For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020This initiative is funded by the European Commission through DG EuropeAid.
For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020A sub-regional Horizon 2020 training course on transboundary pollution took place in Zagreb, Croatia on 21-22 October 2011. The two-day training course was organized by the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and ACWUA with the title “Transboundary pollution- from policy to cooperation” and was attended by 21 participants from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. It targeted professional water managers and decision-makers from water authorities, ministries, industries, NGOs and other competent bodies as well as university staff.
The first half of 2011 has been especially fruitful regarding the groundwork for investment projects. More specifically: Four feasibility studies are currently being prepared or carried out for the investment projects in Lake Burullus/Kafr El Sheikh (Egypt), Al Ekaider (Jordan), Al Ghadir (Lebanon) and Lake Bizerte (Tunisia). MeHSIP-PPIF has completed the pre-feasibility study stage of another two potential investment projects in Egypt (in Alexandria and Marsa Matruh).
Stern preventive measures need to be taken if industrial pollution is to be curbed in the near future. In response to this reality, a Horizon 2020 CB/MEP capacity building training course took place in Beirut on 29-30 September 2011 and another in Ramallah on 2-4 October 2011. At the core of both trainings were the principles of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) based on the application of an integrated environmental approach to the regulation of industrial activities. The courses also introduced the Cleaner Production (CP) concept which is considered to be an efficient tool for implementation of Best Available Techniques (BAT).
The Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme wrapped up for the summer with a sub-regional training in Tirana, Albania (7-8 July 2011) where more than thirty participants from various public bodies of Southeast Europe gathered to be trained on “The implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) as a means to promote environmental integration”. In partnership with the third phase of the GEF International Waters: Learning Exchange and Resources Network (GEF IWLEARN3), the Horizon 2020 two-day workshop attracted participants from Albania, FYROM, Kosovo and Montenegro.
ENPI-SEIS has already conducted country visits to the following five partners in the South: Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Palestinian Authority and Israel. These two-day visits brought together existing country networks, which manage environmental information, to identify country-specific elements and needs related to SEIS components (content, infrastructure, institutional cooperation), to obtain feedback on country specific needs and readiness for SEIS implementation in the priority areas identified, to formulate possible pilot actions if the country expresses interest to do so, as well as to contribute to the further priority development and possible identification of common indicators. After the visits, the National Focal Points in each country will prepare together with EEA a country report, including concrete lists of actions to be implemented. This report is a key element for the development of SEIS in the neighbourhood countries since it is designed to engage the country in reflecting on the current state-of-play and future development needs of the three SEIS components.
Olive oil production and poultry farming were at the centre of the latest national training course organized in Albania within the framework of the Horizon 2020 CB/MEP project. The two-day training course (30 June- 1 July) introduced trainees to the best environmental practices and cleaner technologies with the overarching goal to minimize the environmental impact of the olive oil and poultry farming sectors.
The Hot Spot Inventory for the West Balkans and Turkey launched under Horizon 2020 in September 2010 to complement the existing inventory for the Southern Mediterranean countries covered by MeHSIP, was completed in June 2011. Together with the countries, the project aimed to identify environmental hot spot investments and appropriate funding sources that will significantly contribute to the de-pollution of the Mediterranean by 2020.
Introducing sustainability to the management of industrial areas was the focus of a Horizon 2020 training course organized in Montenegro. The two-and-a-half day course (27-29 June 2011) focused on the environmental impacts of industrial areas on the Mediterranean Sea and on the tools and measures necessary to mitigate these. The participants were Montenegrin professionals working on coastal zone management or in industrial areas, sourced mainly from local and national environmental regulatory bodies, industry and academia.
