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EECCA countries directory

– a catalogue of environmental networks and data sources in these countries has been established on the UNECE server in the frame of the current Tacis project. The catalogue has been prepared in close cooperation with the European Environment Agency. It is bilingual (English and Russian) and it contains details of officials responsible for main subject matters on environmental monitoring and information management as well as records of environmental data sources in EECCA. The catalogue is being completed and updated. More information

The EEA/UNECE Workshop on Results of and follow up to, the current Tacis project took place in Geneva, Switzerland on 13-14 November 2003.

Representatives of all 12 EECCA countries attended the workshop, as well as EEA, UNECE and UNEP representatives and EECCA national experts. The objectives of the workshop were to present the results of the Tacis project and to discuss them with all participants; to share experience among EECCA countries on the implementation of the Tacis project and its specific activities, and to discuss directions for future cooperation on strengthening capacity of EECCA countries in environmental monitoring and assessment. The workshop had an intensive agenda and an active participation of all workshop actors. The implementation of the Tacis project as a whole was welcomed wholeheartedly, stressing in particular the importance of the work done within the water component of the project. In their various interventions, all participants from the 12 countries of EECCA underscored the need to continue the work in strengthening the environmental information and observation capacity in the EECCA region with a focus on the development of core set of EECA environmental indicators, and the necessity to prepare a follow-up project in order to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the current project results. More information

The Second Workshop on Waste Classification and Inventories took place in Tbilisi, Georgia on 3 and 4 October 2003.

The workshop was attended by the representatives of the three Caucasian countries and 5 Central Asian countries, as well as by national and international experts. The EEA and UNECE were also represented. The workshop discussed and finalised recommendations to the governments of the three Caucasian countries for improving national waste classification systems, routine waste data collection as well as reporting by the use of indicators on Resource and Waste Management that are compatible with those applied in EEA countries. The recommendations were prepared on the basis of a review of the current situation with waste classification and inventories systems in the Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). These include legal and regulatory requirements, institutional arrangements, availability of data and their appropriateness, and information on the indicators used. The implementation process of these recommendations will require further support from international organisations and donors. More information

The concluding international meetings on air emission inventory and on atmospheric air pollution monitoring and modelling in the project component on air pollution monitoring within the current Tacis project, were held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 8-10 October 2003.

All new parties to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air pollution (CLRTAP) from EECCA (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova) except Armenia, as well as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, who are not yet Parties to the convention, were represented at the meetings. The main objective of the meetings was to present and discuss the national report from Kazakhstan on air pollution inventories, monitoring and modelling, and develop recommendations for Kazakhstan and other EECCA countries that would strengthen their capacity to comply with data collection and reporting obligations under the CLRTAP. The two national meetings within the current Tacis project took place on 26-28 May 2003. The work done in the framework of this project component will result in a report containing recommendations in English and Russian that will be published and disseminated mainly in the EECCA countries. Some of the recommendations will be directed to the bodies of CLRTAP. More information

The Second Workshop on In-depth study of the monitoring situation in specified areas (inland surface water) of the EECCA - “Review and Report” took place in Budapest, Hungary on 20-22 October 2003.

The EECCA national Experts on Water, as well as the Expert Co-ordinators and the EEA/ETC Water Experts attended the meeting. The workshop aimed at presenting the preliminary conclusions from the review of monitoring stations identified by National Experts for inclusion in EUROWATERNET, at reviewing the stations selected by ETC-Water Experts; at preparing a “gap” analysis between the information provided and the information needed for a basic EUROWATERNET, leading to the delivery of agreed additional data, and at identifying country needs to enable EUROWATERNET to be implemented. More information

The Second Workshop on Remote Sensing applications for environmental assessments was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 3-4 November 2003.

The aim of the workshop was to consider a proposal for a draft project proposal prepared by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in cooperation with UNEP, UNECE, EEA and REC CEE. The discussion about the structure of the proposal and more detailed specification of individual work-packages were the main subjects of the meeting. The project proposal concentrates on issues ranging from local scales to regional/basin scales and to (quasi) continental scales. At local scales, the main focus will be essentially on the problems linked to anthropogenic pressure on the environment. At regional or basin scales, the attention will focus on water issues and water resources (Caspian Sea in particular), snow cover and glacier monitoring, land degradation and desertification. At the continental scale, land use/cover will receive the greatest attention. Following an established EEA approach, the proposal will concentrate on the use of (already identified) indicators derived from policy-relevant, timely and affordable data sets and (whenever possible) time series. The issue of the project funding remains unsolved at the moment. It was decided to finalise the project proposal and to submit it to several prospective funding agencies. More information

The EEA electronic EIONET (e-EIONET) work-conference “Pan-European Environmental Data Exchange and Handling” was held on 18-19 September 2003 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Representatives of both EEA member countries and collaborating countries, as well as 10 out of 12 EECCA countries, as well as EEA and UNECE experts were among the participants at the meeting. The meeting discussed the issue of building the proper infrastructure for electronic exchange of environmental data and information. It addressed the following questions: new challenges faced by the wider network addressing pan-European environmental issues; bridging the gap between environmental data needed and environmental data reported; Reportnet as a powerful system contributing to streamlined data exchange and data harmonisation in the context of a European Environmental Information System; the growing role of the data service as a place for handling European data. Presentations were made by representatives from the EEA, UNECE and some of the e-EIONET actors. On 19th September parallel sessions were held to allow the participants from EECCA countries to have a special meeting to discuss future activities in the framework of the WGEM Task Force on Tools and Guidelines as well as the results of their last meeting in Obninsk on 2-3 June 2003. The UNECE consultant on Tools and Guidelines presented to the representatives from EECCA countries the issues of EECCA metadata, such as the creation of CDS records, exchange of national reports and action programmes, upload and transmission of environmental databases, and the status of metadata collection. For the EECCA countries the meeting resulted in a better understanding of the EEA tools for handling and exchange of environmental data, as well as in continuing the work of capacity building for information and data exchange in the near future. More information

The first Workshop on Waste Classification and Inventories took place at the Georgian Ministry of the Environment on 7-8 July 2003 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

National experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as experts from the EEA, the EEA Topic Center on Resource and Waste Management (ETC/WMF) and UNECE attended the workshop. The workshop discussed the current situation concerning waste classifications and inventories in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. It started the process of identification of both gaps in data collection on most important waste streams and weaknesses in the regulatory and institutional frameworks and needs in building national capacities in the area. Senior officials responsible for waste management and data collection in the three countries were informed about approaches applied in EEA member countries to improve waste classification systems, data collection and the use of indicators. The EEA representative made a presentation on the EEA and its ETC/WMF, followed by the ETC/WMF representative, who presented in detail EEA/ETC-WMF indicators and national waste classification and inventory systems through case studies conducted in Greece and Cyprus, and the Estonian experience in providing data for various waste indicators. The UNECE consultant made a presentation on the reporting issues and different possible fields of use of information. One of the workshop results is an analytical report on the current situation on waste, including relevant technical, organisational and institutional problems, and the use of indicators to be prepared by the UNECE consultant. More information

The Workshop on an EECCA core set of Environmental Indicators was held on 27-28 June 2003 in the vicinity of St Petersburg, Russian Federation.

National Experts from ten out of twelve EECCA countries, as well as representatives of the EEA and UNECE, were present at the workshop. The EEA representative gave a presentation entitled “A Core Set of Environmental Indicators (CSI) used by the European Environmental Agency: Approach and Description of Indicators”. The UNECE consultant presented a paper about indicators presently used in published SoE reports from EECCA countries. Adopting a joint EEA/UNECE proposal, countries approved main areas of indicator development covering 6 environmental issues and 3 economic sectors. Based on these themes, and using EEA CSI as an input, country representatives selected 114 indicators for a preliminary list of EECCA CSI. Countries agreed to additionally evaluate the indicators in order to determine priorities. The main result of the workshop will be the report on A Core Set of environmental Indicators in EECCA countries to be presented at the WGEM 4th session in September 2003. More information

The meeting of the Task Force on Tools and Guidelines established by UNECE WGEM and supported by the EEA Tacis project took place on 2-3 June 2003 in Obninsk, Russian Federation.

For the first time representatives of all EECCA countries were present at the meeting and actively participated in reporting and discussions. The EEA representative made a presentation on “The present state and development of EIONET and Reportnet”, devoted to the questions of network building, reference centres, priority data flows, technology development and the September 2003 e-EIONET meeting in Bulgaria. The workshop discussed the current situation of environmental networking and information systems in EECCA countries. It identified major gaps and obstacles to a reliable networking, and, thereafter, good practices to fill these gaps and overcome the obstacles. The guidelines were presented and discussed in order to develop national meta-databases. With the support of EU/Tacis funds further activities will include: creation of national reference institutions on electronic tools in EECCA countries; provision of national reference institutions with computer equipment and access to Internet; creating a harmonized meta-database with data sources and data sets, institutes, reports and other information products; training of national experts of EECCA countries on methodologies, standards and formats for environmental information exchange developed by the EEA; development or expansion of national metadatabases on sources of data and data sets, institutes, reports and other information products in EECCA countries; and development of national web sites on the basis of EEA guidelines and uploading the national meta information. The workshop resulted in an agreed plan of action and time schedule for the activities to be implemented in EECCA countries by the end of 2003, including the development of a network of national reference points on priority environmental data flows, national metadatabases and interaction with UNECE and EEA. More information | Additional information

Europe’s Environment: the Third Assessment known as the “Kiev report” was launched in 4 EECCA countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova during the months of May and June 2003.

In order to raise awareness oft the outcome of the report, the EEA shipped, copies of the Kiev report, the Executive Summary and special posters to the above 4 countries prior to the actual launching event. In Armenia the presentation of the report was merged with the celebration of the International Day of the Environment on 5 June. The Minister of Nature Protection as well as many other representatives from government and public organisations attended the event. The launch of the Kiev report in Azerbaijan was held on 19 June at the Ministry of Environment in Baku. The event was attended mainly by civil servants from the Ministry of Environment. In Kyrgyzstan the launch took place on 13 June at the Ministry of Environment and Emergencies and was attended by the Minister and civil servants from the Ministry as well as by representatives of NGOs and mass-media. The national launch in Moldova took place on 27 May in the Ministry of the Environment, Construction and Territorial Development. The event was attended by the Minister, the representative of the State Chancellery, civil servants and representatives of mass-media. The main findings of the report were presented by the EEA representatives, whose participation was financed by the UK Environment for Europe Fund, administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). During all 4 launches, the Kiev report in English, the Executive Summary in English and Russian, handouts of the Kiev report, presentation slides in English and Russian as well as other related papers were distributed to participants at the event.

• Pictures from Kyrgyzstan and Moldova.

The national workshop on Air Pollution Inventories and the national workshop on Monitoring & Modelling in Kazakhstan took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 26-28 May 2003.

National experts from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and other relevant institutions and organisations of Kazakhstan as well as international experts attended the workshop. The following issues were discussed during the first workshop: analysis of the present system of air pollution emission control and inventory in Kazakhstan; legislative and regulatory basis for air pollutants control; collection and provision of statistical data on air emissions; and forms of statistical reporting (2-tp-air). The second workshop discussed the problems existing in Kazakhstan regarding pollution monitoring and modelling and ways to solve them taking into account the EMEP standards and requirements; key priorities of the EMEP measurement programme development and the national and regional levels; and the national report on air pollution monitoring and modelling in Kazakhstan (extensive outline, allocation of responsibilities, time schedule). As a result, national experts will prepare the first draft of the national report on air emissions inventories and atmospheric air pollution monitoring and modelling in Kazakhstan. The draft version of the report will be considered and discussed at the international meetings on pollutant emissions inventory and air pollution monitoring and modelling to be conducted in Almaty in October 2003. More information

The First workshop on remote sensing application for environmental monitoring was held in Ispra, Italy on 19-20 may 2003.

Experts from 9 out of 12 EECCA countries, Austria, EEA, REC, UNECE, UNEP and IES/JRC attended the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to review the current remote sensing application potential for environmental assessments at national, sub-regional and regional levels, to review the countries' current needs and capabilities in this field, and to discuss the possibility of preparing a comprehensive project proposal, to be submitted later through the UNECE/WGEM to the EU GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) framework. The participants of the meeting discussed the possibilities and prospects of the future cooperation on remote sensing activities. Priority areas were identified to improve environmental monitoring by means of earth observation as follows: desertification (salinization), water resources (glaciers, snow cover, Caspian and Aral seas), land use and cover change. It was agreed among other thing to draft a detailed project proposal to be submitted through the UNECE/WGEM to EU/GMES framework. More information

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