SUSTAINABLE MEDITERRANEAN - MIO-ECSDE

Quarterly newsletter produced by theMediterranean Information Officefor Environment, Culture andSustainable Developmentin collaboration withthe European Environmental Bureau and the Arab NGO Network for Environment and Development

Issue no 461/2007

This issue of Sustainable Mediterranean wasfinanced by MIO-ECSDE with the support of theEuropean Commission.

Keep the Mediterranean Litter-Free!

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Pour une Méditerranée sans Déchets!

MEDITERRANEE DURABLE ñ μπø™πª∏ ª∂™√°∂π√™ ñ MEDITERRANEO SOSTENIBLE

SUSTAINABLEMEDITERRANEAN

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The MEDITERRANEANACTION DAY is an annual ini-tiative of MIO-ECSDE, funded in

part by the European Commission(through its annual activity funding ofMIO-ECSDE), for its member organisa-tions. It is a joint, small/medium-scale ac-tion conducted in many Mediterraneancountries during the last four months ofthe year.The objective of the activity is to give the op-portunity to the MIO-ECSDE member organisationsto take action in the field, locally or nationally and bemore visible to their target populations while tacklinga “hot” environmental issue of their municipality, re-gion or country.

The Annual General Assembly of the Federation de-cides on the theme of each year’s Med Action Day.For the year 2006, it was dedicated to the “Keep theMediterranean Litter Free” campaign which is a jointeffort of MIO-ECSDE, HELMEPA and Clean-upGreece with the support and partial funding of UNEPand UNEP/MAP. It is being implemented in the frame-work of the Regional Public Awareness and Educa-tion Activity related to the Management of Marine Lit-ter of the UNEP Regional Seas and the MAP Coor-dinating Unit.The objective is to strengthen the aware-ness of the decision-makers and the population bothat local and national level about the necessity to curbthe inputs of litter from land-based sources into the ma-rine environment and reduce its environmental andsocio-economic impacts.

MIO-ECSDE encouraged as many of its members aspossible to participate in the campaign, which had asits first phase the period mid-September to December2006.

Nine (9) events were organised by nine (9) MemberNGOs of MIO-ECSDE in nine (9) different Mediter-ranean countries:

La «JOURNEE D’ACTIONMEDITERRANEENNE» est uneinitiative annuelle de MIO-

ECSDE subventionnée en partie par laCommission Européenne (par le fi-nancement annuel des activités de MIO-ECSDE) pour ses organisations membres.Il s’agit d’une action de petite/ moyenneéchelle organisée en commun par un

grand nombre de pays méditerranéens pendant les qua-tre derniers mois de l’année. L’objectif de cette activitéest d’offrir aux organisations membres de MIO-ECSDEla possibilité d’agir sur le terrain, au niveau local ou na-tional, et d’accroître leur visibilité auprès des popula-tions ciblées tout en traitant d’un thème environnementalparticulièrement “brûlant” dans leur municipalité, ré-gion ou pays.

L’Assemblée générale annuelle de la Fédération choisitle sujet de la «Journée d’Action Méditerranéenne» del’année. Pour l’année 2006, celle-ci a été dédiée à la cam-pagne « Pour une Méditerranée sans déchets », organ-isée en commun par MIO-ECSDE,HELMEPA et Clean-Up Greece avec le soutien et le financement partiel duPNUE et du PNUE-PAM. Cette campagne est mise enœuvre dans le cadre de l’Activité régionale de sensibil-isation et d’éducation du public sur la gestion des détri-tus marins des Mers régionales du PNUE et de l’Unitéde Coordination du PAM. L’objectif en est de renforcerla prise de conscience des décideurs et de la populationa la fois au niveau local et national sur la nécessité de ré-duire les impacts environnementaux et socio-économiques.

MIO-ECSDE a encouragé ses membres de participer àla campagne dont la phase de lancement a eu lieu entrela mi-septembre et décembre 2006.

Neuf (9) événements / manifestations ont été organisé(e)spar neuf (9) organisations membres de MIO-ECSDEdans neuf (9) différents pays de la Méditerranée:

SUSTAINABLE MEDITERRANEAN ñ Issue no 46 - numéro 462

EDITORIAL

Egypt: Arab Office for Youth and Environment (AOYE)Italy: Legambiente - Circolo Festambiente, Istituto per l’Ambiente e l’Educazione Scholé Futuro Jordan: Land and Human to Advocate Progress (LHAP) Lebanon: AMWAJ for the EnvironmentPortugal: Etnia Spain: Mediterrània CIETunisia: Association for the Protection of Nature & Environment – Kairouan (APNEK),Turkey: TEMA Foundation

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This issue of Sustainable Mediterranean provides abrief description of these events based on the reportsand materials sent by the organising NGOs. It is asmall tribute to the efforts of these NGOs and theircapability and creativity in taking a small amount ofseed money and organising events with a significant im-pact on their target groups.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed withUNEP/MAP in order to continue in 2007 the region-al awareness campaign on Marine Litter in theMediterranean “Keep the Mediterranean Litter-Free”.Main actions foreseen are publication of the relatedposter in more Mediterranean languages, publicationof a set of guidelines addressed to all of the stake-holders that are directly or indirectly part of the prob-lem (maritime, tourism and other industries as well aslocal and national authorities, NGOs, etc.) on how toraise awareness appropriately in order to effectivelytackle the problem. Links with other Mediterraneanbeach clean-up activities, etc. will also be explored aswell as voluntary agreements with the private sector.

Ce numéro de Méditerranée Durable fournit une brèvedescription de la plupart de ces événements / manifesta-tions se fondant sur les rapports et documents envoyés parles ONG organisatrices.Il s’agit d’un petit tribut aux effortsfournis par ces ONG ainsi qu’à leur aptitude et leur créa-tivité dont elles témoignent en organisant des événements/ manifestations ayant un impact significatif sur leur audi-ence cible tout en disposant d’un petit budget.

Un Mémorandum d’Entente a été signé avec lePNUE/PAM afin de poursuivre en 2007 la campagne ré-gionale de sensibilisation sur les détritus marins enMéditerranée « Pour une Méditerranée sans déchets ».Les actions principales prévues comprennent la publi-cation d’une affiche en plusieurs langues méditer-ranéennes, la publication de lignes directrices s’adres-sant à toutes les parties prenantes, qu’elles soient con-cernées directement ou indirectement par le problème(le secteur maritime, le secteur touristique et d’autrescomme l’industrie ainsi que les collectivités locales, lesautorités nationales, les ONG, etc.), sur les moyens desensibiliser les audiences de manière a efficacement ré-soudre le problème. Des synergies avec d’autres actionsde nettoyage de plages ainsi que des accords volontairesavec le secteur privé seront également recherchés.

SUSTAINABLE MEDITERRANEAN ñ Issue no 46 - numéro 46 3

CONTENTS

The views and opinions expressed in Sustainable Mediterranean by individual contributors do not necessarily reflectthose of MIO-ECSDE or those of our sponsors.

■ “KEEP THE MEDITERRANEAN LITTER FREE” CAMPAIGNAS COMBINED WITH THE MIO-ECSDE MED ACTION DAY 2006 4

❚ EGYPT • Clean up the river Nile! 4❚ ITALY • Clean up the Ombrone river! 4❚ ITALY • Alla scoperta del Mediterraneo 5❚ JORDAN • Clean Up the Dead Sea: Keep the Coast Litter-Free 7❚ LEBANON • “Don’t throw in the Sea” 8❚ PORTUGAL • “Blue Pictures: For a Litter-Free Mediterranean” 9❚ SPAIN • “Keep the Mediterranean litter free!” radio campaign 10❚ TUNISIA • La Tunisie, les Déchets et la Méditerranée 10❚ TURKEY • Where the river Dim meets the Mediterranean 11

■ MISCELLANEOUS MEDITERRANEAN NEWS 13

❚ ENVIRONMENTAL NGO MEMORANDUM ON CAPACITY BUILDINGNEEDS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 13

❚ 3RD REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON WATER AND SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.

WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT, PROGRESS AND POLICIESZARAGOZA, SPAIN, 19, 20 & 21 MARCH 2007 15

❚ 6TH MEETING OF THE CIRCLE OF MEDITERRANEANPARLIAMENTARIANS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT(COMPSUD 6) 16

❚ ARABIC VERSION OF THE “HANDBOOK ON METHODS USED INENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND EDUCATION FORSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” 18

❚ 7TH MEDITERRANEAN HONORIFIC AWARDCALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! 18

❚ TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLECONSUMPTION FIRST INTERNATIONAL MEETINGGENOVA, ITALY • (APRIL 16-17, 2007) 18

❚ THE NEW MEMBERS OF MIO-ECSDE 19

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“Keep the Mediterranean Litter Free” campaignas combined with the

MIO-ECSDE MED ACTION DAY 2006

EGYPT

Clean up the river Nile!

[email protected]

T he MIO-ECSDE Mediterranean Action Day(MAD) 2006, jointly with the “Keep the Mediter-

ranean Litter-Free” and the “Clean Up the Mediter-ranean” campaigns were implemented in more thantwenty governorates in Egypt. AOYE chose to focusthe theme on “Clean up the River Nile” and succeed-ed in holding the events under the auspices of the Gover-nors; getting governmental support for the campaign;and securing the support of MobiNil “Mobile ServiceProvider” that partially covered the cost of producingposters, T-Shirts and Banners.

More than 2500 volunteers participated in the cam-paigns from the various governorateslocated on the Nile Basin.The main ac-tions were to clean the river banks, canalsand surroundings from the huge amountof garbage and pollutants that eventu-ally end up in the Mediterranean Sea.Also a number of meetings/forums wereheld in the various governorates on the

importance of keeping the river clean not only becauseof the benefits to the river itself but also for the bene-fit of the Mediterranean.The campaign was covered bylocal and national media and clearly identified as an in-ternational campaign that was implemented at nation-al level. It was the first year that the three campaignswere combined mostly due to the fact that AOYE is amember organisation of MIO-ECSDE and the focalpoint for Arab speaking counties in the Mediterraneanfor the Clean-Up the World campaign.

The community participation in the activities was verysatisfactory. As a matter of fact the MAD/Keep theMediterranean Litter-free campaign offered the “seed”for more targeted actions and financial contributionfrom the local and central government also in the nearfuture.

The central event, the Cairo “Main Festival” took placeat the Rod El-Farag Garden; the rest of the activitiestook place in 19 different Egyptian Governorates with-in the same week. Machinery assistance to collect the

solid waste from the middle of the Nilewas a significant contribution to thecampaign as was the very good collab-oration with the municipality servicesthat agreed to transport all of the col-lected waste to the dump.The activitiesof youths included the planting of someplants and trees.

ITALY

Clean up the Ombrone river!

[email protected]

T he initiative was organized in the framework ofthe MIO-ECSDE MEDITERRANEAN

ACTION DAY 2006 which was dedicated to the “Keepthe Mediterranean Litter-Free” campaign.

The “Clean up the Ombrone river”action lasted half a day(October 14th 2006) and involved civil society, primaryand secondary school-children, civil protection staff, etc.The Ombrone river is the second longest river of Tuscanyand marks the boundary between the provinces of Gros-seto and Siena. It crosses through the whole region and4 municipalities of the Grosseto territory: Civitella Pa-ganico, Cinigiano, Campagnatico and Grosseto and itempties into the Tirreno Sea near Principina village inthe Regional Park of Maremma.The mouth of the riveris largely polluted because of waste brought by the river.

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ITALY

Alla scoperta del Mediterraneo

SCHOLÉ FUTURO [email protected]

On the occasion of the MIO-ECSDE 2006MEDITERRANEAN ACTION DAY – Keep the

Mediterranean Litter-free campaign, the Istituto perl’Ambiente e l’Educazione (Institute for Environmentand Education) Scholé Futuro onlus, the Pianeta Az-zurro project and the magazine “.eco, l’educazionesostenibile”, in collaboration with FNAC and the Univer-sity of Trieste organised the meeting Alla scoperta delMediterraneo (Discovering the Mediterranean), whichwas held on the 8th November at Fnac in Turin.

The initiative gave the opportunity to tell people andparticularly young participants about the importanceof each and everyone’s (the individual’s) behaviour inour daily life, at home, at work, at play, etc. in order toreduce litter production and land-based activities thatcause land, river and consequently marine pollution.

The civil protection staff and the personnel of Legam-biente guided 2 groups through 2 different activi-ties/workshops:

First activity: discovering nature and the river habitat Second activity: how to manage the risk of river flood-ing; the importance of safeguarding rivers; links withthe marine environment.

A cleanup activity was organised “Clean up the riverOmbrone” with the cooperation of primary and sec-ondary schools, civil society, public bodies and the Civ-il Protection department of Grosseto.

A press conference was also organised in order to stressthe region’s problems on litter production and man-agement. The LBS protocol was mentioned as well asdata collected by the Mediterranean Observatory ofLegambiente about the main sources of marine pollu-tion in the Mediterranean.The conference was focused

on land based activities which are estimated to cause80% of the marine litter production in the Mediter-ranean basin. Press and TV were invited.

• A bookmark and poster with information on time ofdecomposition of litter was printed.

• An advertisement of the event was posted inwww.nuovaecologia.it, the online magazine ofLegambiente

• the outcomes of the events were widely dissemi-nated on the local TV and newspapers.

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During the meeting three videoswere shown and explained by tworesearchers of Trieste University,while the Ocean’s Citizen Passportwas given to each participant.Thetarget audience was mainly com-posed of students (mostly 13-14years old) but the holding of themeeting at the FNAC Store, lo-cated in the very centre of Turin, fa-cilitated and enabled the partici-pation of many citizens.

Presenting the marine litter prob-lems (prevention, reduction andelimination of this type of pollu-tion) through videos and holdingdiscussions afterwards allowed fora very interactive experience forthe participants which included al-so competent authorities.

Margherita Bersisa,Vice-President of Istituto per l’ Am-biente e l’Educazione Scholé Futuro onlus, introducedthe scope of the meeting.Afterward two researchers ofthe University of Trieste,Annarita Di Pascoli and Pao-la Frisenda, for many years now engaged in publishingand teaching and also creators of the DRD Project (Di-dactic, Research, Publication), showed the chance ofdiscovering what the Mediterranean hides in its waterand explained the risks connected to litter and othertypes of pollution.

The three videos:

“Acquacorrente”: Stefano Moretto, Istituto per l’Am-biente e l’Educazione Scholé Futuro onlus, created byVincenzo Pampararo, Clelia Nichelini, Francesca Vet-turini, Stefano Moretto e Marco Ferro.“Acquacorrente”describes the water cycle, from the glaciers to the sea,passing through the taps.A journey that helps us to dis-cover, in a profound way, how fragile water balance andquality is.

“Il mare di casa nostra”: Annarita di Pascoli, Univer-sity of Trieste Researcher, editor of Pianeta Azzurro,DRD Project.

“Inquinamento nascosto”…le alghe ci vengono in aiu-to: Paola Frisenda, University of Trieste Researcher,DRD Project. Divers’ emotions underwater, full of lifeand surprises of the Mediterranean sea. Poetries of Sa-muele Seretti accomplish a multimedia path enriched

by original music composedby Umberto Di Pascoli.Video by Furio Faidutti andDaniela D’Adda, photogra-phy by Archivio DRD Pro-ject.

During the meeting all thestudents received theOcean’s Citizen Passport, acard created during theWON - World Ocean Net-work (a network to which be-long more than 600 institutions - aquariums, sciencecentres, museums, NGOs, associations of 25 differentcountries sharing one purpose: promoting a sustainablebehaviour and a correct use of the ocean’s resources).

The collaboration with FNAC offered the opportunityto include “Alla Scoperta del Mediterraneo” (Discov-ering the Mediterranean) in its monthly calendar whichis distributed in thousands of copies all over Turin. Apress release was sent to the main local media (televi-sion stations, newspapers and radio stations) and newsabout the meeting was published in:“.eco, l’educazionesostenibile” (monthly magazine about environmentaleducation); “Torino Sette” (the most important week-ly magazine for events in Turin);“La Stampa” (nation-al newspaper) and “Subacqva” (monthly magazine fo-cused on water issues). Related information was alsopublished online at www.educazionesostenibile.it. Fi-nally, an article on the meeting was published in Jan-uary in the magazine “.eco, l’educazione sostenibile”.

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JORDAN

Clean Up the Dead Sea: Keep the Coast Litter-Free

[email protected]

L and and Human to Advocate Progress (LHAP),is currently implementing a series of national pro-

jects addressing students 10-16 years of age to educatethem about their rights and get them involved in polit-ical life with a long term goal to improve their eco-nomical, social and environmental situation. The pro-ject is functional in 8 out of 12 governorates in Jordan.The “third generation” of human rights is what the col-lective rights that touch all human beings are called,such as the right to development, right to water, rightto a clean environment, right to safe food…, etc.There-fore, within this framework, on Saturday, 23 December2006, the student parliamentarians representing 34school parliaments were invited to gather at the DeadSea to meet at the regional level and carry out a clean-up campaign.The participants, who were in total about250 people, split into three groups and each undertookto clean one site in the Dead Sea.

The work done encouraged involvement and aware-ness raising of the observers and viewers on the im-portance of keeping their coast litter-free. The mainsources of marine pollution in the Dead Sea coast comefrom domestic sources, tourism sector (hotels and daytourists) and agricultural activities.

Activities Performed:

• A Regional School Parliament composed of repre-sentatives coming from 34 school parliaments in 8 gov-ernorates with an approximate number equal to 110students parliamentarians (equal to the members of theJordanian Parliament) convened by the Dead Sea on theGreater Amman Municipality main tourist site. Themeeting which was inaugurated by HE Mr. Amer Al-Basheer, Deputy of the Greater Amman Municipalitywas also attended by other officials including HE KhalidBrak, MP of the Jordanian parliament representing theNorth Eastern Badia, HE Dr. Sabri Rbehat, formerMinister of Political Development, Mr. Halal Azzaam,Director of Education in Bani Kenanah, Mr. Moham-mad Tamimi, Director of Education of Tafileh Gover-norate, partner organizations, teachers coordinating theschool parliaments at the school levels and many sup-

porters and friends of LHAP making the total numberof participants about 250 persons. The meeting startedby welcoming speeches delivered by:• Mr. Ziyad Alawneh, LHAP president• Mr. Halal Azzaam, Director of Education, Bani

Kenanah/ Irbid Governorate• HE Mr. Khalid Brak, Jordanian MP• HE Dr. Sabri Rbehat, former Minister of Political

Development• HE Eng. Amer Al-Basheer, Deputy Amman

Mayor

During the meeting the Jordanian charter was distrib-uted to every participant, a song on human rights wasperformed by Ajloun / Halawah Girls Secondary Schooland then a 10 minute play was performed by RawdatBasma Girls in Badia tackling the issue of how fami-lies perceived the school parliament concept.After that,Parliamentarians met first and elected among them-selves a president, two deputies and two assistants.Themeeting which was solely run by the student parlia-mentarians discussed issues at the school level as wellas issues of national importance.The meeting was con-cluded by an awards ceremony.

• A Clean up Campaign of three sites in the Dead Sea:This activity aimed to promote the interaction of theschools with their community in the framework of the

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3rd generation of human rights which call for a clean en-vironment and invites people to protect and care fortheir natural resources through enhancement of par-ticipation. 250 caps and an equal number of T-shirtswere distributed to students, teachers and supporters.This activity shows how students and particularly stu-dent parliamentarians can interact with their own com-munity through performing an action that can be repli-cated and inviting the public to take care of their sur-rounding environment.

LHAP follows the strategy of implementing actions us-ing the method “Fun with Education” to encourage stu-dents and get them involved in the process. Having themeeting by the Dead Sea and inviting students from 8governorates, was very exciting for them.The method-ology of nominating parliamentarians was democratic.Directors of education were advised that each schoolparliament meet and nominate a fixed number of par-ticipants and this was done for the majority. The ma-jority of the schools that participated, including theiradministration, saw the benefits gained out of this prac-tical experience of exercising one’s rights, being involvedin the political process of the country while practicing

responsibility and commitment to nature through thecampaign performed by all the participating students andsupporters.

The students were very excited about what they weredoing. They were all very willing to contribute to thepreservation of the beauty of their coasts and translat-ing this will through exercising their duties and rights.As parliamentarians representing a wide range of stu-dents, they raised various related issues with their ad-ministration.

LEBANON

“Don’t throw in the Sea”

AMWAJ of the Environment [email protected]

On 6/11/2006 AMWAJ of the Environment held ameeting at its center in Beirut in preparation for

the Campaign “Don’t throw in the sea”, organised inthe framework of the 2006 MIO-ECSDE Med ActionDay dedicated to the “Keep the Mediterranean Litter-free” campaign. This meeting brought together LEF(Lebanese Environmental Forum), campaign membersand a representative of Ayoub Graphics Est.The workprogram was proposed to organize the national cam-paign to stop dumping waste into the sea.

Ayoub Graphics Est. was in charge of leaflets, postersand other printed materials needed for this campaign.On 14/11/2006 a media conference was held in LEFcenter to launch the campaign with representation ofmedia groups and local environmental NGOs.A Speechwas given by the general secretary of AMWAJ Mr.Malek Ghandour, the Chairman of LEF Mr. Refaat

Sabaa and the expert Dr. George Abou Jawdeh, focus-ing on the objectives of this campaign, and the impactson the marine environment from dumping thousands oftons of waste in post war Lebanon in the sea.

On 30/11/2006 AMWAJ organized a seminar in Beirut.Lots of environmental organizations, NGOs and mu-nicipalities participated in it. The aim was to informabout the campaign and efforts than can be made tominimize the amount of waste ending up in the Beirutdump and eventually the sea.

On 15/12/2006 a tour was made with reporters to theDump of the OuzaiBeach, west Beirut inter-national Airport, wherethe mountains of debrisfrom the destroyed build-ings caused by the last Is-raeli war in July 2006, roseso quickly. One Millionand a half cubic metersmixed with concrete,plas-tic,metal, cartons, soil andglass, with lots of chemi-cals from the bombingsand lots of POPs and

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medical wastes. It is also a main source of dangerous tohuman health and the marine environment substancessuch as: dioxins, heavy metals, etc. During the tour itwas identified that the campaign (Don’t throw in the sea)had begun to give its first results: vehicles and workershad begun separating the materials. Workers gatheredmetal on the beach in order to pack it and export itabroad, cartons which were to be used again was sepa-rated for transport to local companies.As for the soil itwas to be moved far away from the beach.

The general manager of transportation Mr. Abed ElHafez Koubaisi said: the responsibility of compilingsuch materials is the job of coast guards, but the job ofthe ministry of transportation, is to find sites to gatherthese materials and then move it to sites in Jiyeh, faraway from the sea, where they can be treated to use inconstructing streets and buildings.

PORTUGAL

“Blue Pictures: For a Litter-Free Mediterranean”

ACE - Associação Cultural [email protected]

T he activity for the MIO-ECSDE Med Action Day2006 was combined with the “Keep the Mediter-

ranean Litter-free” Campaign. More than 20 coastallocal authorities were approached in order to assist inhosting photo exhibitions with the title “Keep theMediterranean Litter-free”, spreading the initiative’sgoals and possibilities. A press conference was held toannounce the initiative.The organization also produceda poster and an electronic-leaflet.

Two pictures received the “Blue Pictures’ Special Men-tion” award. It is hoped that this was but the first exhi-bition and that in 2007 a second round with an evenbetter reaction from local/regional communities willfollow.

As it happens quite often in Mediterranean social andcultural environments, the search for active participa-tion of the citizen in community educational and aware-ness-raising initiatives and campaigns is not an easytask.Therefore, ETNIA believes that in the case of ma-rine litter, more than just a single and isolated action arerequired to succeed in having a real impact. Launch-ing a regular initiative combining the cultural with theenvironmental aspects would be the most appropriateaction.

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SPAIN

“Keep the Mediterranean litterfree!” radio campaign

MEDITERRÀ[email protected]

F rom November 20th till December 30th 2006,Mediterrània-CIE broadcasted a “Keep the

Mediterranean litter free!” radio campaign, contribut-ing to the MIO-ECSDE Action Day program. Thebroadcasting was in Catalan covering the whole of the4 provinces in Catalunya: Girona,Tarragona, Barcelonaand Lleida, since this is the most common language inthe region.The main purpose of these messages was toinform and sensitise people about the litter problem ofthe Mediterranean sea, the effect on marine and coastalflora and fauna, populations of endangered species, theresponsibilities of human activities such as commercialand sport fishing, the role of resorts and other touristfacilities and the use of Mediterranean waters as a gi-gantic litter reservoir.

Initially, this campaign was supposed to last only 10days, but in the end Mediterrània-CIE managed tobroadcast it for 40 days!

Statistics, actual facts, anecdotes and short stories werethe main issues of the messages. Using common every-day conversations three different broadcasts were cre-ated:

1. Some kind of contest asking someone what thingsone can do in order to improve the Mediterranean

sea’s quality. Using a little bit of sarcasm the pointwas made about how we would never imagine whatthe direct impact on the ocean’s situation can befrom some common things we do.

2. A simple conversation between a father and his sontalking about the human impact on the sea, givingsome actual facts about litter and how similar theyare to big disasters such as the one of “Prestige”.

3. Another conversation between a father and his sontalking about how many garbage men exist in dif-ferent cities, and then talking about how manygarbage men are along the Mediterranean ocean,making the son realize the big problem littering canbe, since there are no garbage men for the ocean.

The campaign targeted everybody, the wider public withits varying interests and different levels of knowledgeon the issue.The common denominator was that they allshare something: they live their every day lives on theMediterranean shore, and they just have to look after it.

The Mediterrània-CIE team suggested the campaignand decided the issues to talk about. Once the ideaswere clear, the professional broadcasters were contactedin order to formulate a more realistic and convincing ma-terial. With Mediterrània-CIE’s ideas, these profes-sionals then created the campaign in Catalan.

■ The average time for each broadcast was 25 seconds.■ The radio broadcaster Mediterrània-CIE worked

with belongs to the group “Antena 3”, a very im-portant broadcaster in Spain, using 2 different radiostations:❚ “40 principales” (entertainment)❚ “SER” (information)

■ The broadcast frequency was enough to make thepoints clear, but not too much so as to annoy ouraudience: twice daily on two different stations.

TUNISIA

La Tunisie, les Déchets et laMéditerranée

APNEK–Tunisia,[email protected]

L e 15 Décembre 2006, à l’Institut Supérieur desMathématiques Appliquées & de l’Informatique

(ISMAI), dans le cadre de MedActionDay (Journée

d’Action pour la Méditerranée promue par le MIO-ECSDE avec le soutien de l’Union Européenne et duPAM célébrée dans 13 pays méditerranéens) s’est tenueune journée d’information sur les efforts conjugués dela Tunisie en matière de gestion rationnelle desdéchets visant principalement l’implication de la pop-ulation estudiantine dans l’action environnementale etla gouvernance des déchets.

Cette rencontre qui se déroulait en public nombreuxet en présence du gouverneur de la région, du SG duRCD, du recteur de l’université de Kairouan et des in-vités Aïssa Baccouche,Adel Hentati et Leila Berrari, aété initiée par le président de l’APNEK M.Ameur Jeri-

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TURKEY

Where the river Dim meets theMediterranean

TEMA [email protected]

TEMAFoundation (the Turkish Founda-tion for Combating Soil Erosion,

for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habi-tats) held a clean-up activity in Alanya on November3rd 2006 despite the bad weather.The Dim River Basinis one of the most visited places of Alanya attractingnational and international visitors. Recently it has beenobserved that the number of buildings on the coastlinehas dramatically increased in a haphazard way and with-

out appropriate infrastructure. Thus the Dim River isincreasingly polluted as is the coastline.This, in combi-nation with the serious soil erosion problems in the areawas what made TEMA organise the Med Action Day2006 event in this area and in combination with the“Keep the Mediterranean Litter-free” campaign.

di et co-organisée par l’université de Kairouan avec lesoutien du gouvernorat de Kairouan a permis de met-tre en avant les points forts de la Campagne Régionaledu PAM «Pour une Méditerranée sans déchets»

Cette initiative interagit de bon aloi avec les orientationsdu Programme du Président Ben Ali pour la Tunisie deDemain, véritable plan quinquennal exécutif dedéveloppement durable (2005-2009) accordant à la luttecontre la pollution, la promotion de la qualité de la vie,et au partenariat national et méditerranéen tout lemérite qui leur revient.

L’APNEK à la triple dimension locale, nationale et ré-

gionale s’est toujours distinguée par ses actions enmatière de défense de l’environnement et de souci dedurabilité du développement et par sa présence activeet significative dans les réseaux et les manifestions lesplus importantes de la société civile de la Méditerranée.

Messieurs Ameur Jeridi et Mohamed Ali Drissa ont signé un protocolede partenariat entre l’APNEK et l’Université de Kairouan.

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In preparation to the “Clean Up” event, the aim ofwhich was to raise awareness on the issues:• the local press was informed about the event and

the poster made for the event was sent to them. En-

gin Ozdemir, representing TEMA in Alanya for thisproject is a primary school teacher, therefore he hadgiven in-class trainings to his students and to a fewother schools.

• the mayor was informed about the event, and aboutthe regional character of the campaign with its glob-al dimensions.

• an invitation poster was published and distributedby volunteers to the local schools, hotels, shops, etc.

• local residents were invited to take part in the actionthrough newspaper announcements.

• a presentation was given to 60 students at Mumin-ler Primary School and 250 students and their teach-ers at Alantur Primary School before the event.

• big trash bags were secured for the event. EnginOzdemir had a meeting with Alantur Hotel in thearea and persuaded them of the significant contri-bution of the hotels and other tourist facilities in thearea to the burdened by litter ecosystem. The hoteladministration supported the effort by providingpersonnel and rubbish bags.

• A song was composed for the action to attract es-pecially children’s attention to the environmentalproblems given that the participants were mostlyprimary school students.

The event was covered by the following media: Mem-leketim Alanya Newspaper, Yeni Alanya Newspaper(Ahmet Gülcan,Mithat Kara),RADIO FLASH,AlanyaPostası Newspaper (Osman Dogançay), Alanya TV(Ülkü Nural), www.anadolubasini .com

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Preamble

This text identifies priority areas for capacity buildinginterventions that are necessary or useful for NGOsworking on issues of environment and sustainable de-velopment (and civil society as a whole) in the countriesof the South and East Mediterranean in order to bemore efficient, productive and constructive in theirwork.Although this memorandum has been drafted onthe basis of a brief consultation undertaken within thecontext of how NGOs of the region can contribute ef-fectively to the implementation of Horizon 2020, theproposals included herewith extend even beyond theHorizon 2020 initiative.

It should be noted, however, that without parallel pol-icy and institutional reforms in the countries, capacitybuilding interventions for NGOs as “stand alone” ac-tions will not bear the expected fruits.

Preliminary identification of how NGOs of theSouthern and Eastern Mediterranean countriescan perform better as environmental advocates,monitors and providers of services

The main contribution of NGOs to Horizon 2020 couldbe in the following areas:

◆ informing public opinion and influencing decisionmaking (from the regional all the way to the local lev-el)

◆ contributing to the necessary procedures and help-ing the achievement of the needed consensus for re-forms and long term sustainability

◆ promoting effective governance (transparency, ac-countability, etc.)

◆ effectively participating in project implementation(targeted thematic areas)

The first three areas require that NGOs are capable of

increasing awareness and catalyzing institutional changeswhile the last one requires that NGOs can also be reli-able partners and acquire expertise and experience inrunning projects in specific thematic areas.

The aforementioned activities focus mainly at nation-al level. However, a set of coordination actions will beneeded at regional (Mediterranean) level in order tosecure coherence and comparability of the outcomes.

1. Identification of priority areas of interventionin terms of strengthening the role of NGOs incatalyzing institutional changes (including inthe areas targeted by Horizon 2020)

NGOs need to be strengthened in terms of their:

1. ability to access useful information and increaseknow-how on key institutional issues.This links withthe level of in-house expertise necessary to respondappropriately and rapidly to questions and requestson issues of their competence by other stakeholders,e.g. local authorities, as well as by citizens.

2. ability to formulate, articulate and convey their opin-ion in a convincing way and engage effectively innegotiations. This relates directly to NGOs’ abilityto enhance value-added relations with other stake-holders and the society at large by effectively ad-dressing them and ultimately by changing mentali-ties as well as by influencing policies and accelerat-ing implementation.

3. ability to mobilize resources for their proper oper-ation and for their activities.

4. capacity to develop, adapt and fulfill the prerequi-sites of appropriate functioning of a civil society or-ganisation (democratic governance, accountability,representativity, legitimacy, transparency, organiza-tional capacities, representation/visibility). For anNGO to achieve the above at an adequate level re-quires a lot of effort and support.

MISCELLANEOUS MEDITERRANEAN NEWS

ENVIRONMENTAL NGO MEMORANDUMON CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

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5. ability to function within the given “environment”in their countries (political, legal/institutional, so-cio-cultural and economic).This defines e.g. the de-gree to which civil society can engage effectively inenvironmental issues. It is linked with their specificneeds and affects the capacity of NGOs to gain ac-cess to information, mobilize resources, associate,participate or engage in governance issues and pro-vide basic service to its target groups.

Some basic types of capacity building intervention:❯ workshops (regional and national), study visits and

residential workshops❯ manuals/kits, brochures, CD-ROMs, etc.❯ web products including best practices, e-forums and

e-courses❯ effective networking❯ provision of technical support on legal, managerial

and other issues❯ specific targeting of involved youth (next leader-

ship)❯ trainings between North and South Mediterranean

NGOs (exchange of staff)❯ twinning actions among NGOs from the region e.g.

developing joint work programmes on issues of mu-tual interest

❯ support to Mediterranean NGO networks in un-dertaking internal capacity building activities fortheir members and in operating antenna offices inthe South and East

❯ joint seminars for local actors, e.g. NGOs, local au-thorities and other stakeholders, on exercising inconsensus building.They may use as subject themesspecific issues of H2020 such as water supply andsanitation, etc.

❯ joint seminars for NGOs, local newspapers/journal-ists, etc. for development of local communication(newspaper coverage, radio/TV broadcasts) on is-sues central to H2020

2. Identification of needs in terms ofstrengthening the role of NGOs in thethematic areas (sectors) of Horizon 2020

In terms of capacity building in specific sectors e.g. onwater, waste, energy, etc., existing specialized regionalbodies (NGOs and others) can undertake the role ofidentifying the capacity needs and provide/share theexpertise for capacity building. The point of referencewill be activities suitable to be implemented by NGOsand other similar groups (participation in managementbodies/committees, awareness campaigns, non-formaland informal education, capacity building among NGOs,monitoring e.g. of water quality, etc., guarding of pro-tected sites, etc.) within the projects of Horizon 2020.The contribution and role of specific target groups: e.g.business, chambers, trade unions, youth, etc. could beconsidered within the same scheme as well.

3. Regional activities

The development and implementation of a regionalframework encompassing all of the abovementioned isnecessary in order to secure a minimum of standards andprerequisites and to introduce a set of appropriate in-dicators for capacity building at national level.

A Regional Public Participation Action Plan for Hori-zon 2020 with national agendas for implementationshould be developed to secure regional coherence andcoordination. This would include:1. a set of guidelines for capacity building2. a set of indicators3. one or two “demonstration” national plans4. a report on the implementation, to be drafted in co-

operation with the competent authorities and thecoordination unit of Horizon 2020.

The report on progress made, based on the set of indi-cators to be developed specifically would be useful andeffective in (a) assessing the contribution of civil soci-ety in the implementation of Horizon 2020 and (b) indetermining the progressive strengthening of the roleof civil society in the countries of the region.

To determine the level of capacity needs in 1-5 above on a country by country basis in theMediterranean requires further investigationbased on a combination of interviews, work-shops, focus group discussions, question-naires, etc.

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Taking into account the point of view of NGOs as water users

■ Making available safe water for drinking and sani-tation as a basic human need is not only a technicalproblem but also a social challenge encompassingissues of ownership, human rights, individual andcommunity rights; management concerns includingthe issue of water wastage, the burden of repair andmaintenance of existing infrastructure; issues of re-sponsibility and participation including the choiceof options, lack of accountability, corruption; meth-ods and procedures for water resources allocation,etc.

■ Public participation is crucial in achieving sustain-able management of water resources:❚ current processes that marginalize civil society

and crucial groups (e.g. women) that play a vitalrole in building sustainable communities and in-tegrated water policies and which do not facili-tate their participation in national and local pol-icy schemes, must be reversed.

❚ Public participation in decision-making and par-ticipation to review, monitor and evaluate qual-ity of services provided will ensure transparency,fair distribution and equal treatment of users andtherefore good governance.

■ Knowledge about water through public awarenessand education for sustainable development must beenhanced at all levels in order to effectively imple-ment integrated water resources management andminimise gaps and divergences.

■ The absence of policy coherence within and amongvarious government departments and the little orno coordination among various agencies and actorsis a serious hindrance. National water dialogues withthe participation of NGOs are crucial for integrat-ed water resources management and minimisationand rationalisation of water demand.

■ The protection and conservation of water ecosys-

tems and restoration of those that have been de-graded and destroyed, such as wetlands, is a prima-ry concern. The ecosystem approach should be in-tegrated into water resource management policies atall levels. Rivers, lakes, wetlands, forests and all oth-er freshwater ecosystems are not just sources of wa-ter to secure water supply, they are habitats for awide variety of plant and animal species. Theseecosystems also perform valuable services for hu-man societies such as moderating floods anddroughts, act as buffer zones purifying water andsustaining fisheries. Hence nothing but a holistic in-tegrated ecosystem-based approach will suffice inaddressing these issues.

■ Innovative approaches in involving the private sec-tor (including SMEs) should be introduced andmeaningful PPPs should be encouraged.The adverseimpacts of resource privatisation and over-ex-ploitation call for firm regulations and strong en-forcement.This will help conserve and improve thecurrent rural and urban environments and to pro-mote corporate social accountability, responsible in-vestment and good practices in private business.

■ The donor community must pay more attention tosmall scale water management and service provi-sion options, which should be replicated and up-scaled. In small scales the NGO contribution couldbe critical and beneficial for all stakeholders.

■ The vital role of water resources in rural and urbanlivelihoods should be appreciated as water is an es-sential resource for reducing vulnerabilities throughattaining food security, alleviating poverty, enhanc-ing people’s health and opportunities for recreation.Sustainable water management is a vehicle in recti-fying environmental and social injustices (includinggender aspects) and achieving sustainable produc-tion and consumption patterns, whilst ensuring eco-nomic and social innovation and development. Therole of NGOs in such a management should not beonly symbolic. It could make a significant differencein many cases.

3RD REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEANWATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT, PROGRESS AND POLICIESZaragoza, Spain, 19, 20 & 21 March 2007

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The 6th Meeting of the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamen-tarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD 6) took placeon 3-4 May 2007, in Corfu Island,Greece,with the participationof 30 MPs from 15 countries and representatives of Interna-tional and Regional organisations and NGOs.

The Meeting was organized by MIO-ECSDE and GWP-Medthat jointly serve as the COMPSUD Secretariat, and was fi-nancially supported by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairsand the European Commission.

The COMPSUD 6 meeting focused on:1. Possible ways to strengthen the dimensions of sustainable

development and of Integrated Water Resources Manage-ment (IWRM) in regional political processes such as theEuro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neigh-bourhood Policy,the Horizon 2020,the Mediterranean Strat-egy for Sustainable Development, etc. and in particular onthe role of MPs in promoting such processes, in coopera-tion with governmental and non-governmental partners.

2. The cooperation of COMPSUD with other parliamentarybodies in the region and particularly with the Euro-Mediter-ranean Parliamentary Assembly and the Arab Parliament.

3. The following should be highlighted:• The participation and proven interest of the Greek Min-

ister of Foreign Affairs,Ms.Dora Bakoyannis as well asof the Secretary General of the recently establishedArab Parliament, Mr. Adnan Omran. Moreover, theChairs of the Environment and Water ParliamentaryCommittees of Lebanon, Portugal and Greece partici-pated at the meeting.

• The suggestion made by MPs and the acceptance by theGreek Minister of Foreign Affairs to financially supportmeetings of COMPSUD in Corfu Island biannually.Thismeans that every second year the COMPSUD meet-ings will be organized in a Mediterranean country oth-er than Greece (meetings were already held in Egypt,Greece, Lebanon, Spain and Turkey) and every otherin Corfu.

• The invitation to COMPSUD by the European Com-mission representative Mr.Andrew Murphy to becomeMember of the Steering Committee of the Horizon 2020Initiative.

• The invitation to COMPSUD by UNDP representativeMs. Mirey Atallah to participate in the new project ofPetersberg-Africa.This project is now being prepared byUNDP/GEF and aims to enhance synergies betweenAfrican stakeholders and build capacity on issues of In-tegrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Par-liamentarians and media from the African sub-regions(including North Africa) are also in the focus of suchactivities.

• The above indicates the recognition that the Circle re-ceives.A key challenge ahead is to use the COMPSUDin a dynamic way at the national level, through the Par-liaments, for the promotion of IWRM principles in lawmaking and to assist country implementation of regionalprocesses.

Corfu Declaration

We,Parliamentarians coming from 15 different Mediterraneancountries, present at the 6th Annual General Assembly of theCircle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Devel-opment (COMPSUD) held in Corfu, Greece (3-4 May 2007),adopt unanimously the following declaration:

1. While overviewing the achievements of the first decade ofthe 21st century,acknowledge that,despite the vision and frame-work set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) sev-en years ago and despite the initiatives and efforts invested byinternational organizations and the Governments of the region,there is still a considerable gap between the time-bound tasksand targets of the various relevant processes and the achieve-ments realized.

2. In particular,we express our anxiety about the deteriorationof living conditions in parts of the Mediterranean region dueto the exacerbation of armed conflicts as well as the high pres-sures exerted on natural resources resulting,among others, fromincreasing population, higher climate variability, expansion ofdesertification and unsustainable models of production andconsumption.

3.We are convinced that the promotion of Sustainable Devel-opment in the countries of the Mediterranean Region dependson a set of prerequisites that still need to be fulfilled, amongwhich of priority are:a) The removal of the root causes of armed conflicts and wars

through the honest implementation of the UN resolutions,conventions and declarations.

b) The coordinated action of governments and their increasedcooperation on issues of management of shared and na-tional resources in consultation with competent stakehold-ers including the civil society.

c) The systematic provision of information on Education forSustainable Development (ESD) with emphasis on educa-tion on sustainable consumption (ESC) to all concernedstakeholders, including elected representatives.

d) The creation of suitable conditions for women and the in-creased recognition of their role and participation in soci-ety, especially filling existing gaps;

e) The enhancement of the role and active involvement ofMPs, acting beyond governments and political parties, inorder to strengthen democratic processes in the countriesof the region, particularly on issues important for develop-ment, employment, environment and education.

4.We are convinced that the major socioeconomic humanitar-ian problem of illegal migration to and through the Mediter-ranean is closely linked to serious problems and pressures onenvironment and natural resources in the countries of Sub Sa-haran Africa.We urge all Mediterranean countries and the EUto implement policies assisting the aforementioned countries ineffectively address these problems.

5.We emphasize that the effective management of national andshared water resources must become an integral part of allcountries' efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs). Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM),

6TH MEETING OF THE CIRCLE OF MEDITERRANEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

(COMPSUD 6)

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an approach that takes account of competing water needs inan equitable,efficient and sustainable manner, is recognised asthe appropriate response to the challenges faced.IWRM shouldbe reflected in all national development planning instrumentsand budgets as well as the plans of sectors such as agriculture,energy, industry,health etc.Activities within the MediterraneanComponent of the EU Water Initiative (MED EUWI), theGEF Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Large MarineEcosystems, the joint Petersberg Phase II / Athens DeclarationProcess on Shared Water Resources Management and otherprocesses,contribute to these objectives and should be strength-ened.Water should be recognised as a critical area and shouldbe placed higher in the EU agenda as well as in the operationalprogrammes of EU and Mediterranean countries.Furthermore,acknowledging the Petersberg Africa Process (facilitated byUNDP/GEF) and recognizing the potential for exchange ofexperiences between COMPSUD and Parliamentary networksin Africa we express the willingness of COMPSUD to partici-pate in the Petersberg Africa Process.

6.We call all countries to ratify and implement the Kyoto Pro-tocol and to participate in the international action for reducingpollutants causing climate change.To this end we strongly sup-port the development of Renewable Energy Sources in theMediterranean, which has sun and wind as some of its promi-nent features and encourage governments and the Commis-sion to place renewable energies in the centre of their energypolicies in the region as well as to enhance research on globalwarming effects on the Mediterranean.

7. We urge governments to introduce innovative instruments,including 'green' investment, in order to promote their policiesand effectively protect the natural resources, in particular wa-ter and forests.

8.We strongly recommend enhancing regional cooperation toshare visions,experiences and good practices that can bring so-cieties and concerned stakeholders closer, increasing their syn-ergies and speeding-up the processes towards the achievementof the Millennium Development Goals and the creation of a sus-tainable future for the Mediterranean and the continents sur-rounding it. In this spirit, we call for a more effective coopera-tion between parliaments and environmental movements.

9.To this respect, we applaud the relevant work of Parliamen-tary bodies, such as the Euro-Mediterranean ParliamentaryAssembly, the Inter Parliamentary Union, the ParliamentaryAssembly of the Council of Europe, the Mediterranean Par-liamentary Assembly etc., that promote a coordinated action ofelected people from different countries and regions towardscommon goals and we recommend COMPSUD to strengthenthe links with these bodies,particularly on issues related to En-vironment and Sustainable Development.

10.We endorse the efforts undertaken by the European Com-mission under the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) andwe expect that a sufficient level of funding within the Euro-pean Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) shouldbe earmarked for environmental integration both at regionallevel of implementation (Regional Strategy for the Mediter-ranean) and at the national level (National Action Plans).

11. We fully support the Horizon 2020 Initiative to de-pollutethe Mediterranean and express our wish to see the proper im-plementation of the agreed operational programme, in coop-eration with all relevant partners and in particular with

UNEP/MAP, supported politically and with adequate fundingfrom the EU and other sources.To this end it is crucial that allMediterranean countries ratify the “Land-based PollutionSources” Protocol of the Barcelona Convention. The role ofcivil society and other stakeholders in the Horizon 2020 pro-gramme should be instrumental.In this framework,COMPSUDshould respond to the call of the European Commission and beinvolved actively in the Steering Group of Horizon 2020.

12. We reiterate our suggestion that the Euro-MediterraneanPartnership (EMP),the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP)and the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument(ENPI) as well as all countries and institutions involved, mustbe fully supportive of the relevant recommendations of the Sus-tainability Impact Assessment of the Euro-Mediterranean FreeTrade Area (SIA EMFTA).

13. We call on governments to introduce and discuss TradeAgreements in Parliaments.

14. We call that the provisions of the Mediterranean Strategyfor Sustainable Development are fully streamlined with thoseof the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.

15.We call for sub-regional cooperation of neighboring Mediter-ranean countries on designating Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas(PSSA) in specific parts of the Mediterranean Sea including inparts of the Adriatic-Ionian.

16.We welcome a Mediterranean Strategy for Education for Sus-tainable Development (ESD) along the lines of the Strategyon ESD already agreed by the majority of the Mediterraneancountries within the framework of the UNECE; such a strate-gy should pay particular attention to the growing unsustain-able consumption in the region. This strategy should be con-sidered as an addendum to the MSSD elaborated in the frame-work of the Barcelona Convention.

17.We urge that the role and work of the Mediterranean Com-mission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) being one ofthe rare regional examples of advanced form of consultation andgovernance needs to be upgraded, strengthened and enrichedby inputs from the region's Parliamentarians. It should be ex-amined if MCSD could be used as a monitoring body of theEMFTA implementation.

18.In view of the Greek Presidency of the Euro-MediterraneanParliamentary Assembly in 2008, we recommend thatCOMPSUD becomes available and acts as think tank and sup-portive mechanism for the most in-depth and effective workof the EMPA in areas covering the protection of the environ-ment and sustainable development.

19. We welcome the organisation, within COMPSUD activi-ties, of Biannual Meetings of Mediterranean Parliamentariansin Corfu Island, under the aegis of the Greek Ministry of For-eign Affairs that would review progress achieved and identifyways for parliamentarians to assist such processes.

COMPSUD by its nature is firmly committed to work with allother relevant Parliamentary Bodies, International Organiza-tions and networks and contribute to all regional initiatives pro-moting the Sustainable Development of the MediterraneanRegion.

For information on COMPSUD 6 in French please visit:http://www.mio-ecsde.org/article.php?story=20070713024440968

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We are happy to announce that the publi-cation “Handbook on Methods used in En-vironmental Education and Education forSustainable Development” by M. Scoullosand V. Malotidi (produced already in Eng-lish and French) has been recently pro-duced also in the Arabic Language and isnow available to download at www.me-dies.net in the ‘publications’ section of thewebsite. MEdIES e-members should use

their username and password to downloadthe publication. (Those who are not MEdIESe-members need first to subscribe to thewebpage to get their username and pass-word (it’s free!!).

Please disseminate this announcement toany other Arabic speaking educators thatmay be interested.

Mediterrania CIEand the Mediter-ranean InformationOffice for Environ-ment, Culture and

Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) are callingfor candidates to be considered for the 7thMEDITERRANEAN HONORIFIC AWARD, whichis given to innovative projects relating to issues aboutenvironment and sustainable development in theMediterranean. Deadline for applications is 15/04/2007.

This award is open to all those organisations in theMediterranean region working in the field of the pro-tection of the environment, culture, as well as on sus-tainable development issues.This year, any innovative,successful campaigns on raising awareness about issuesrelating to environment and sustainable developmentcan be submitted. Visit http://www.mio-ecsde.org/filemgmt/visit.php?lid=245 for the submis-sion form.

ARABIC VERSION OF THE “HANDBOOK ON METHODS USED IN ENVIRONMENTALEDUCATION AND EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”

7th MEDITERRANEAN HONORIFIC AWARDCall for submissions!

The thematic issue of Sustainable Consumption andProduction (SCP) is addressed at international levelthrough the “Marrakech Process”, launched at the FirstInternational Meeting of Experts on SCP held in Mar-rakech (June 2003), as a response to the recommenda-tions of the Johannesburg Summit, where governments,international organisations and civil society were en-couraged to develop a “10-Year Framework of Pro-grammes in support of activities and initiatives to ac-celerate the shift towards sustainable consumption andproduction”.

In order to make progress in the development of a 10-year framework of programs for Sustainable Consump-tion and Production (SCP), a system of thematic TaskForces and lead countries was set up addressing specif-ic issues related to SCP (eco-efficiency, green procure-ment, cooperation with Africa, sustainable lifestyles, sus-tainable tourism,sustainable building and construction.).

During the 14th Session of the UN Commission on Sus-tainable Development (CSD14, New York, May 2006),Italy launched a thematic Task Force on Education forSustainable Consumption.

TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTIONFIRST INTERNATIONAL MEETINGGenova, Italy ñ (April 16-17, 2007)

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Casa dei Diritti Sociali – Focus(http://www.dirittisociali.org)

NGO ❚ Italy ❚ Full Member

Casa dei Diritti Sociali– Focus is an ItalianFederation of associa-tions founded in 1985

for the promotion of citizenship, raising awareness of

consumers and protecting the environment. It is involvedin dissemination of information and education and train-ing with many of its local branches engaged in such cam-paigns, actions and projects. Most important projects atthe moment are “A modo Bio” (Living organically)which is about food, health organic agriculture and thelinks with natural resources protection and waste man-agement and “Io e Te” (You and Me) about sustainabledevelopment in coastal areas and towns (Gaeta).

THE NEW MEMBERS OF MIO-ECSDE

The link between education and consumption origi-nates from the consideration that behaviour changesand the acquisition of critical awareness represent keyelements in the path towards new sustainable produc-tion and consumption patterns. The objective of theTask Force is to identify and to create adequate syner-gies between regional and international initiatives andto promote the development of activities and pilot-pro-

jects with a particular reference to developing coun-tries. For more information go to http://www.minambi-ente.it/index.php?id_sezione=1935

The Chairman of MIO-ECSDE will be at this first meet-ing as coordinator of MEdIES and will Chair the ses-sion entitled “The Mediterranean: initiatives and futureperspectives”.

Association du Réseau Méditerranéenpour le Développement Durable(ARREMED)NGO ❚ Tunisia ❚ Full Member

ARREMED was established in 2003and is based in Tunis. The main ob-jectives of the association are: toraise the awareness of the public andparticularly of youth about the dif-

ferent concepts, methods and means for sustainable de-velopment in order to better participate in the protec-tion of the environment; initiate and participate in com-munity projects particularly in poor and underprivi-leged areas so as to better the conditions of work andquality of life in general; protect natural resources andbiodiversity in view of achieving a sustainable devel-opment, etc.

Makhzoumi Foundation(http://www.makhzoumi-foundation.org)

NGO/Foundation ❚ Lebanon ❚ Corresponding Member

The Makhzoumi Foundation, estab-lished in 1997, is a private Lebanesenon-profit organization contributingthrough its programs to civil societydevelopment in Lebanon. Their over-

all aims are to achieve:

➜ More literacy and IT experience to be able to ridethe globalisation tide

➜ More men & women contributing to the economi-cal growth of Lebanon

➜ More entrepreneurs and new businesses created ➜ More environmental awareness through a greener

and cleaner Lebanon ➜ More cultural & educational venues available to all ➜ More preventive treatments and better medical care.

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The Mediterranean Information Office for Environment,

Culture and Sustainable Development, is a Federation of

Mediterranean Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

for the Environment and Development. MIO-ECSDE acts

as a technical and political platform for the intervention of

NGOs in the Mediterranean scene. In cooperation with

Governments, International Organizations and other socio-

economic partners, MIO-ECSDE plays an active role for

the protection of the environment and the sustainable

development of the Mediterranean Region.

Background

MIO-ECSDE became a federation of Mediterranean NGOs

in March 1996. Its roots go back to the early 80s, when the

expanding Mediterranean membership of the European

Community encouraged the European Environmental Bureau

(EEB) to form its Mediterranean Committee supported by

Elliniki Etairia (The Hellenic Society for the Protection of

the Environment and the Cultural Heritage). The

Mediterranean Information Office (MIO) was established

in 1990 as a network of NGOs, under a joint project of EEB

and Elliniki Etairia and in close collaboration with the Arab

Network of Environment and Development (RAED). The

continuous expansion of MIO-ECSDE’s Mediterranean

NGO network and the increasing request for their

representation in Mediterranean and International Fora, led

to the transformation of MIO-ECSDE to its current NGO

Federation status. Today it has a membership of 105 NGOs

from 24 countries.

Our Mission

Our mission is to protect the Natural Environment (flora and

fauna, biotopes, forests, coasts, natural resources, climate) and

the Cultural Heritage (archaeological monuments, and

traditional settlements, cities, etc.) of the Mediterranean

Region. The ultimate goal of MIO-ECSDE is to promote

Sustainable Development in a peaceful Mediterranean.

Major tools and methods

Major tools and methods used by MIO-ECSDE in order

to achieve its objectives are the following:

m Promotion of the understanding and collaboration among

the people of the Mediterranean, especially through their

NGOs, between NGOs and Governments, Parliaments,

Local Authorities, International Organizations and socio-

economic actors of the Mediterranean Region.

m Assistance for the establishment, strengthening, co-

operation and co-ordination of Mediterranean NGOs

and facilitation of their efforts by ensuring the flow of

information among relevant bodies.

m Promotion of education, research and study on

Mediterranean issues, by facilitating collaboration between

NGOs and Scientific and Academic Institutions.

m Raising of public awareness on crucial Mediterranean

environmental issues, through campaigns, publications,

exhibitions, public presentations, etc.

MIO-ECSDE Profile

Contact InformationPOSTAL ADRESS: Kyrristou 12, 10556 Athens, GreeceT: +30210 3247267, 3247490 • F: +30210 3317127

E: [email protected] • W: www.mio-ecsde.org

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SUSTAINABLE MEDITERRANEAN - MIO-ECSDE