Tag Archives: H2020

May9

Horizon 2020 and SWIM-SM address the burning issue of treated waste water re-use and the need for innovative and adaptable technologies

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Horizon 2020 and SWIM-SM address the burning issue of treated waste water re-use and the need for innovative and adaptable technologies

Source: H2020

Given the scarcity of water resources in the Southern Mediterranean Region, one of the highest in the world, a new paradigm is required that will consider non‐conventional water resources – mainly recycling of agricultural runoff, re‐use and storage of treated wastewater, and desalination using renewable energy – as an asset to be managed as part of the country’s integrated water resources management framework.

This integrated approach would not only increase water availability for specific purposes that is hygienically safe, ecologically sustainable and beneficial for society as a whole, but also contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation of its impacts through greenhouse gases reduction of.

In recognition of the above, a sub regional training was held in Tunis, Tunisia from 10-13 April 2012 within the framework of ENPI Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/MEP and Sustainable Integrated Water Management – Support Mechanism (SWIM-SM) projects. The course was launched by Mr. Stefano Corrado of the EU Delegation to Tunisia.

The four day training brought together practitioners, managers and decision-makers from water and wastewater authorities, environmental agencies, health departments, in addition to junior university staff in fields related to desalination and waste water treatment. The initiative brought together thirty four participants from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia.

The training introduced participants to state-of-the-art wastewater treatment and reuse schemes, including Best Available Technologies (BAT) in rural/local areas, adaptable treatment technologies and effluent standards for various reuse purposes, while highlighting the risks involved. Special emphasis was given to artificial recharge with treated wastewater technologies, and their role in wastewater reuse schemes, as well as on the state-of-the-art in desalination processes and their economic, energy and environmental impacts.

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Apr26

Addressing challenges at the European Maritime Day: Reducing marine litter for the sake of the environment… and blue growth?

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Addressing challenges at the European Maritime Day: Reducing marine litter for the sake of the environment… and blue growth?

Source: H2020

The Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme in cooperation with Seas At Risk and Waste Free Oceans, within the framework of the European Maritime Day, will hold an event under the title “Reducing marine litter for the sake of the environment… and blue growth?” The event will focus on the economic implications of marine litter and will shed ample light on the ways marine litter affects key sectors that rely on the marine environment.

The European Maritime Day is celebrated every year in May, across the European Union to showcase the importance of the sea and oceans for our everyday life. This year, Gothenburg (Sweden) is hosting the 5th edition of the European Maritime Day Conference where a great number of participants will gather to discuss the opportunities and challenges currently faced by maritime regions and sectors across Europe: from tourism and fisheries to maritime transport and climate change. The main focus of the conference will be on “Sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and the coasts”. The European Commission is the organizer of the event, with the government of Sweden, Region Västra Götaland and the City of Gothenburg acting as local partners.

The event will act as a platform for dialogue offering the opportunity to a wide range of stakeholders, from policy makers to NGOs, industry representatives and local authorities, to exchange views and experiences on all related challenges, providing a holistic approach on the issue and focusing on an array of challenges relevant to the concept of ‘blue growth’. The event also aims to outline the need for setting ambitious reduction targets by Member States by July 2012 under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

The event will take place on the 22nd of May, 10.00-11.30 and the list of speakers includes:

  • Mr. Anders Flanking, State Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Sweden.
  • Prof. Michael Scoullos, University of Athens, Team Leader of Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme (H2020 CB/MEP), Chairman of the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE).
  • Dr. Monica Verbeek, Executive Director of Seas At Risk (SAR).
  • Bernard Merkx, Project Manager, Waste Free Oceans (WFO).
  • Mrs Monica Jägholt Gripp, President of Kommunenes Internasjonale Miljøorganisasjon (KIMO).

Find more info on the event here

Back-to-back with the European Maritime Day and within the framework of H2020 CB/MEP the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) and ACR+, in collaboration with UNEP/MAP are organizing an intensive training on Minimizing Marine Litter in the Mediterranean, 21-23 May, 2012 with trainees from most Mediterranean countries.

 

Apr20

Reporting progress and proposing follow-up for de-polluting the Mediterranean by 2020

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Reporting progress and proposing follow-up for de-polluting the Mediterranean by 2020

Source: H2020

The Steering Committee of the Horizon 2020 Initiative to de-pollute the Mediterranean by 2020 met in Barcelona on 19 April 2012 for its 5th meeting since 2008, bringing together the majority of the participating country representatives and the key regional environmental actors such as the European Commission, the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat, the Mediterranean Action Plan of UNEP and its Regional Activity Centers, the European Investment Bank, regional associations of local authorities, NGOs, and others.

The focus of the meeting was on progress achieved in the Horizon 2020 components, namely investments for pollution reduction; monitoring, review and research; and capacity building, financed mainly by ENPI funded projects. Replication and environmental mainstreaming were also discussed on the basis of the collaborative efforts between three ongoing programmes Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (MedPartnership), Sustainable Water Integrated Management Support Mechanism (SWIM-SM) and H2020 CB/MEP. The state of play with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was outlined as well as perspectives for the future. In addition, the progress and evaluation of UNEP/MAP’s National Action Plans to address land-based pollution were presented.

Marta Subirá, Director General for Environmental Policy of the Generalitat de Catalunya welcomed the participants while Rafiq Husseini of the UfM Secretariat said about H2020, which is a UfM flagship initiative, “On a regular basis during the implementation of an initiative such as the H2020, we should always ask ourselves – and attempt to answer- four fundamental questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be next year? How do we get there? And, how do we know that we have gotten there?”

Nick Hanley, Head of the International Relations and Enlargement Unit in DGENV of the European Commission, pointed out that “By addressing concrete actions with our projects we’ve managed to continue cooperation under Horizon 2020 throughout this period of sweeping change”.

The day before the Steering Group, two other H2020 meetings took place. The third meeting of the H2020 Capacity Building Sub-Group assessed the implementation of its work programme so far and took decisions for the next steps to be taken till 2014. An expert group also met in the framework of the ENPI Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) in order to formulate a set of indicators for monitoring de-pollution progress.

Find here the final documents of the meetings.

Apr11

Horizon 2020 wastewater management workshop in the “home of the karst”

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Horizon 2020 wastewater management workshop in the “home of the karst”

Source: H2020

Split, Croatia hosted a Horizon 2020 workshop on “Linking waste water management to ICZM and IWRM with emphasis on karstic coastal areas”. More than 30 professionals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro gathered in the area known as the “home of the karst” to participate at the four-day sub regional training on 19-22 March 2012.

The workshop was organized within the framework of the ENPI Horizon 2020 CB/MEP project, by the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and in partnership with the Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC) of the United Nations Environment Programme/ Mediterranean Action Plan.

Acknowledging the need for thorough understanding of the very vulnerable to pollution karst environment in the region, the course succeeded to improve this knowledge and the interconnectivity between surface and groundwater in karstic areas. It tapped on the issues of relevant regulatory frameworks, precautionary measures and technical solutions for wastewater treatment in karstic areas. Trainees learned about degrees of vulnerability of karst water resources and their sustainable use and elaborated on the sensitivity of karstic media in terms of spatial/physical planning. The trainees were wastewater managers, decision makers from central and local authorities, university staff and professionals from the private sector.

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Mar30

5th Horizon 2020 Steering Committee Meeting and side meetings: Reporting progress and proposing follow-up for de-polluting the Mediterranean by 2020

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5th Horizon 2020 Steering Committee Meeting and side meetings: Reporting progress and proposing follow-up for de-polluting the Mediterranean by 2020

Source: Horizon 2020

The 5th Meeting of the Horizon 2020 Steering Committee, the 3rd meeting of its Capacity Building Sub-Group, as well as a meeting of the RMR Working Group on Environmental Indicators will take place in Barcelona from 18-19 April, 2012. The meetings will be hosted at the premises of the UfM Secretariat.

The focus will be on progress achieved in the Horizon 2020 components, namely investments for pollution reduction; monitoring, review and research; and capacity building, financed mainly by ENPI funded projects.

Replication and environmental mainstreaming will also be discussed on the basis of the collaborative efforts between the MedPartnership, SWIM-SM and H2020 CB/MEP. The state of play with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) will be outlined and perspectives for the future will be discussed. In addition, the progress and evaluation of UNEP/MAP’s National Action Plans to address land-based pollution will be presented.

More information

Jan17

Horizon 2020: film presenting waste and water projects

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Horizon 2020: film presenting waste and water projects

Source: Horizon 2020

The Horizon 2020 initiative aims to tackle the top sources of Mediterranean pollution by the year 2020.

This film presents two projects co-financed by EU funding aiming at helping Southern Mediterranean countries to tackle their top sources of pollution. It is based on two main examples: a recycling programme of domestic waste in Tunisia, and an urban waste water project in Morocco.

 

Jan9

Training on Mediterranean Public Private Partnership schemes in Water Infrastructure

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Training on Mediterranean Public Private Partnership schemes in Water Infrastructure

Source: Horizon 2020

This three-day long regional training course was organized in Amman, Jordan (19-21 December 2011) and was a collaborative effort of two ENPI funded projects, the H2020 CB/MEP and the recently launched Sustainable Integrated Water management (SWIM) project. Twenty five high-level professionals from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, oPt and Tunisia attended the course.

The main objective of this training course was to deepen the participants’ know how on the concept of PPP for different projects, their capacity to identify risks and risk sharing methods as well as their implications, always within the context of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). The course consisted of four main parts: (1) Background and type of PSPs and selection methodology, (2) Enabling environment, risk management and allocation, (3) Financial considerations and modeling, and (4) Case studies.

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Jan2

Curso de formación de la iniciativa H2020 sobre banca verde en el Mediterráneo

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Curso de formación de la iniciativa H2020 sobre banca verde en el Mediterráneo

Fuente: CP/RAC

La banca verde fue el tema del curso de capacitación regional que tuvo lugar en Barcelona los días 22 y 23 de noviembre en el marco de la iniciativa Horizon 2020 y en conjunto con el 5º Foro Mediterráneo de la Economía Verde (ECO MEDA GREEN FORUM 2011 ).

El objetivo del seminario de dos días era promover la integración del medio ambiente en todos los sectores económicos mediante el fortalecimiento de las capacidades de los bancos e instituciones financieras de la región para promover y aplicar mecanismos y productos de banca verde.

Leer artículo completo en CP/RAC

Dec16

Learning to apply ecosystem-based management in the Mediterranean

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Learning to apply ecosystem-based management in the Mediterranean

Source: Horizon 2020

A two-day regional training course on “Ecosystem-based management in the Mediterranean”, took place in Athens on 15-16 December 2011. It was organized by the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) and WWF MedPO, in collaboration with UNEP/MAP, within the framework of the EU funded Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme. It was hosted by the University of Athens (UoA) and supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change.

More information

Dec14

Organising greener events in the Mediterranean

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Organising greener events in the Mediterranean

Source: MedPartnership

On 14 December 2011, the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) and UNEP/MAP’s Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) held a Mediterranean workshop on organizing events in line with sustainability principles. Both the EU funded Horizon 2020 CB/MEP and the Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (MedPartnership) supported the workshop as well as the development of the main tool used, the Sustainable Events Toolkit for the Mediterranean.

Targeting relevant staff from inter- and non-governmental organizations, private enterprises (travel agencies, hotels, event organizers) and even some public institutions, the workshop brought together 42 participants from Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

The workshop introduced participants to the notion of sustainability in events’ management, presented the impacts and benefits of holding a ‘green’ event and outlined concepts such as the “Life Cycle” approach and carbon and water footprints. Given that most of the trainees are involved in events management at a professional level, the course was delivered mainly through exercises and the Sustainable Events Toolkit for the Mediterranean. The latter is a web-based tool which provides a useful selection of means, resources and examples to help make all types of meetings (from small workshops to large scale international conferences) more sustainable (http://www.sustainableeventstoolkit.net). Here a step by step checklist takes the user through the key elements of organizing an event, examples of sustainable events are posted, as well as a selection of sustainable events guidance and standards and an interactive map to find sustainable suppliers in the region.

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