Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry for the Environment and Territory - Government of Italy - Ministry for the Environment and Territory
Geographical Scope: Regional
Summary: The ADRICOSM Partnership was launched as a Type II Initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable development in Johannesburg (2002) by the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory. It was based upon the implementation of the ADRICOSM Pilot Project, within the governmental framework of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative for the Environmental Protection of the Adriatic Sea and its coastal areas. The Pilot Project is implementing the backbone of the Adriatic Sea real time monitoring system, the prediction at the basin level and the coastal areas and the coupling between river basin modelling system and the hydrodynamic modelling of coastal areas.
Within the Partnership, three new project have started:
1.ADRICOSM-EXTension - enlargement of ADRICOSM PP to Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia Montenegro.
2.ADRICOSM-PULA BAY - application of ADRICOSM Methodology in the Pula Bay (Croatia).
3.NERES - assessment and management of the Neretva River (Croatia) Delta area.
The main objectives of the Partnership are:
-Efficiently organize, evaluate and coordinate multinational research, development and implementation programs that advance the understanding, monitoring and predictive capabilities in the Adriatic Sea area for the establishment of integrated coastal areas and river basin management systems
-Consolidate the monitoring and prediction system by involving users of the research products. [more]
Lead Partner: City of Ancona
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Europe and North America Summary: The Aap2020 project will support and manage the implementation of Agenda 21, involving all local governments of the two sides of the Adriatic region, through a participative process meant to encourage:
* urban and coastal development in all sustainability fields;
* sustainable approach to environmental resources and ecosystems, i.e. rational energy and water supply consumption, promotion of renewable energy and so on;
* improvement in the transport, information and communication fields;
* cooperation in the juridical and administrative field;
* cooperation among citizens and institutions;
* contribution to the fulfilment of European integration of all countries involved, to support human rights defence and to encourage same opportunities for men and women.
All these themes have been approached involving all regional and local stakeholders in a "shared process" oriented to define scenarios, objectives, indicators and actions for the Adriatic Region. The final step of the process will be given by the implementation of the Adriatic Action Plan 2020.
The Adriatic Action Plan 2020 will pursue the following results:
* Dissemination of sustainable development practices through methods of "shared governance";
* Improvement of integration and exchange among communities, searching for a conscious and sustainable life style, efficacious in satisfying necessity of collective and individual development;
* Intensification of economic and business exchange to increase commercial potential of sustainable products;
* Development of local markets and autochthonous productions with valorisation of typical products and local cultures;
* Improvement of standards of environmental quality for all concerned communities;
* Increase of global efficiency in using resources, particularly in the production of consumer goods, services and commodities,
* Closing of material production and consumption cycles with matter recycling and recovery of energy incorporated in products no more used. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of United States of America - U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: Child survival hinges on having the basic needs to support life; among these, a safe and healthy environment is fundamental.However, children everywhere are negatively affected by adverse environmental conditions. Each year, at least 3 million children under age five die due to environment-related illnesses. Acute respiratory infections annually kill an estimated 2 million children under the age of 15 and as much as 60% of acute respiratory infections worldwide are related to environmental conditions. Diarrheal diseases claim the lives of nearly 2 million children every year; 80 to 90 percent of diarrhea cases are relates to environmental conditions, especially contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.
The United States is committed to improving children's health through increased collaboration among governments, non-governmental organizations, inter-governmental organizations, the private sector, communities, and UN agencies to protect children from environmental health threats. These environmental health threats include early childhood exposure to chemicals and toxic substances, unsafe and inadequate quantity of drinking water, lack of sanitation infrastructure and inappropriate hygiene, polluted indoor and outdoor air, and vector-borne diseases.
Such threats may lead to health effects ranging from developmental disorder and perinatal diseases, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory diseases (e.g. asthma), insect-borne diseases (e.g. malaria) and unintentional injuries.
The goal of this multi-year initiative is to develop and use children's environmental health indicators to improve children's environmental health at global, regional, national and local levels. These indicators are similar to economic indicators and their development and reporting will help fill gaps between information on environment and information on health, putting into focus the special vulnerabilities of children. Ultimately, these indicators will help guide environment, health and development policy. Global children's environmental health indicators are effective tools to:
- Improve the quality of information available in order to facilitate the ability of policy-makers to improve environmental conditions for all children;
- Assess children's environmental health and monitor the success or failure of interventions to address children's environmental health problems; and
- Measure progress and contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development goals.
[more]
Lead Partner: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: - Building awareness on the importance of Education for rural people as a crucial step to achieve the Millennium goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education , gender equity and sustainable natural resources management
- Contributing to achieve the Education for All goals,
- Overcoming the urban/rural gap in education.
- Increasing access to basic Education for Rural People
- Improving the quality of basic Education for Rural People
- Fostering the national capacity to plan and implement ERP as part of National Education for All and Rural Development Plans.
- Building awareness on the importance of ERP as a crucial step to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals, and particularly, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equity.
[more]
Lead Partner: European Commission
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: Development Objectives: The Initiative aims to facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people in extreme poverty and other MDGs by 2015, through the provision of adequate, affordable, sustainable energy services. This will be achieved within the context of beneficiary country driven activities.
Immediate Objectives: Through the Initiative the EU proposes to establish "Energy Access Partnerships" with developing countries, with the involvement of the private sector and civil society, that will develop in response to the energy needs of developing countries and regions. Through these Partnerships, donors will work with developing countries to help identify energy needs and necessary assistance to create the economic, social and institutional conditions that will enable their energy needs to be met.
The aim of the Partnerships is to enable the EU and its developing country partners, and other stakeholders, to work together to improve efforts for increasing access to energy services, particularly for poor women and men, based on their specific circumstances and requirements. Gender issues will be mainstreamed in all aspects of the Initiative. The Partnerships will ensure that existing energy activities and other initiatives will be well co-ordinated to provide coherent packages. They will be based on existing organisations, structures and procedures. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: The initiative intends to set-up a global research and training programme, specifically directed to African scientists, in collaboration with the Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDDMM) at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), with the aim of finalising a feasibility study fro the set-up an African Regional Centre for Infectious Diseases.
The initiative is also in line with the "Cape Town Declaration" and the "Cape Town Initiative", endorsed by the Governments of South Africa and Italy, in March 2002, during the State Visit to South Africa of the President of the Italian Republic, which identifies the essential role of science and technology for sustainable development.
[more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - (Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea); - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The purpose of the Global Bioenergy Partnership is to provide a mechanism for Partners to organize, coordinate and implement targeted international research, development, demonstration and commercial activities related to production, delivery, conversion and use of biomass for energy, with a particular focus on developing countries. GBEP also provides a forum for implementing effective policy frameworks, identifying ways and means to support investments, and removing barriers to collaborative project development and implementation.
The Partnership's main objectives are to:
1. Create a global high-level policy dialogue on bioenergy, support national and regional bioenergy policy-making and market development, and facilitate international cooperation.
2. Favour more efficient and sustainable uses of biomass and develop project activities in the bioenergy field.
3. Foster the exchange of information, knowledge skills and technologies by identifying and promote potential areas of bilateral and multilateral collaboration.
4. Facilitate bioenergy integration into energy markets by tackling specific barriers in the supply chain.
5. Act as a cross-cutting initiative, working in synergy with other relevant activities, avoiding duplications.
[more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS) - Government of United States of America - U.S.A - The World Conservation Union (IUCN) - I.A.O. - Istituto Agronomico per l'Oltremare
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: Main objectives: To make geo-referenced data and projects on the environment and natural resources worldwide more accessible, with emphasis on developing countries, as a contribution to consolidating the capacities of both institutional and private decision-makers to effectively and sustainably address their development pursuits. This important objective focuses on relevant planning and management challenges which emerge within the framework of current sustainable development constraints, as summarized hereafter.
Global concerns about food security for the growing populations in developing countries, environmental degradation, and climate change or variation, and civil unrest have underscored the need for consistent and timely biophysical and socio-economic geo-information. Technological approaches are now available to quantify, document, and disseminate information on fluctuations and trends in the environmental parameters and natural resources, climate, changes in vegetation cover, surface waters, wetlands, land quality (including degradation), desert margins, settlements and other land cover features at local, national, regional and global levels.
A number of land cover classification projects have been developed to provide for the growing demand for information at global and regional levels. For example, recent products include the global land-cover dataset (IGBP-DIS for coarse resolution information) and Africover in East Africa for detailed high-resolution assessments. These and other more localized projects produce potentially valuable information on the current status of the environment and natural resources which could help assess trends through time or predict and model future development scenarios. This information from diverse sources, however, can be applied more effectively toward meeting sustainable development needs especially relative to capacity building and applications.
There is a great need to bridge the digital and knowledge divide by consolidating the capacity of both institutions and local-level users to actually manage the technical implications of accessing, integrating, up-dating, and adding local value to geo-information that is used in decision-making. Specific regard must be given to the local and sub-national as well as regional and/or global levels in the provision of on-the-job training, the development of integrated databases, model development, networking, and remote sensing testing and interpretation. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Asia and the Pacific Summary: General Objective: to contribute to social and economic development of the populations of the Hindu Kush - Karakorum - Himalaya mountain complex and to the environmental conservation of the region by consolidating institutional capacity for systemic planning and management of the territory, focusing on:
1. reduction of poverty
2. conservation of biodiversity
Specific Objective A: provide instruments (knowledge of the territory, the populations and the technologies for systemic data management) to facilitate the consistency of various national-level actions in area-based planning and management, within the framework of regional level systemic planning and monitoring.Specific Objective B: establish a process of application of the acquired capacities and Decision Support System (DSS) by individual countries in systemic planning and management of mountain areas at a local/national or transboundary level, within the framework of sustainable mountain development.Individual components of these objectives include:* Create a coordinated system for collection and analysis (monitoring) of natural resource data;* Provide decision makers of competent national and local administrations with an instrument (DSS) for systemic territorial planning and management;* Build local institutional capacity to study, analyze and manage natural resources, favoring local community involvement in these processes. [more]
Lead Partner: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Mountain Partnership is a voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the well-being, livelihoods and opportunities of mountain people and the protection and stewardship of mountain environments around the world. The Mountain Partnership taps the wealth and diversity of resources, knowledge, skills and expertise of its members to support positive change in mountain areas. The Partnership was launched as a type-2 outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002: the basic concept and guiding principles of the Mountain Partnership resulted from a consultative process that took place during the preparatory sessions of the WSSD with its core document (known as the Bali Document) finalized at the Fourth Session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Bali, Indonesia, 27 May - 7June 2002). Commitment to the Mountain Partnership has increased rapidly at the country, regional and international levels and concrete action is now underway to improve the lives of mountain people and protect mountain environments around the world. By March 2009, 50 countries, 16 intergovernmental organizations and 96 major group organizations (e.g. civil society, NGOs, private sector) had already joined the Mountain Partnership. A Mountain Partnership Secretariat, with financial support from the governments of Italy and Switzerland, is hosted at the central level by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Decentralized hubs of the secretariat have also been established in Latin America (hosted by CONDESAN), Asia Pacific (hosted by ICIMOD) and North America (hosted by the Banff Centre) and an Environmental Reference Centre is hosted by UNEP to provide guidance and support on environmental issues related to the Mountain Partnership.
The Mountain Partnership facilitates the effective and efficient implementation of Chapter 13, Agenda 21 and promotes, inter alia, joint initiatives based on paragraph 42 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and other related instruments regarding mountains, by enhancing on-the-ground action and by working at the policy, programme and project levels. Specific partnership initiatives have been identified by members and are focussing on priority areas of action, such as biodiversity, education, gender, policy and law, research, sustainable livelihoods, sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountains (SARD-M) and watershed management. Additionally, geographically-focussed Initiatives have been launched and are operational in the Andes, Central Asia, Europe, the Hindu Kush Himalaya and other regions. New initiatives are developed as new priority areas are identified by members. Linkages between partnership initiatives are being encouraged at the local, national, regional and global levels, with members entering into specific initiatives according to their priorities, needs and capacities.
[more]
Lead Partner: UNEP DTIE
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Partnership's objective is to provide coherent and authoritative scientific assessments on the environmental impacts of resource use over the full life cycle. This will contribute to a better understanding of how to decouple economic growth from resource use and resource use from environmental degradation, and in particular of ways to increase resource-efficient economic growth, of ways to reduce the identified impacts, and of ways to stimulate sustainable innovation. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The World Conservation Union (IUCN) - CESVI- Working for Water
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Limpopo Corridor Summary: This partnership supports participation of communities living in areas adjacent to the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GL-TFP) in the TFP establishment process. The TFP is being establishment by the Governments of Zimbabwe, RSA and Mozambique as a first step in the process of developing a broader TFCA: this in its broad concept encompasses a vast area of almost 100.000 km2, including two National Parks and a Reserved Hunting Area in Mozambique (Banhine NP, Zinave NP and Limpopo NP), Kruger NP in South Africa and Gonarezhou NP in Zimbabwe.
This partnership programme focus on poverty alleviation and the conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem functioning through institutional capacity building, and the involvement and livelihood enhancement of local communities. Its components target selected rural areas mediating nodal ecosystemic and economic fluxes (e.g. wildlife and commercial corridors and buffer zones) within the programmed large scope multipurpose cross-boundary conservation area. the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GL TFP). Ecosystem management in these areas holds the potential to make or break the GL TFP and, at the same time, to make or break the economic future of its own rural communities. With appropriate land use planning and development, the target areas can act as links between the components of the Transfrontier Park, can enhance their ecological and economic values and can provide an ecologically sound economic engine for the disadvantaged target areas.
The partnership programme will be based on two components:
1. Foundation component: this will build on a pilot project implemented in the southeast lowveld of Zimbabwe (1998-2003) by CESVI in cooperation with the Rural District Councils of Beitbridge, Chiredzi and Chipinge: this pilot component has promoted community-based natural resource management in communal lands in the Limpopo and Save valleys, along the border with South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana. The target areas of the project include, inter alia, rural areas bordering the Gonarezhou National Park which have strong historical and social links with neighboring areas in Mozambique and South Africa.
2. New partnership component: this component will comprise two projects (sub-components), which will address country specific issues in a coordinated manner:
* The South African sub-component, to be implemented in cooperation with the Department of Water Affairs and SANP in areas adjacent to Kruger NP.
* The Mozambican sub-component, to be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to address the requirements of a vast rural area between the Limpopo NP, Banhine NP, Zinave NP and the border with Zimbabwe. [more]
Lead Partner: Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Mediterranean Summary: This initiative/partnership on EfES, facilitates the educational community and students to contribute in a systematic and concrete way for the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Millennium Declaration goals, through the successful application of innovative Educational Programmes in countries around the Mediterranean basin. These Educational Programmes are based on cross-cutting themes in the existing school-curricula. During the first years of implementation the Initiative focuses on freshwater including all its aspects (sanitation, health, floods, agriculture, etc.), followed by wastes.
The main objectives of the initiative compatible with the principles of sustainable development are:
- Wise management of freshwater resources
- Wise management of wastes
- Facilitation of Educators' networks [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry for the Environment and Territory - Italian Agency for the Protection of the Environment and for Technical Services (APAT)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Mediterranean Summary: The availability of more reliable information concerning GHG emissions will enable countries with economies in transition and developing countries to comply with their obligations under the UNFCCC, namely the preparation and submission of GHG inventories and national communications, and to actively participate in Joint Implementation and Clean Development Mechanism activities.
This partnership aims therefore at supporting the preparation of consistent and reliable GHG inventories in Mediterranean countries, through exchange of information on activity indicators and emission factors, identification of QA/QC procedures and development of common methodologies.
It builds on the work of the MeditAIRaneo project, currently financed by APAT, which involves government agencies responsible for the preparation of air emission inventories in the northern shore of the Mediterranean. The expertise and the tools developed in the frame of this project (experts' network, web-site, know-how concerning Mediterranean specificities about atmospheric emissions) will be used for the development of this partnership. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry for the Environment and Territory
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Mediterranean Summary: The two principal objectives of the programme are:
- to provide modern energy services particularly to rural populations;
- to contribute to the climate change mitigation by increasing the share of renewable energy technologies in the energy mix in the region.
In this perspective, the programme aims at developing a sustainable renewable energy market system in the greater Mediterranean Region, removing project, policy and trade barriers.
With a view to linking capabilities and market between developed and developing Countries throughout the Region and beyond, the program is built on three main sub-projects:
- tailoring of financial instruments and mechanisms to support projects;
- strengthening of policy frameworks and removing barriers to projects development;
- building a stronger private sector infrastructure, considering the positive role of ¡§Tradable Renewable Certificates¡¨ and ¡§Certified Emission Reductions¡¨.
These sub-projects aim to strengthen existing networks while favouring the creation of new relations between stakeholders.
Specific objectives:
delivering electricity to isolated rural populations, based on village-scale mini-grids;
accelerating the integration of REs on the national electricity grids with the objective of reaching grid stabilisation and meeting supply-demand balance;
addressing the global approach of REs introduction (mainly solar but also geothermal energy) in the building sector in coherence with the energy efficiency policy (the results of the MEDA/Solar thermal technologies Dissemination programme in the building sector will be integrated);
desalinating sea water, in order to increase drinking water supply and water availability for irrigation;
increasing agricultural water pumping by solar, wind and biomass powered water pumps;
disseminating cooling systems for the food conservation, powered by renewable, in farms and fisheries;
addressing, in the grid-connected urban and tourist areas, the household and the community demand for lighting, food and drugs cooling, access to the communication networks, using solar home systems, small wind turbines, biogas and biomass power technologies;
creating joint ventures and other manufacturing, assembly and distribution/installation capabilities in developing countries, so that they gain the maximum economic benefit from the Initiative; promoting certification / standardisation programmes for RE equipments.
These objectives will be reached by the implementation of innovative pilot projects to be considered a catalogue of best practices to be replicated, increasing the share of RE options available through already feasible RE power plants like wind farm, biomass co-combustion and hydro plants.
[more]
Lead Partner: Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Methane to Markets Partnership is an international initiative that advances cost-effective, near-term methane recovery and use as a clean energy source. The goal of the Partnership is to reduce global methane emissions in order to enhance economic growth, strengthen energy security, improve air quality, improve industrial safety, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
The Partnership currently focuses on four sources of methane emissions:
- Agriculture (animal waste management)
- Coal mines
- Landfills
- Oil and gas systems [more]
Lead Partner: Government of France - Ensemble Solidarité Thérapeutique Hosp. Réseau
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: To improve access to quality treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS in developing countries, by increasing the means of access to care and treatment and a complete health care offer combining social and community aspects over a three-year cycle.
The aim is to identify the health care facilities in developing countries, which, with the help of twinning with a European hospital facility, can reinforce their expertise and equipment. These facilities are becoming the focal points for networks including medical and biological monitoring services, associations and NGOs, representing the civil partnership and other organizations involved in the field.
More specifically, ESTHER should enable:
- Strengthening of health care services (hospital and out-patient facilities) geared towards combating AIDS;
- Establishment of a suitable technical platform with good maintenance;
- Participation by users of the health care system and by associations of those affected;
- Implementation and/or consolidation of networks between partners - NGOs, associations and representatives of the civil partnership - in order to provide psychosocial support in a multidisciplinary and community approach.
This balanced partnership will be built around existing structures, with commitments in the form of decentralized cooperation and active pursuit of ways to prolong these strategies beyond the three years of the partnership. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Comune di Procida
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Network of European Alimentary Culture (NEAC) aims at highlighting that a strong European identity is essential and complementary to a strong local/regional identity.
A person who understands his/her own region is much better equipped to go out into Europe and to find his or her place as an active European citizen within the expanding European Union. All that based on the assumption that alimentary culture reflects a vivid image of society. Food seen, therefore, as an anthropological paradigm of society and analyzed from a variety of viewpoints constituting a repertoire which has as its objective to highlight the complexity of European food culture, acknowledging the present reality and value that it can assume.
This project is highly supportive of equal opportunities for marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities, women, different races. Finally, our own partnership is based on cooperation of fellow teachers and researchers, both men as well as women, standing therefore for equality of chance between different genders.
[more]
Lead Partner: Government of Spain - Government of the Basque Country - Nrg4SD Secretariat
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: Nrg4SD Network was formed by the "regional governments" -understood as the largest and first level of political subdivision within an individual state represented at the UN but which is above de municipal level- that attended the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, to share information and experience about sustainable development policy-making at the regional level of governance. They agreed the `Gauteng Declaration' which is the founding document of the Network. Nrg4SD promotes understanding, collaboration and partnerships in sustainable development and seeks greater international recognition of the importance of the contribution which regions make to sustainable development. Nrg4SD aims to be a voice for, and to represent, regional governments at the global level, promoting sustainable development at regional level around the world. Nrg4SD has members from the five United Nations (UN) regions of the globe and focal points in each of them. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - University of Trieste - Southern African Development Community Forestry Sector Technical Coordination Unit (SADC-FSTCU)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional SADC Summary: Building upon regional development potentials and institutional consensus of the SADC Secretariat and its member states, the capacity building and development contribution of the previous DGCS_SADC cooperation project (SECOSUD I) represents a solid foundation for the present partnership initiative.
The general aim of this partnership is to produce and establish a network of management oriented spatial decision support systems (SDSS) to promote the sustainable use of natural resources by private and public stakeholders while ensuring the durable social and economic development of rural areas situated in the SADC region affected by strong growing human pressure. The SDSS will be addressed specifically to Sustainable Management of Biological Resources (SMBR) by promoting the conservation of native plants economically useful compatibly with the long-term equitable economic growth and enhancement of productive capacity in rural areas. The network will comprise informatics tools with nodes located at selected Institutions that will:
- help understand the interactions between economically useful plants and the environment where they spontaneously grow and where they are cultivated,
- provide services to improve plant productivity without compromising the biological diversity of the region. [more]
Lead Partner: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) - South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Pacific Summary: The main objectives are:
* Increased availability of adequate, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the sustainable development of all Pacific islanders.
* Accelerate the transfer and adoption of clean and renewable energy technologies.
* The partnership is to assist with the implementation of the Pacific Island Energy Policy (PIEP. [more]
Lead Partner: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Division of Policy Development and Law (DPDL)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The partners will work to:
- Help developing countries to develop action plans to complete the elimination of leaded gasoline by end 2008
- Start to phase down sulfur in diesel and gasoline fuels, long-term objective to be 50 ppm and below
-Concurrent with the aboveadopting cleaner vehicle requirements;
- Support the development and adoption of cleaner fuel standards and clean vehicle requirements by providing a platform for exchange of experiences and successful practices in developed and developing countries as well as technical assistance;
- Develop public outreach materials, educational programs, and awareness campaigns; adapt economic and planning tools for clean fuels and vehicles analyses in local settings; and support the development of enforcement and compliance programs, with an initial focus on fuel adulteration;
- Foster key partnerships between government and industry, NGOs, and other interested parties within a country and between countries to facilitate the implementation of cleaner fuel and vehicle commitments. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of United States of America - U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air is bringing together governments, industry and non-governmental organizations to increase the use of affordable, reliable, clean, efficient, and safe home cooking and heating practices. More than 147 Partner organizations are contributing their resources and expertise to improve health, livelihood and quality of life by reducing exposure to air pollution, primarily among women and children, from household energy use. The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air is focusing on four priority areas: addressing social/cultural barriers to adopting improved technology; supporting the development of local business models and markets for improved cooking and heating techniques; improving the design and performance of improved fuels and technology; and demonstrating reduced exposure to indoor air contaminants. [more]
Lead Partner: World Resources Institute (WRI)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Partnership for Principle 10 seeks to improve national public participation systems to ensure access to information, public participation, and justice in decision-making that affects the environment. Improved public access to information, participation, and justice in decision-making makes decisions more fair, legitimate, and sustainable. At the national level, a working public participation system enables individuals and groups to make informed choices and integrate social and environmental objectives in decisions on economic policies and specific development activities. As such, a public participation system is an essential mechanism for sustainable development.
National systems for public participation have many common elements, including policies, supporting legislation, institutional infrastructure, methods of dissemination, and timing of participation. Diverse national systems of public participation share areas of achievement as well as weaknesses and gaps. Recent assessments conducted by The Access Initiative of national public participation systems in nine countries, including Chile, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and the United States, provide a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation of the strengths in these countries as well as specific needs for improvement in both policy and practice.
The Partnership for Principle 10 will work to address these implementation gaps and strengthen public access in areas identified as weaknesses. Based on independent assessments of national public participation systems, the Partnership will provide a vehicle for stakeholders to work together to strengthen areas of weakness.
The Partnership for Principle 10 is built around a set of common commitments, to which all partners agree. These common commitments serve as a statement of the Partnership's values and principles. The common commitments set the parameters for the scope of work of the Partnership. All partners, by joining the Partnership for Principle 10, commit to support the accelerated implementation of Principle 10 in their country and in their own practices. They also:
* Recognize that national public participation systems have common elements, and should be regularly and independently assessed by civil society organizations using a common framework of indicators-such as those developed by The Access Initiative-to identify strengths and weaknesses in implementation.
* Commit to collaborate across sectoral boundaries to identify implementation gaps, prioritize needed actions, and implement programs to strengthen capacity and improve performance.
* Commit to promote implementation of Principle 10 internationally through engagement with regional and international organizations, international trade agreements, and financial institutions, as appropriate. [more]
Lead Partner: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Asia and the Pacific Summary: The objective of the initiative is to promote public participation effectively. Among other activities, it would develop guidelines to enhance access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters in countries in Asia and the Pacific.
Expected results include:
Enhanced public participation in the protection of the environment and promotion of sustainable development. The initiative is expected to deliver the following specific outputs:
(a) A study on institutional and legal arrangements for public participation in selected countries in Asia and the Pacific.
(b) A set of guidelines on public participation, access to information and access to justice in environmental matters for use in training programmes [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry for the Environment and Territory
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Danube River Basin Summary: The main goal of the Pilot Project is to develop, implement and test an evidence-based methodology for rapid assessment of environment and health risks for selected area with high dangerous industrial activities.
The main characteristic of the Project is to be repeatible and applied in different geographical areas and to different situation.
In order to test the validity of the methodology, a Pilot phase was implemented on some industrial activities located in the area of Danube basin in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary.
The results reached in this Pilot Phase showed the great value of the project as method to be applied in the next future for the environmnetal and health risk assessement.
Therefore, the Project will be further implemented in Bulgaria and Romania, but also in the Mediterranean area hot spots.
In the implementation of the project, the following basic objectives will be sequentially achieved:
* Identification, classification, inventory and ranking of hazardous industrial or abandoned sites in selected geographical areas.
* Research, analysis and collection of available data about severe contamination events (incidents, releases, etc.), which have occurred in the past (starting from 1990).
* Gathering of information and basic evaluation of existing environmental and health conditions, both outside as well as inside highly hazardous industrial sites.
* Rapid assessment of the environment and health risks for the highly hazardous sites, by specific procedures and scenarios mapping.
* Gathering of information about risk perception by the public.
* Identification of local Institutions, Authorities, Industrial Associations, Trade Unions, Public Movements or Associations which could be sources of information or could be involved in the further planning and risk management.
* Assessment of the health-related industry, particularly drinking water production, its vulnerability to industrial accidents and its level of preparedness.
* Assessment of the preparedness of the most hazardous industrial sites to deal with environment and health emergencies, including staff training.
* Assessment of the preparedness of local authorities to deal with industrial accident prevention and management.
* Evaluation of the practical relevance of UN Conventions, particularly the technical guidance of the 1992 UN/ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes and its Protocol on Water and Health, the Aarhus Convention and the UN/ECE Industrial Accidents Convention. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS) - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: Goal: improve living standards among islands¿ residents while sustaining conservation of unique biodiversity.
Main challenge: foster the role of residents in setting planning agendas and participating fully in their islands' development.
Objective 1: provide opportunities for horizontal know-how transfer among relevant professional staff from both archipelagos, and to promote the involvement of the islands' residents in planning processes together with their participation in the sustainable development of the islands.
Low levels of awareness on the relationships linking the conservation of ecosystems, natural resources and biological diversity and the generation of concrete and sustainable development opportunities, is an issue to be addressed, at different levels, in both archipelagos. This extends to officials, community leaders as well as the local business community. There is an urgent need to strengthen the capacities of relevant institutions and society to work in a systemic and cross-sectoral fashion to improve the overall management of the island's resources.
Objective 2: contribute to the consolidation of relevant institutional capacities in the systemic planning and management of sustainable development, by promoting inter-linkage and information exchange between relevant institutions and administrations, as well as boosting their capacity to dialogue with local communities, NGOs and the general public. [more]
Lead Partner: COREN asbl
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Europe Summary: This project aims at :
1. Enhancing and spreading knowledge of Eco-Management Systems (EMS) in schools,
2. Building capacity for management of schools, for both theirs environmental and pedagogical effects,
3. Developing a short- and middle term strategy for implementing Sustainable Development Management Systems (SDMS) in schools
4. Creating a school network including multiple stakeholders (ong's, governments, intergovernmental organizations, business) for sustainable development education
The objectives in detail are:
Inquiring into the progress and the innovations dealing with EMS in schools
Comparing the existing tools and experiments aiming at the implementation of EMS in schools
Revealing the interest of EMS on both pedagogical and environmental level
Making recommendations to public authorities (education, environment) to support schools in their efforts
Establishing a common framework for the implementation of EMS in all types of schools
Setting up a training and guidance program and materials to support the implementation of EMS in all types of schools
Developing a common framework for the implementation of SDMS in all types of schools, including the challenges of the Agenda 21 and Millenium Declaration (Climate change, Natural ressources, Health, Citizenship, N/S solidarity,...)
Setting up a training and guidance program and materials to support the implementation of SDMS in all types of schools [more]
Lead Partner: REN21 Secretariat - REN21 Secretariat
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: REN21 is a global policy network that provides a forum for international leadership on renewable energy. Its goal is to bolster policy development for the rapid expansion of renewable energies in developing and industrialised economies.
Open to a wide variety of dedicated stakeholders, REN21 connects governments, international institutions, non-governmental organisations, industry associations, and other partnerships and initiatives.
Linking the energy, development and environment sectors, REN21 strengthens the influence of the unique renewable energy community that came together at the “renewables 2004” conference in Bonn. REN21 is the network in which ideas are shared and action is encouraged to promote renewable energy worldwide. [more]
Lead Partner: REEEP International Secretariat
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: Accelerate a global market for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Systems (REES).
Tremendous financial resources from the private and public sector will be needed to meet developing and transition countries' future energy demand in a sustainable way. Obstacles prohibiting this development include a lack of reliable policies and regulatory measures, and the perceived high risk and low return investments in REES.
The removal of the obstacles to sustainable energy is urgently needed:
- Robust policies and favourable, transparent and stable regulatory frameworks are required to attract private investors and to guarantee affordable energy services to the consumers.
- New forms of financing, risk mitigation and guarantee models will be necessary to make small sized renewables and energy efficiency projects bankable and economically attractive.
REEEP aims to work as an enabler, multiplier and catalyser of institutional change, and to have a real impact over the next decade with the following objectives:
1. Significant global increase of investments in renewable energy
2. Significant global increase of energy efficiency measures
3. Significant increase in access to sustainable energy services for the poor
[more]
Lead Partner: Government of China - The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) - Government of Italy - Ministry of the Environment and Territory
Geographical Scope: National Summary: In the year 2000, the Ministry of the Environment and Territory (IMET) launched a co-operation program with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China. The program, financed by the Ministry for the Environment and Territory and co-financed by the Chinese Government and several Municipalities, consists of the implementation of pilot projects and feasibility studies for the development of scientific and commercial projects on environmental protection, including ecological conservation, air quality improvement, and sustainable agriculture development. In the following years, the Cooperation has been enlarged to the Ministry of Science & Technology of China in the perspective of implementing Clean Development Mechanism projects.
China signed the Stockholm Convention in May 2001 and is in the process of ratifying the Agreement. As per requirements of the Convention, China has begun to develop a National Implementation Plan (NIP) for POPs and to undertake enabling activities. To enhance its domestic capacity to meet obligations arising from the Convention, China is working with a range of bilateral partners including the Government of Italy, and with various intergovernmental organizations.
In this respect, the Italian Ministry for Environment and Territory together with SEPA has launched a broad cooperation program directed to the development of the following pilot projects in selected areas aimed at the improvement of air quality and control:
1. Air Quality Monitoring Systems
2. Urban Sustainable Mobility
3. Technology Transfer for the construction of low capacity boilers fed with diesel oil
4. Urban Energy Plans for a Sustainable Environment
5. Strengthening Technology and Capacity of Sustainable Agriculture
6. Control and phase out of POPs [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: The initiative aims at ensuring a thorough involvement of African countries, through their competent ministries, offices and research institutions, in the activities implemented by the Biosafety Unit, on a basis similar to the one that has allowed the implementation of a series of activities that are being already successfully implemented with the Italian Ministry for the Environment. The objectives mentioned below will be reached through the implementation of programmes that will have to be complementary to the projects being implemented by other intergovernmental organisations, and in particular those mentioned above which are part, together with the ICGEB, of the Inter-Agency Network for Biosafety (IANB).
The initiative is also in line with the "Cape Town Declaration" and the "Cape Town Initiative", endorsed by the Governments of South Africa and Italy, in March 2002, during the State Visit to South Africa of the President of the Italian Republic, which identifies the essential role of science and technology for sustainable development.
The initiative will therefore pursue the following objectives:
* protection and exploitation of genetic resources;
* technical cooperation in the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity;
* identification of research priorities (definition of the priority traits for viable crops: improvement of the nutritional value, resistance to insects, pesticides, high salinity, other stresses);
* testing facilities and field trials (containment, availability of land);
* genetically modified organisms: procedures for risk assessment and management, national legislation(s) and public information;
* international instruments: the Cartagena Protocol, the Biosafety Clearing House, Risk Assessment Searching Mechanism.
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional MAP area ( bordering regions of Madre de Dios (Perù), Acre (Brasil), Pando (Bolivia) Summary: The general objective of the programme is to improve the living conditions of the local communities while ensuring the conservation of biological diversity and other ecosystem resources and services of the Amazon forest. This will be achieved by improving the relationships among the different administrative, scientific, conservation and social groups present in the area toward the sustainable and harmonious development of the three neighbouring countries sharing the same ecosystems and, hence, planning and management problems and development opportunities.
More specifically, this objective will be achieved by jointly designing and carrying out a strategy, commonly agreed upon by, and with the contributions of public and private organizations, and the key groups of the three countries, toward the conservation and the sustainable use of the natural resources and of the biodiversity in the south-western Amazonian forest ecosystems.
The above target will be pursued by establishing a systemic transnational framework in support of the integration of existing relevant inter-institutional and information networks and attracting the involvement also of the international donors focussing on other sectors indirectly related to sustainable development and preservation of the biodiversity, such as the fight against drug production, poverty alleviation and food security, access to basic services like health and education, and the strengthening of equitable systems and processes and of social participation. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS) - The World Conservation Union (IUCN)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional WESCANA - West/Central Asia and North Africa Summary: This partnership reflects the spirit and supports the endeavours of the EU Water Initiative. It aims at contributing to sustainable, ecosystem-based freshwater management on the basis of an integrated, systemic approach linking two of the core development components related to water. The first component, water resource, refers to aspects such as water supply and storage, and their related technologies, institutional and policy frameworks and networks (e.g. on the development of dams, embankments, irrigation, schemes, etc.). The second component, water quality, pertaining to the maintenance of the freshwater ecological balance, biodioversity, and environmental and human health, etc, and related institutions, policies and networks (e.g. on land use planning, pollution control, biological requalification including biological and chemical monitoring and treatment, etc). The project will contribute to facilitating effective and informed policy and decision-making on integrated freshwater management by supporting the above interlinking through the creation of a strong regional systemic network of networks of national excellence and expertise. Further, this initiativ
Expected results include:
* Regional Water Programme Centre Jordan consolidated as focal point for the regional network of networks of sustainable water management expertise;
* Capacity of network partners built with the support of the Regional Water Programme Centre (including access to on-line information as well as regional training and monitoring), in propping up national systemic planning and management processes and, in turn, providing services to the partner countries of WESCANA;
* Institutional set-ups and legislative foundations analysed and synthesised as a basis for the development of sustainable water management policy in the WESCANA;
* Water conservation and sustainable use techniques inventorised, classified and analysed against sustainable, integrative water management;
* A number of pilot planning and management action implemented, jointly and/or in coordination, by two or more partner countries on transboundary/regionally shared management problems and/or development potentials, such as in water catchments/watersheds, groundwater basins, etc.e will support the implementation of partnership pilot planning and management action at transboundary/regional level. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry for the Environment and Territory
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional North Africa, Horn of Africa, Middle East, East Asia Summary: The overall aim of this partnership is to contribute to the achievement of three principal objectives in the perspective of the Millennium Development Goals:
(1) to contribute to the achievement of water security in water-stressed environments by providing rural and urban populations with fresh water;
(2) to satisfy water needs for nature and food production by a more efficient integrated water management;
(3) to alleviate poverty by providing adapted water and sanitation services particularly to rural populations.
With the view that this Project is focusing on developing countries in arid and semi-arid the following objectives have been identified:
- Improved alternative water resources use and management;
- Improved health conditions reducing vulnerability to water related diseases and water scarcity;
- Improved productivity through identification of wise practices using both traditional knowledge and scientific expertise
- Improved efficiency of water services and treatment systems with the renewable energy. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Department of Environmental Research and Development - UNESCO- IHP- International Hydrological Progra
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The objectives of the UNESCO-IMELS project “Water Programme for Environmental Sustainability (WPA II- Towards Adaptation Measures to Human and Climate Change Impacts)” are to:
- Set up best practices in remediation of climate variability and change impacts on water resources.
- Enhance capacity in managing water resources and protect groundwater resources.
- Develop methodologies that contribute to the management of surface and groundwater dependent ecosystems in coastal zones.
- Develop North-South cooperation taking benefits from the experience gained by Italian experts.
- Set up examples of coordination and management of transboundary aquifers. Facilitate the coordination between selected countries for the sustainable sharing of water resources. Develop case studies that can provide best practices for fostering cooperation in developing conflict resolution measures.
- Provide adequate training. Publication and dissemination of best practices.
- Improve wetlands sustainable management.
- Improve coastal management and training. [more]
to collapse the Summary of Partnerships.