REC News
REC joins UNEP missions Three REC employees recently served as members of the UNEP/HABITAT Balkan Task Force on two missions, sent to assess the environmental effects of the recent war in Yugoslavia. Alexander Juras, the REC's deputy executive director (pictured above, far left) and Robert Atkinson, head of the REC's NGO Support and Capacity Building programs, served on a mission to NATO-bombed industrial sites in Serbia and Kosovo. Mira Mileva, the REC's Biodiversity Program manager, participated in a mission to assess damage to nature and biodiversity in Yugoslavia.
Balkan launch
After the end of the recent conflict in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, it has become clear that concern for environmental issues should be a large part of the reconstruction process throughout the region of South Eastern Europe. In response, the REC made seven recommendations to the European Union Environment Council in June and has launched an initiative to begin acting on at least two of these to address immediate needs in the region.
The REC hopes to begin its efforts by conducting a physical assessment of Yugoslavia and its environs and then aligning its work plans with those of other international donors in order to provide effective short-term assistance and to avoid a duplication of efforts. Once the needs of the South Eastern European region are clearly understood, the REC will begin pursuing projects that will provide assistance for sustainable reconstruction in the mid- and long-term.
Toward this end, the REC has developed the South Eastern Europe Development of Environmental Society (SEEDES) Initiative, which will support "environmental civil society" in the region through direct assistance to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and free media. It will also encourage increased public participation in environmental decision-making. The REC's experience has shown that environmental issues offer communities a forum for recognising common interests and developing unified methods of reconciliation and cooperation.
Additionally, the REC will direct activities in the region to support institutional capacity-building, create strong legal systems and encourage the continuing development of multi-stakeholder dialogue on environmental issues in South Eastern Europe into the future. In the longer term, the EAP Task Force at the REC has begun laying the foundation for the development of a comprehensive environmental action plan for South Eastern Europe, which will be discussed at a Consultation of Environment Ministers at the REC in 2000.
(For info, contact: Jennie Braswell
Hot from Helsinki
At a July 24 meeting between environment ministers from the EU applicant countries and the EU's Informal Council on the Environment held in Helsinki, Finland, most Central and Eastern European (CEE) ministers mentioned the REC's work related to EU accession. The REC was also recognised as a key mechanism for assisting the South Eastern European countries during a discussion that followed a presentation by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) about the consequences of the war in Yugoslavia. Jernej Stritih, the REC's Executive Director, and Miroslav Chodak, managing the REC's EU Accession, EAP Task Force and Local Initiatives programs, participated in the Slovenian and the Slovak delegations respectively.
More help for local managers
From July 6-9, the REC's head office in Szentendre hosted a training workshop entitled Application of Environmental Management System (EMS) Principles to Urban Management. Organised by the United Nations Environment Program's International Environmental Technology Center (UNEP/IETC) and the REC's Japan Special Fund, the meeting was a follow-up to a workshop under the same title that took place in 1998 which attracted participants from across the globe. The main purpose of this workshop was to improve the skills and understanding of Central and Eastern Europeans working on implementing EMS at the urban level. Participants were introduced to the legal requirements of EMS, initial environmental reviews and how to do them and environmental management plans and how to compile them, using fictional environmental problems. The training program was conducted by consultants from Canada and South Africa with presentations by experts from Lithuania and the UK.
