Series of workshops were organized for more than 50 representatives of regional and central media outlets, working on environmental, social and economic issues in December in Kakheti and Borjomi regions. Khatuna Gogaladze, Founder of the Georgia’s Environmental Outlook (GEO), in line with other local and international trainers delivered presentations aimed to increase the awareness on waste related issues, including national policy and legal framework, enforcement, sources of information, health and environment effects, fines, EPR new concept, etc; encourage media professionals to participate in the environmental activities; improve the quality and quantity of coverage of environmental/waste related issues; as well as in long-term perspective, enhance awareness among the general public, business and governmental circles on relevant issues. The two-day meetings were initiated within the framework of the project “Technical Assistance for awareness and communication to improve waste management practices in Georgia and the visibility of EU support to the sector”, being implemented in Georgia with the financial support of the European Union in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, LEPL Environmental Information and Education Center (EIEC).
International sub-regional conference on Enhancing Strategic Environmental Assessment in selected countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia is taking place on November 2 – 6 in Kakheti, Georgia. The event aims to support legislative reforms of environmental assessment systems and build national capacities in implementing Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the selected countries. More than 40 participants from 8 countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Moldova, Ukraine) and 10 international experts from the EU countries were brought together in Georgia to discuss various approaches to enhance their legal and institutional frameworks for the application of SEA. Mr. Gigla Agulashvili, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia and Ms. Maia Bitadze, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia highlighted the important role of the SEA system for Georgia. They welcomed sharing of experience of Georgia and other countries on addressing challenges related to difficulties in understanding and procedures on screening, quality control and transboundary SEA procedures. “This experience will support our country and the ministry, in particular, in efficient development and adoption of relevant legislation as well as harmonisation of all processes with the Association Agreement,” – underlined the Minister. Ms. Elena Santer, UNECE secretariat representative encouraged Georgia to join the UNECE Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment that sets the framework for integration of environmental and health considerations into governmental plans and programmes. Moreover, she stressed that UNECE stands ready to continue supporting the participating countries in building their national SEA systems. International sub-regional conference was organized by the UNECE secretariat of the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary context (Espoo Convention) in the framework of the EU Programme ‘Greening Economies in the European neighbourhood’ (EaP GREEN). More information is available at https://geo.org.ge/www.unece.org/index.php?id=40656#/ The EaP GREEN programme is funded by the European Union and other donors, and is jointly implemented by the four partner organisations: OECD, UNEP, UNECE and UNIDO. The project partner in Georgia is Georgia’s Environmental Outlook GEO.
International Training of Trainers Workshop on Design and Delivery of training events on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was held in Lopota Resort, Kakheti, Georgia by UNECE secretariat of the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (Protocol on SEA) to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context in the framework of the EU Programme ‘Greening Economies in the European neighbourhood’ (EaP GREEN). Project partner in Georgia was Georgia’s Environmental Outlook. More than 35 participants from 8 countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Moldova, Ukraine) learned how to prepare and carry out SEA training events at national and local levels. The participants of the workshop appreciated the opportunity to substantiate their knowledge about legal and practical implementation of SEA and to get hands on experience in various training techniques. At the end of the workshop, the participants indicated that they feel inspired and ready to further support the development of SEA systems in their countries by contributing to the development of the national legislative framework on SEA in line with the requirements of the UNECE Protocol on SEA and EU SEA Directive and by delivering subsequent training courses and awareness raising events for national stakeholders that are scheduled for 2016 in the framework of the EaP GREEN. The ToT was organised back-to-back to the sub-regional conference on ‘Developing legislative framework for the SEA in line with the UNECE Protocol on SEA,” which introduced the legal aspects related to the transposition of the requirements of the Protocol and EU SEA Directive into the national legislation. Ms. Elena Santer, UNECE representative, expressed her hope that the UNECE assistance funded by EU and other donors could enable the participating countries to join the Protocol on SEA in the near future.