LIFE ENABLE is a new LIFE Preparatory project, which runs from August 2021 to July 2024. The project builds on the earlier project, ‘LIFE e-Natura2000.edu: supporting e-learning and capacity building for Natura 2000 managers’ (LIFEedu). As part of LIFEedu, an online Training Needs Assessment tool (TNA) was created and piloted.  The tool is based on IUCN's Global Register of Competencies for PA Practitioners (2016), adapted to the specific competencies required of Natura 2000 site managers.  In LIFE ENABLE, an advanced version of the online TNA tool is being developed to up-scale the LIFEedu approach: using the Competence Register, LIFE ENABLE targets the competence categories and training needs identified as being of specific relevance to Natura 2000 and Protected Area managers across Europe.

LIFE ENABLE specifically recognises the importance of and need for strong, well-developed training systems and processes, which can be applied to improve the effectiveness of management practices ‘on the ground’. It aims to strike a balance between the training needs of individuals and organisations, so that capacity building programmes can be developed and provided cost-effectively.

The new digital LIFE ENABLE TNA tool will help Natura 2000 site managers to assess their competencies and learn about their priority capacity development needs.  Using this tool, all individuals with nature management responsibilities can self-assess their training needs and use the results to plan better their future professional development actions.  In LIFE ENABLE, the new online TNA tool can also be used at team, organisational, regional, national or biogeographical levels to determine practical training needs and priorities: in turn, the analysed TNA information can be used to support the development of competence-based capacity building programmes that meet the needs of nature managers and their organisations.