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Sustainable Development: a
challenge for the Mediterranean countries?
Workshop held in Istanbul, Turkey on 20-22 February
The EU funded "Short and Medium Priority Environmental
Action Programme" (SMAP) is organising the 1st regional
workshop on “Sustainable Development Tools” at the
Armada Hotel in Istanbul, on the 20th - 22nd February
2007.
This workshop, to be inaugurated by the Under Secretary
of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Turkey
and the Delegation of the European Commission in Turkey,
brings together representatives from the governments of
10 countries across the Mediterranean region dealing
with sustainable development initiatives, SMAP
correspondents of the Mediterranean partner countries
and the European Union.
The workshop will present a number of sustainable
development policy tools which Mediterranean countries
can apply to improve their environmental, economic and
human development situation. It will be based on
practical examples from the EU and the Mediterranean
countries and will provide an overview on current
Sustainable Development activities in the region and it
will serve as the basis for regional capacity building
initiatives and further assistance to be provided by
SMAP.
The European Union, through the Euro-Mediterranean
Partnership has been actively engaged in the improvement
of the environment and the promotion of sustainable
development activities across the region. The SMAP
programme was conceived following the Barcelona
Declaration in 1995 with the general objectives of
reversing the trend of environmental degradation and
contributing to the sustainable development of the
Mediterranean region. In November 2006, the
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership countries have also
adopted a five year work programme which includes the
Horizon 2020 Initiative to “de-pollute the Mediterranean
Sea by 2020”.
This regional workshop is the first one of a series of
workshops foreseen by SMAP in 2007 and 2008 to assist
the Mediterranean countries to take stock and apply
effective tools for improving the environmental
situation without conflicting with the needs for
economic and human development. |