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 2020Constructed wetlands have a prominent position in wastewater treatment mainly because of their capacity to remove organic material, nutrients, pathogens and trace metals, their relatively low cost and their robustness. More than thirty local and national decision-makers, managers, university staff and NGOs working in the field of wastewater management from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro benefitted from a three-day sub-regional training dedicated to constructed wetlands, which took place in Dubrovnik on 12-14 October 2011. The training was organized by the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, within the framework of the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/ Mediterranean Environment Programme.
A 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 island of Krk in Croatia was the host of a three-day Horizon 2020 sub-regional training (4 – 6 October 2011) on integrated solid waste management in coastal areas. 22 trainees from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro attended the course in order to deepen their understanding and develop their skills in strategic planning of waste management systems in Mediterranean coastal tourist destinations.
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).
Acknowledging the need to improve the effective involvement of all stakeholders in issues linked to the de-pollution of the Mediterranean Sea, ENPI Horizon 2020 CB/MEP, organized a two-day sub-regional training course in Zagreb, Croatia on 27-28 October. Twenty three participants from the neighbouring countries of Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro and from within Croatia attended the workshop.
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.
Fifteen participants from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro attended a workshop in Zagreb, Croatia on wastewater project preparation and implementation on 19-21 October 2011. The three-day workshop was organized by the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and ACWUA with the contribution of the DABLAS Task Force within the framework of the ENPI Horizon 2020 CB/MEP project.
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.
