| Communication team
A new project building on trans4num starts on April 1st
With only a few months left of trans4num, we are happy to see that the project’s legacy will continue through new initiatives and collaborations starting on April 1st.
The Green Connections project, funded under the Interreg Austria–Hungary programme and led by the Széchenyi István University – Albert Kázmér Mosonmagyaróvár Faculty, focuses on biodiversity and sustainable agriculture across borders. The project continues the transdisciplinary approach developed within trans4num, combining ecological knowledge, farmer engagement, and policy relevance while strengthening cooperation between Austria and Hungary over the next 33 months.
Green Connections: Nature-based Solutions and Sustainable Management in the Austrian-Hungarian Border Region
Lead partner: Széchenyi István Egyetem (Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Mosonmagyaróvár)
Partners: Biosphärenpark Wienerwald Management GmbH (AT); Esterhazy Betriebe AG (AT); Pisztráng Kör Waldorf Nature Conservation and Hiking Association (HU)
Project start: 01.04.2026
Duration: 33 months
The project was selected as an Operation of Strategic Importance.
Challenge: The Austrian-Hungarian border region is characterised by a close interlinkage between arable farming, natural areas and cultural landscapes. In recent decades, however, production-oriented agricultural practices have increasingly conflicted with biodiversity conservation, leading to a continuous decline of characteristic farmland species such as arable wildflowers, pollinators and farmland birds on both sides of the border. This decline is driven by intensive land use, simplified crop rotations, increasing field sizes, the loss of landscape elements and the growing impacts of climate change. At the same time, green structures are fragmented and poorly connected.
Knowledge gaps, limited cross-border comparable data and low public awareness hinder the effective integration of nature-based solutions into agricultural practice. These shared territorial challenges require a coordinated cross-border approach.
The objective of the Green Connections project is to address the identified biodiversity and knowledge gaps in the Austrian–Hungarian border region through an integrated combination of cross-border research, citizen science, awareness-raising, knowledge transfer and concrete conservation actions.
The project’s core activity is a systematic biodiversity monitoring programme implemented on 80 arable fields in Austria and Hungary, equally covering ecological and conventional farming systems. This joint research approach enables, for the first time, the cross-border comparison of farming impacts on arable wildflowers, pollinators, farmland birds, soils and landscape structures, resulting in a shared and harmonised data base.
Based on the research results, the project develops practical, evidence-based recommendations for biodiversity-friendly farming practices, which are compiled in a bilingual Green Farming Handbook and disseminated through existing agricultural advisory and AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Information System) networks.
Complementary objectives include strengthening societal awareness through citizen science approaches and implementing visible demonstration and conservation measures, thereby ensuring the long-term uptake and transferability of project results.
The primary target groups include farmers, agricultural advisors, research and educational institutions, local authorities, civil society organisations and the wider public in the Austrian–Hungarian border region.
We wish all project partners a successful implementation and look forward to following their progress.
