The  project addresses the lack of accessible tourism options in the Estonia-Latvia border area for people with disabilities, limited mobility, or other special needs (families, elderly people, people with mental impairments). 

The project aims to advance a network of accessible gardens, parks, and nature sites, increase the number of accessible garden tourism options, and promote sustainable tourism. 

The expected outcome is an increase in the number of tourists visiting the region, especially form new target groups, generating employment opportunities and contributing to the local economy. 

The project’s outputs include a common standard for accessible garden tourism development, an online accessible Garden Pearls web-page, and training for stakeholders in the garden tourism industry. In addition, the project will undertake 13 pilot initiatives and 4 general investment activities to enhance and assess the accessibility of gardens and parks in the Garden Pearls network. Based on the pilots jointly developed solution will be implemented in 17  gardens. 

The project’s novelty lies in its approach to combining garden tourism and accessibility, which is a unique selling point for the region. 

The cross-border approach is necessary to share best practices and jointly tackle accessibility challenges faced by many gardens and parks in the Estonia-Latvia Programme area.