The Programme consists of a three-year series of courses entitled "Sharing Expertise for the Conservation of Peatlands in Eastern Europe" and has been organised by the Peatland Biodiversity Consortium and funded by the U.K. government.

In 1998 and 1999, 31 peatland specialists from 10 Central and Eastern European countries visited Scotland to complete the three week Darwin Initiative course.

1. The first training course of the Darwin Initiative Peatland Biodiversity Programme was attended by four people from Poland (Marta Kaczynska, Jadwiga Sienkiewicz, Robert Stanko and Leslaw Wolejko). The course took place at the University of Stirling (Scotland) in October of 1998 (pictures from 1998).
2. The second course was a chance for three people from Poland to exchange their experience on mire conservation (Maria Herbichowa, Jacek Herbich and Wiktor Kotowski). It took place in August of 1999 (pictures from 1999).
3. The final Scottish course of the current three-year Programme was held in Dundee in August 2000. The Polish participants were: Joanna Fiedler and Helena Bartoszuk (pictures from 2000).

The Programme has also funded 13 follow-up workshops organised by these delegates in their countries. The first two workshops in Poland were:

1. "Introducing effective policies for the conservation of mire biodiversity in Poland" (organised in Lagów by Marta Kaczynska, Jadwiga Sienkiewicz, Robert Stanko and Leslaw Wolejko);
2. "Mire conservation in northern Poland in the context of land use and spatial planning" (organised in Wizna by Maria Herbichowa, Jacek Herbich and Wiktor Kotowski).
3. The third workshop is planned for November 2000.