Project News

Project: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional environmental authorities to implement the environmental aquis

NOTE from Project Advisory Committee meeting
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development - MESD, Bucharest 19.06.08
Please see Minutes of Meeting


Second Multi Country workshop a success
The workshop was held in Istanbul, 14-16 May 2008, read more about it   here.


Project: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional environmental authorities to implement the environmental aquis

NOTE from the 3rd Project's Steering Committee Meeting - Ministry for Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction, Zagreb 25.05.08
The meeting was opened by MEPPPC project coordinator, Mrs. Biserka Puc, who gave the short overview of envisaged project activities and so far achieved project results.

Sanja Tisma (IMO), head of Croatian team, presented last year's results which have all been realised according to the project plan. Furthermore, she presented the basic results: 4 proposals of Urban Environmental Management Plans in the towns of Cakovec, Split, Virovitica and Zadar, as well as joint recommendations of all working groups for the continuation of activities which were initiated with this project.

Mr. Claus Werner Nielsen (COWI), Project leader gave the short overview of basic findings and results of the final joint workshop in Istanbul, as well as the proposals the project team will prepare in the Final Report and submit to the European Commission. The recommendations are dedicated to the proposal for the continuation of the work on the project, especially related to the implementation of proposed programmes and the continuation of training for other towns in four countries which do not have enough knowledge and experience on integral environmental management.

After the presentation the heads of working groups in urban pilot areas expressed their satisfaction with the gained knowledge and skills and stressed the use of the document, which can after smaller changes be adopted by town councils.

According to the Environmental Protection Act, such Environmental Management Plans are the obligation of all big towns (more than 35.000 inhabitants) and for all county centres. Since no sub-laws or ordinances with detailed content or instructions are foreseen, this project presents basic knowledge and guidelines for future developers.

All project results will be at the following web site until the end of 2008 http://www.cowiprojects.com/4CountryEnvironmentalProject/index.html

Sanja Tisma, Project leader for the Republic of Croatia.


Project: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional environmental authorities to implement the environmental aquis

NOTE from Project Advisory Committee meeting No 3
Ministry of Environment and Water, Sofia 15.04.08
Please see Minutes of Meeting


Project: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional environmental authorities to implement the environmental aquis

NOTE from the Central Steering Committee meeting - Ankara 30.11.07
The participants were from Ankara, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) as the coordinating body and the Province Bank. In addition, all the pilot cities were participated too. (Provincial directorates of MoEF and Bursa Metropolitan Municipality).

Opening speech was made by Mr. Cengiz Baykara and empahize that they were happy to see the concrete improvements of the pilot cities regarding the preparation of environmental management plans. Additionally, he stated that achievements gained during the process of the project will be very useful for the whole environmental negotitations process within the EU accession partnership requirements. The preparation of EMPs in the pilot cities and determination of the needs for the legislation revisions will reflect the level of implementation of the EU Acquis and these outputs will be a base for national dissemination.

Presentation on the improvements in the pilot cities made by Ms. Nuran Talu, The Deputy Team Leader (DTL). From her travels to the pilot cities after the first trainings, she collected beneficial datas, inventory and information for EMPs. Furthermore, she concluded that for the issue of determination of the indicators and targets, pilot cities are generally weak. She also pointed out that Bursa is more productive than the other pilot cities.

Participants from the pilot cities were stated that although the trainings are useful, the basic issue is the implementation which is hard for them because of the legislation problems caused by the unbalanced distribution of the responsibilities.

Mr. Claus Werner Nielsen, Team Leader informed the participants regarding to guidelines for the revision of existing legislations and the national dissemination strategy. Another topic was the venue, date and the agenda of the second Multi Country Workshop (MCW). The proposal was to held the MCW in Istanbul and it was concluded by Mr. Baykara to held this workshop in Istanbul is approprate for MoEF.

Lastly, information given on the second training workshop and then the meeting was closed.


Project: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional authorities to implement the environmental aquis, EU Ref: EUROPEAID/121813/C/SV/Multi

NOTE from the Project Advisory Committee meeting No 2 - Sofia 14.06.07
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Jordan Dardov, Deputy Minister of Environment and Water.
Main topics of the agenda were:
1. Conclusions from Capacity Review Report, Presented by Mikhail Stoyanov
2. Conclusions from the Multi-Country Workshop in Bucharest, presented by Soren Johnsen
3. The National training program - presented Mikhail Stoyanov.

The following main comments were expressed on the Capacity Review Report:
- Plovdiv was satisfied with the report. Plovdiv has already made a EMP, so the second will be more detailed and address more issues.
- Blagoevgrad found the report very useful and important. It gave a good input to what the city should do to improve the organisation of their environmental unit.
- The environment related responsibilities of the City Architect should be arranged with the relevant legislation - coordination between EPA and the Territorial Planning Act need to be improved.
- There is no excuse for the experts in the environmental departments not to speak English. (Mr Dardov)

The closing conclusions of the Chairman were as follow:
- The Pilot Working Groups should be not only a formal unit, but should have practical use. The PWG should keep working after the end of the project.
- The project should propose the ways to overcome communication problems between the Cohesion Policy division at MoEW and the municipalities.
- Utilisation of the funds available at OP Environment is an important objective. It will improve municipal capacity for implementation of environmental projects.
- The focus of the UEMP should be on the OP Environment priorities. Other options for financial support should be explored too  PPP, programmes at the Ministry of Finance, etc.
- The project team and the Ministry should be in close contact on the issue of funding, and the ministry will support the project team.

Mikhail Stoyanov, DTL - Sofia.

Project: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional environmental authorities to implement the environmental aquis (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey)
2nd meeting of the Project's Steering Committee - Zagreb, 21 June, 2007

NOTE from the meeting
The purpose of the meeting was to report on the work implemented in the period February  June 2007 and to agree on the activities to be concluded by December 2007. Ms. Mira Medic, Assistant Minister opened the meeting and greeted the participants. She confirmed the standpoint of the MEPPPC on the significance of the integral approach to environmental protection in towns, with regard to adjustment of Croatian legislature with EU Directives. Ms. Medic stressed that the project is being undertaken in the time of overall management decentralization to local/regional authorities. She also mentioned that the new Law on Environmental Protection prescribes the development of environmental management plans at local level.

Project Team Leader for Croatia, Dr. Sanja Tisma, informed the participants on the activities implemented by the end of June:
(i) Working groups for the development of environmental management plans for the towns of Split, Zadar, Virovitica and Cakovec have been organised.
(ii) Training needs assessment questionnaire has been prepared and distributed to working groups.
(iii) The first round of meetings on the information on projects in towns has been completed.
(iv) Institutional analysis on local and national level has been developed.
(v) Legal base for the development of EMP in Croatia, the interaction of EMP and other strategic and planning documents at national, regional (county) and local level have been presented.
(vi) Training needs assessment has been developed.
(vii) Capacity review report has been developed.
(viii) Training programme has been developed.
(ix) The towns' representatives participated at the workshop in Bucharest.

Dr. Tisma informed the participants on the activities (training plan and programme) to be performed by the end of 2007.
Mr. Soren Johansen - Team Leader informed the members of the Steering Committee in more details on the workshop in Bucharest and conclusions and recommendations for the development of EMP at the level of towns.
The participants of the international workshop reported on their experience and concluded that the workshop was very satisfactory. They found especially useful the examples of EMP.
Moreover, the members of the Steering Committee expressed their agreement with the results of Capacity review report and Training needs assessment.
Ms. Mira Medic, Assistant Minister, commented the proposed training programme: in her opinion the training is too extensive (for example: it is not necessary to cover the themes like CBA and project preparation). She asked the programme to be revised so that more international examples and concrete knowledge on EMP development are included. She stressed that EMPs will be developed in the scope of the project and finalised before the new Law on Environmental Protection is adopted. Therefore, she proposes that the project ensures a solid base for the development of EMPs at the level of towns, in spite of the fact that there are no legal grounds for EMPs to be voted for at the city council.
The Assistant Minister proposes that the developed EMPs be the base for future work.
Sanja Tisma, Ph.D. - Team Leader for Croatia

NOTE on the second meeting of the Advisory Committee for the project in Romania
The second meeting of the Advisory Committee for the project in Romania took place in Bucharest, on 13.06.07, at the location of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable development (MESD).

The meeting was cheered by Mrs. Daniela Toparceanu - Director of the Plans and Programs Department within the MESD.

Mrs. Daniela Toparceanu announced the meeting agenda and invited the participants (international team leader, local consultants, representatives of the pilot zones from EPA-s and City Halls) to present them self.

She also stressed the importance of the meeting and of the project in general in order to sustain the environmental management of Romanian cities in accessing financial resources, especially European funds.

Mrs. Luminita Stefanescu - deputy team leader - presented the content of the Capacity Review Report, respectively the institutional evaluation and the training needs assessment. The presentation covered some practices of management of the urban environment in Romania. The choice of the trainees, the criteria for evaluating their knowledge and experience and the conclusions of the report were also presented.

Mr. Soren Johnsen - International team leader - has presented the conclusions of the First International Workshop held in Bucharest, on 21-23 May.

He shows that Romania has to implement an integrated management of the urban environment based on good elaborated Plans. For implementing these plans it is very important to obtain the political commitment of local administrative authorities stressing that good integrated plans could attract European founds. Also networking with other cities with different experiences and conditions is vital for achieving of a good urban planning.

Mrs. Luminita Stefanescu continued with the presentation of the National Training Program, elaborated on the basis of the general training plan and the identified local training needs; organizational elements, respectively the number of local training sessions, their duration and locations as well as those of national workshops have been specified.

The discussions concentrated on the need of more implication of the administrative authorities in the environmental planning and concluded that local training sessions have to be opened by the local mayors or vice-mayors. Another conclusion was that there is a need for strengthening the relations between the Central Environmental Authority and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administrative Reform. The MESD representative has promised to perform the needed actions.

At the end of the meeting Mr. Soren Johnsen has announced the changes agreed within PIP and the possibility to prolong the project till March 2008. Finally, he thanked in the name of the whole project team, for participation and for the support assured by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.
(19 June 2007)

First Multi Country workshop a success
The workshop was held in Bucharest, 21-23 May 2007, read more about it   here.
See the detailed programme   here.
(6 June 2007)

Steering Committee meeting held in Romania
The first meeting of the project Steering Committee in Romania was held on 21.03.07, in Bucharest, at the MEWM location.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Silviu Stoica - general director of Structural Founds Department. He welcomed the project, the consultants - team leader Soren Johnsen and the national team, as well as the representatives of the pilot areas, coming from local environmental agencies and city halls. He also underlined the importance of the project in creating better abilities for managing environmental problems and helping cities in accessing new financing resources.

Mr. Soren Johnsen - team leader - made a presentation of the project scope, objectives and outputs, as well as the working methodology. His presentation was followed by interventions of the local environmental agencies which summarised their activities in producing and monitoring the implementation of Action Plans for Environment at county level.

The discussions focussed on the need of more involvement of local administrative authorities in the environmental planning and concluded that developing EMP-s for urban areas will be a good chance to create a platform of understanding, political and administrative support for environmental issues. To become really useful, the futures EMP-s have to be adopted by the City Councils.

Finally, it was decided that each pilot area will nominate 10-12 members in working groups which will benefit of training. Testing knowledge and experience of future trainees will take place in April and will be followed by the elaboration of the national training programme.
(28 March 2007)

Spring has come to Sofia
The first of March is the first day of the spring season in Bulgaria. Although the snow gloomed from the top of the Vitosha Mountain, it was 14 degrees in Sofia and the cafes had invaded the pavements.

An old tradition makes Bulgarians 1^st of March giving each other small presents made of red and white, symbolising the wish of health and fortune. It's called "Martenitsa". Such Martenitsa were also presented to the participants of the first Project Advisory Committee meeting at the Ministry of Environment and Water. The meeting was opened by the deputy minister Mr. Jordan Dardov, who stressed that the project was extremely important for Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria, § 79 of the environmental law requires the municipalities above 30,000 inhabitants to make a Programme for Environment Protection. One of the main topics of the meeting was therefore how this project could interlink with the work in the municipalities related to these Programmes.

The meeting was the kick off for the project in Bulgaria, and the capacity review has therefore now been initiated in the two pilot towns - Plovdiv and Blagoevgrad
(20 March 2007)

Steering Committee meeting held in Croatia
The first meeting in the project Steering Committee of Croatia was held the 7th of February.
Apart from the Ministry of Environment & Physical Planning, the four pilot area towns and the Consultant, representatives from the Delegation of the European Commission, Central State Office for Development Strategy, Fund for Environment Protection and Energy Efficiency, Fund for Regional Development, Federation of Association of Towns and Municipalities, and NOBILIS (an NGO) also participated.

Assistant Minister of the Directorate for Nature Protection, Ms. Suzana Tarnik, opened the meeting and introduced the project to the relevant stakeholders on the national and county level emphasizing its significance for four pilot areas (Virovitica, Cakovec, Zadar and Split). Project Team Leader Mr. Soren Johnsen (COWI) presented contents, goals, outputs and activities of the project including the description of project organization and planned activities. Participants were also introduced to project web portal.

The Steering Committee meeting was followed by the meeting of representatives of four chosen pilot areas Virovitica, Cakovec, Zadar and Split. The next steps of the project were introduced and discussed.
(23 February 2007)

Steering Committee meeting held in Turkey
The first meeting in the Steering Committee of Turkey was held the 9th of January. The Ministry and the Provincial offices participated but the 4 municipalities from the selected pilot areas did not participate since the project has not yet been introduced to them. That will take place the coming weeks. The ministry expressed their full support to the project and stressed the importance of the fact that the municipalities should not just be trained but the training should be a supplement to the authorities development of an Environmental Management Plan.
(18 January 2007)

Inception Meeting held with DG Environment
Tuesday the 14th of November the project Core Team met with DG Environment Project Manager Mr Jorge Antunes Pinto to agree on project implementation. The activities during Inception Phase was agreed and the next meeting was planned to be the 9th of March 2007. By then meetings with all Steering Committees in the 4 countries should have been held and Capacity Assessment been performed.
(15 Nov. 2006)

Contract signed and inception meetings underway
The Commission, DG Environment, has awarded the contract to an international consortium led by COWI which includes Carl Bro, Milieu, BCC, IGH, IMO, ICIM and MedConsult. The inception meeting with DG Environment is planned for 14 November 2006.

Subsequent inception meetings in the four countries Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey are planned in November and December 2006. National Steering Committees need to be established in each country. One of the first tasks in the project will be to determine which parts of the environmental acquis need to be focused on during the project.

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