Get Involved

Project Groups

Join a European Trails Project Group and help shape the future of trails across Europe. Pick the topics you care about and team up with partners who share your passion.

Find like-minded project partners

European Trails invites organizations from across geographical Europe to collaborate on key trail issues within various Project Groups (PG). Choose your preferred Project Groups and connect with like-minded project partners to develop and implement EU-funded projects as consortiums. European Trails is involved in all Project Groups and funding projects, as far as our current resources allow.

Culture & History

Project Group 1
This project group wants to define a standardized method for intuitively conveying the culture and history of the landscapes through which a trail passes to trail users. The aim is to ensure that the uniqueness of the regions, people, and cultural heritage is more appreciated and promoted.
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Community Building & Local Engagement (inc. Inclusion, Economy)

Project Group 2
The project group aims to develop methods and a framework for strengthening local cooperation between all stakeholders with the help of well-managed trails. These include the region’s residents, municipalities, parks, clubs, and associations, as well as the regional economy.
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Education, Research & Knowledge

Project Group 3
This project group aims to identify ways in which data and analytical methods can be used to analyze and quantify the significance of trails. This assessment should focus in particular on social value, health, leisure and recreation, enhancement of the region, jobs, tourism offerings, GHG emissions and overall financial value creation. 
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Climate Change

Project Group 4
This project group will investigate how trails in different regions and climate zones are affected by climate change. Based on this, measures can be developed to adapt to the effects of climate change.
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Nature & Environment

Project Group 5
This project group aims to identify ways in which trails can be used to protect nature and the environment. This includes, in particular, the environmentally friendly construction and maintenance of trails with good design and natural materials, as well as waste disposal and the provision of toilets.
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Safety on Trails

Project Group 6
This project group will investigate the greatest dangers associated with trail use and how these can be reduced. These include objective dangers such as storms, floods, forest fires, rockfalls, landslides, etc.
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Trail Standards

Project Group 7
The aim of this project group is to create a basis on which all project organizations in all countries can carry out a uniform and consistent evaluation and description of the trails and the routes that run along them for the various activities.
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Digitalization & AI

Project Group 8
The aim of this project group is to create a basis on which all project organizations in all countries can carry out uniform and consistent digitization of their trails – using the latest technical possibilities and AI.
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Trail Management & Organization

Project Group 9
The project group aims to create a platform for the education of all trail managers in Europe. A knowledge hub will be created with all existing information and best practices about responsible trail management. The structure of the Green Flag Trails (GFT by WTN) standard will be implemented in an online scheme.
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Financing

Project Group 10
The goal of this project group is to develop a holistic view of financing options. To this end, all existing models will be researched and evaluated. 
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Trail Building & Design

Project Group 11
The goal of this project group is to research which trail design and construction method is most sustainable in each region. This depends on how the trail fits into the natural landscape, how it behaves in the face of erosion, severe weather, natural events, and climate change, as well as throughout the seasons.
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Advocacy & Lobbying

Project Group 12
The goal of this project group is to research and comprehen­sively document the legal framework in various countries and regions under which trails may exist and be used for various activities. It is also relevant whether the trails are based on old customary law or whether and under which approval procedures they may be newly constructed.
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Communication to Trail Users

Project Group 13
The goal of this project group is to bring more people onto the trails. To achieve this, concepts will be developed for how trail organizations can achieve greater reach and better public awareness. 
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Health Benefits of Trail Use

Project Group 14
The goal of this project group is to highlight the inestimable value of trails for the mental and physical health of the population. To this end, existing studies on health promotion through physical exercise will be researched and prepared.
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Become a Project Group Member

Join the Project Group(s) that best fit your thematic interests.

Inspire other organizations across Europe to collaborate in your project and join project consortia. Together, we submit strong grant proposals and implement forward-looking EU projects.

  • Do you have experience in funding projects?
  • Are you ready for long-term involvement in the Project Group(s) and EU-funding initiatives?
  • Will you become a European Trails member (which automatically includes WTN membership)?

Then apply by filling in the Project Group Application Form.

If you already have a project idea, please download the project outline, complete it, and send it to julia.snajdr@europeantrails.org.

Become a Project Group Member
Complete the Project Outline

Get updates on Project Group Work

The Project Groups provide regular updates on the trail-related topics they are working on, as well as on their funded projects. Join the Funding Project Workshops to explore collaboration opportunities with like minded organizations and get invited to join project consortia.

Become a Project Group Coordinator

Let’s get the remaining Project Groups up and running!

To ensure smooth collaboration, each Project Group requires a coordinator to organize and lead its meetings. While most Project Groups are already coordinated by different organizations (as shown on the Project Groups pages), we are still looking for coordinators for the groups listed below.

  • PG3: Education, Research & Knowledge
  • PG6: Safety of Trails
  • PG8: Digitalization and AI
  • PG9: Trail Management & Organization
  • PG11: Trail Building & Design
  • PG13: Communication to Trail Users
Become a Project Group Coordinator

Get in touch and help shape the work of your preferred group from day one.

Become a Project Group Coordinator