The TUNESinURB project Kick-off meeting took place on 28 January 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria. TUNESinURB will operate on a national level, aiming to create an information system on urban ecosystems and their ecosystem services for Bulgaria.

The project will use a set of indicators for ecosystem services assessment and mapping to facilitate the understanding and implementation of sectoral policies for planning and development of urban territories.

TUNESinURB is financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) 2009-2014 and is coordinated by the Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", GEOgraphica Ltd., and the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO).

ESMERALDA was also presented at the project’s kick-off, by our partner Stoyan Nedkov, National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, to open the possibilities for future collaboration. Options for use of common case studies and application of mapping methods were discussed, as well as the development of national network on ecosystem services in Bulgaria in collaboration with the Ecosystem Services Partnership and MAES activities.

Images from the TUNESinURB Kick-off, clockwise from top to bottom: Opening speech by Prof. H. Tsakov, Director of Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; TUNESinURB project Co-ordinator Dr. M. Zhiyanski; ESMERALDA partner S. Nedkov presenting the project; Credit: Pensoft