Experiences of an intern at CEEweb
We had the opportunity to work with Dóra Nagy as an intern in the past few months. Dóra worked on the Building the European Peatlands Initiative project. As finished her time at CEEweb, she prepared a summary of what she has experienced and learned at our organization. This summary is such a good stuff that we thought we’d share it.

Experiences of an intern at CEEweb
We had the opportunity to work with Dóra Nagy as an intern in the past few months. Dóra worked on the Building the European Peatlands Initiative project. As finished her time at CEEweb, she prepared a summary of what she has experienced and learned at our organization. This summary is such a good stuff that we thought we’d share it.
Thank you Dóra for your great work!
Introduction
I got the opportunity to apply for the PEATLAND POLICY INTERNSHIP position at CEEweb for Biodiversity, where I could be an intern for 3 months in 2024. This internship position opened in order to assist in The Building the European Peatlands Initiative: a strong alliance for peatland climate protection in Europe project. The proposed activities were to contribute to the critical assessment of peatland policies on different governance levels, identify strengths, weaknesses and best practices (inside and outside of Europe) in policies for the sustainable management of peatlands, conduct a research and contribute to science-based papers and communications campaigns that will eventually support improved peatland policies in Europe, support the CEEweb team in the organization and facilitation of various capacity-building events for multiple stakeholder groups, and drafting powerful social media messages and online articles to convey the main findings and recommendations of the project. This report covers my carried-out internship at CEEweb for Biodiversity, and it includes a short description of the company, as well as my tasks and experiences during this internship.
My project
The project that my internship is centered around is named “Building the European Peatlands Initiative: A Strong Alliance for Peatland Climate Protection in Europe”. The objective of this project is to strengthen climate mitigation and GHG emission reduction efforts through promoting sustainable agriculture (e.g., paludiculture) and conservation and restoration of peatlands. It is building a European network of national governments and stakeholders exchanging knowledge on national peatland policies and strategies, in close cooperation with the Global Peatlands Initiative from the United Nations Environment Programme. The international workshops and high-level networking events will improve pan-European cooperation between scientists, conservationists, private landowners, and farmers networks.
National governments and project partners work together to:
- know where peatlands are and how they are changing;
- identify uses and drainage-free livelihoods that help to protect peatlands and move toward their sustainable management;
- develop and implement policies and institutional frameworks that take account of the uniqueness of peatlands and the need for action to avoid threats, keeping them wet and stopping their drainage;
- to identify financial solutions to develop ways that both private and public sectors can invest in healthy peatlands now and in the future.
Internship tasks
My first responsibility was to help in organizing a multi-stakeholder workshop, named “Peatlands as key habitats in climate mitigation efforts” in Budapest on April 25-26. The workshop aimed to facilitate the exchange of views and knowledge regarding the role of peatlands and soils in climate mitigation efforts at the national level. Additionally, educate participants on the potential that lies in peatlands and soils for science-based emission reduction pathways.
The first day of the workshop took place in Budapest, while the second day was a field program in the Hanság region.
During the workshop:
- I had various organizational tasks, such as creating name badges and welcoming participants to the workshop.
- Took detailed notes.
- Wrote an article summarizing the workshop’s outcomes. https://www.ceeweb.org/article.php?id=765
My second responsibility was to participate and take notes on the “European Peatland Strategies, Exchange on status, progress and future perspectives” workshop, which was held at the German Federal Agency for Nature Conversation in Bonn, Germany. Respective experts, policymakers, and stakeholders from EU Member States and other European countries were invited and of course, the representatives from the project partners were present. An objective was to discuss the needs and possibilities for integrating strategic peatland conservation at the European level, including an overview of current practices and existing regulations, as well as opportunities for closer cooperation between countries.
One of the goals of this workshop was to create the base of a Policy Brief for natural mires and drained peatlands. This work is still in progress.
Finally, my last task was to conduct a research about science-based emission reduction pathways for peatlands and soils. While the time was short on this one, I still managed to read some interesting publications about this topic and take notes for a guide.
Experiences
I have gained insights into:
- The characteristics of the peatland ecosystems
- The state of different mires in different countries
- Methods of peatland conservation and restoration
- The challenges of managing and protecting them (e.g. emissions after rewetting, conflict of interest between landowners/land users and conservationists)
- Future initiatives needed for their restoration and conservation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- The critical assessment of peatland policies at different levels of governance
- Project Management
- How peatland protection measures can be implemented into the livelihoods of people, with a particular focus on the agricultural sector.
- Existing conservation and landscape designations, national strategies, and other legal frameworks, including the LULUCF and CAP.
I've met many professionals whose work is in some way related to wetlands or peatlands, mainly from the government sector, but also some researchers.
In addition, I have been made aware of a number of ongoing restoration or conservation projects.
Conclusions
First and foremost, I would like to thank all staff members of the CEEweb for Biodiversity organization, who made this a great opportunity for me and contributed immensely to my personal development. My deepest gratitude goes to Eliza Óhegyi, for her kindness and patience, as well as for her confidence in me and her guidance throughout the internship. I perceive this internship as a big milestone in my career development and last, but not least, I had fun. I also obtained considerable knowledge about a fascinating habitat type that proved to be more intriguing than I had previously anticipated. Additionally, meeting professionals who work in this field gave me immense motivation to follow the path of nature restoration.
References
- PEATLAND POLICY INTERNSHIP https://www.ceeweb.org/internship-position.php?id=26
- Building the European Peatlands Initiative: A Strong Alliance for Peatland Climate Protection in Europe https://www.ceeweb.org/project.php?id=22
- A tőzeglápok, mint a klímaváltozás mérséklésének kulcsszereplői / Peatlands as key habitats in climate mitigation efforts https://www.ceeweb.org/event.php?id=240
- CEEWEB’S MISSION https://www.ceeweb.org/mission.php
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