions in the areas of modal shift, route planning, and behavioural nudging. This allows them to identify which strategies are truly effective for promoting more sustainable transport and visitor behaviour.

The MONA project brings together eight nature areas and three knowledge and dissemination partners in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.  The project will conclude in 2027.