ENV.net team in Albania together with Center for Research, Cooperation and Development in Vlora, in the frame of the joint activity “My Natural Resources” organized the second awareness activity on 24th of May an awareness activity with the students of “Ali Asllani” High School in Vlora region.
The focus of the activity was to inform and enhance student awareness and to raise the knowledge of nature resources and importance of protected areas in Vlora region in areas of high importance of environmental values as Marine and Coastal Park of Sazan – Karaburun, National Park of Llogara, Narta Lagoon (Ramsar site), Velça caves, etc.
During the activity there were presented also some videos related to protected marine area of Sazan and Karaburun that increased attention of the participants. They were very interested to take more information about all the issues included in the videos and also got an idea on how they can be helpful in different activities to improve their environment and to be a good promoter of values that our natural resources show.
The students show their creative designs made for the thematic presentation like pictures, essay, stories and all their experiences with natural resources near the areas where they live.
ENV.net team in Albania together with Institute of Environmental Policy NGOs took part in the Environmental NGO Fair organized by the Municipality of Tirana on 22nd of May. The aim of the open activity was a way to introduce to the wider community the work developed do far by the environmental NGOs operating in the country, and also to encourage further collaboration between partners.
During the activity the YEP (Youth for Energy Policy) group was introduced, and the community was able to understand better how they can be involved more on environmental activities.
During the discussions held with the community, they raised different issues as the high electrical bills, disturbances from the mobile transmission antenna installed on the buildings terrace etc.
ENV.net team in Albania together with Center for Research, Cooperation and Development in Vlora, in the frame of the joint activity “My Natural Resources” organized on 13th of May an awareness activity with the pupils of “Jani Minga” School in Vlora. The focus of the activity was to inform the pupils about the importance and values of the natural recourse in Vlora region, especially in areas of high environmental values importance, as Marine and Coastal Park of Sazan – Karaburun, National Park of Llogora, Narta Lagoon (Ramsar site), Velca caves, etc.
The aim of the activity was to increase and enhance student awareness and to rise the knowledge of nature resources and importance of protected areas. Two preventatives of the Protected Area Administration at local level were invited to collaborate as a very important stakeholder in the activity. About 100 pupils and 10 teachers of the school showed a high interest about how to get more information about these natural resources in the area and how to contribute in their improvement.
Mrs. Natasa Kovacevic as representative from the ENV.net Montenegro, has participated on Civil Society Forum Belgrade on May 12 – 13, 2016 at Belgrade, Serbia.
The Civil Society Forum Belgrade is organized under the umbrella of the “Civil Society Forum of the Western Balkans Summit Series”, as a joint initiative of the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) and ERSTE Foundation, supported by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), and in close cooperation with the European Movement in Serbia – Local Council in Novi Sad and the Center for Regionalism.
The Forum intends to contribute to the greater role, visibility and impact of the civil society in the so-called “Berlin process” and the broader EU integration process of the Western Balkan aspirants. The civil society organizations gathered around this initiative with the desire to develop a common position when it comes to following the footsteps of the Berlin and Vienna summits and to construct a more permanent Forum for civil society to cooperate and develop a dialogue with political leaders and governments.
Heading towards the Western Balkans Paris Summit in July 2016, the Civil Society Forum aims to establish a sustainable and relevant second-track process as a common WB-EU platform dedicated to the challenges in the Western Balkans, but first and foremost to European cohesion, which has to be co-shaped by the civil society, policy community, media and other relevant stakeholders.
Civil Society Forum Belgrade Conclusions:
Involve more relevant CSO networks to generate a representative platform in the areas of environment and climate change in WB6.
Organize a specific regional workshop on environment and climate change before the Paris Summit in July, having in mind a high interest and commitment shown for these topics by WB6 CSOs.
CSO Forum participants thank the French Government for addressing environment and climate change, as crucial topics for development of WB6 countries, as demonstrated by the Podgorica Ministerial Meeting held on April 2, 2016.
CSOs stress that addressing environment and climate change issues provides a powerfull leverage for sustainable development and democracy in WB6.
CSO Forum participants expect that environment and climate change will remain at the agenda of the Berlin-Vienna-Paris process and acquire support from the national governments in WB6, as well as EU countries, European Commission and IFIs.
The organisation DOGADER from Antalya, Turkey is implementing a project through the financial support to third parties in the framework of the ENV.net.
The project focuses on the protection of the lynx in the Munzur Valley National Park, an area where a large dam is going to be build even if it is in principle not allowed. DOGADER is offering camera-traps in the valley to indentify linx individuals in order to demonstrate that they are resident species, which will be affected by the construction of the dam.
Environmental taxes made up 6.3% of tax revenues in the EU in 2014. In the European Union (EU), environmental taxes amounted to €343.6 bn in 2014, compared with €282.0 bn in 2004. However, the share of environment taxes in total revenues from taxes and social contributions has decreased over this 10-year period, from 6.8% in 2004 to 6.3% in 2014. Two of the countries with best resulsts in the share of environmental taxes in the EU are new member states Slvenia and Croatia.
A workshop entitled “Activist to Activists: Environmental advocacy skill-share in South East Europe and Turkey” was organised in Istanbul on 24-25 April, as part of the ETNAR project. The aim of the workshop was improving the capacity of environmental CSOs in policy analysis, policy monitoring and public advocacy, and increasing cooperation among climate justice and environmental justice social organisations within Turkey and internationally.
As part of the workshop, Cem İskender Aydın from TEMA Foundation, the Turkish partner of the Env.net, presented the “Map of threats to water resources in Turkey” which was compiled thanks to Env.net support. He also talked about mapping as an advocacy tool and about other potential applications using data from mapping platforms.
Cities play an increasingly important part in our lives. Urban areas are where we live, work, rest and play. The European Environment Agency (EEA) invites you to participate in the ‘My City’ photography competition and share the moments you captured in European cities.
Participants can focus on one of the following three categories:
Sustainable lifestyle in a city
Getting around in a city
Leisure time in a city
Competition winners will receive a cash prize. All entries may be promoted by the EEA and its partners across Europe. Entrants may submit their photos until 15 August. The competition is open to citizens of the 33 EEA member countries and 6 West Balkan cooperating countries. All participants must be 18 or older. The cities depicted in the entries must be located in the countries mentioned above.
The two Env.net subgrantees from Turkey, Tunceli WildcatCommunication Network and Society for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Entities of Kazdağı, have reported on their projects’ progress.
Tunceli Lynx Communication Network executed their first workshop on March 24-30 in Tunceli. The Network representative gave a presentation on wildcats’ biology and their effect on natural balance. They organized a trip to the field to observe the wildcats with the help of photo traps followed by a meeting with local actors to determine the next course of action in regards to the network.
Society for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Entities of Kazdağı (Mount Ida) appointed one of the four experts required for their seminars, started working on the communication kits for the seminars and executed numerous face-to-face meetings. Preparations for their “Assets of Kazdağı” photograph exhibition continue.
Mr. Dusko Hristov, as representative from the ENV.net Macedonia, was invited to participate as a key note in a public debate titled “Environmental topics in the media – advantages, barriers and opportunities”.
The event, that was held on 28th April, 2016 in Skopje, was organised by the Centre for Environmental Democracy – FLOROZON and Development Association of the Roma Community – SUMNAL. The event was part of the “Development of Environmental Investigative Journalism” project, supported by the Delegation of the European Union in Skopje under the IPA Civil Society Facility and Media Program 2014 (EuropeAid/136-992/DD/ACT/MK).
It was a good opportunity for present the progress and achievement of the ENV.net project, as well as to share information about the ENV.net attempts to raise this issue on a higher regional level.
Key topics discussed at this public debate included: presence of environmental topics in the media – existing practices; advantages, barriers and opportunities for effective CSOs-media cooperation; as well as recommendations for further improvement. Participants pointed to a number of challenges such as increasing pollution increases, but scarce media coverage, insufficient investments in the environment, lack of transparency and unsatisfactory involvement of the concerned public in decision making processes.
Among the key note speakers were also Mr. Mauro di Veroli , Head of Operations 2: Regional Development, Social Policy, Agriculture, Cross Border Cooperation, the Delegation of the European Union, Prof. Nenad Markovic PhD, Analysis expert, Mr. Kiril Ristovski from CED Florozon, Mr. Goce Trpkovski, journalist from Nova Makedonija (national newspaper), Mr. Ljubomir Petkovski, environmental expert, representative from the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of Macedonia, and Mr. Neshat Azemovski from SUMNAL.
