On the 18^th and 19^th of December 1998, MIO-ECSDE organised a Mediterranean Workshop on the “Promotion of Education and Public Awareness for Environment and Sustainability in the Mediterranean”, in Athens, which was attended by approx. 75 persons from 18, mainly Mediterranean countries.

The Workshop was based on the work conducted within its three Working Groups (WGs):

The 1^st WG focused on the legal framework of cooperation between ministries, educators and NGOs.

The 2^nd WG focused on the NGO contribution to education for environment and sustainability within schools.

The 3^rd WG focused on the contributions of educators to the work of NGOs.

The outcomes of the Workshop will be presented in forthcoming issues of the Bulletin and the Sustainable Mediterranean.

MIO-ECSDE organised its 3^rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 19^th of December 1998 in Athens. The increase of membership permitted the Secretariat to cover only the accommodation of one representative from each Member Organisation.

The AGM was attended by approx. 35 persons representing 28 Member Organisations. The agenda of the meeting included:

1. Presentation, by the Executive Bureau (EB), of the financial report of 1997, of the estimated financial report of 1998 and of the report of activities of 1998. All three reports were approved by the AGM.
2. Presentation of the provisional work plan and budget of 1999. These reports were also discussed and approved by the AGM.
3. Membership affairs, such as the approval by the AGM of new applications, that were submitted to the Secretariat and were favourably evaluated by the EB. Seven more NGOs were added to the MIO-ECSDE Federation (4 Full Members and 3 Corresponding Members). Membership fees remain the same for 1999, i.e. 75 US$ for Full Members and 50 US$ for Corresponding Members.
4. Election of Members of the Executive Bureau. At the 3^rd AGM five seats of the EB were open to re-election (two from EU countries, namely the once that were held by Greece and France, two from non-EU countries, namely the ones that were held by Morocco and Tunisia and the one held by EEB). Following the proposals made by the EB and Member Organisations, the representatives which held these seats in the previous EB were re-elected by the AGM. Therefore the new EB of MIO-ECSDE comprises of:
   Prof. Michael Scoullos (Chairman, Greece), Dr Emad Adly (Co-Chairman, Egypt), Mr Jean Doucet (France), Mr Bruno Neri (Italy), Prof. Mohammed Ftouhi (Morocco), Mr Pepe Abeledo (Spain), Prof. Yossef Nouri (Tunisia), Ms Emel Anil (Turkey), Mr Evangelos Constantianos (Elliniki Etairia), Mr Jose Ribas Ribas (EEB).
   It was also decided that RAED should hold a permanent seat at the EB, recognising in this way RAED’s essential contribution to the establishment and strengthening of the Federation, as well as the significant role of the non-EU NGOs in MIO-ECSDE.
5. More issues related to the activities of the Federation were also discussed. One such issue was the establishment of a “Mediterranean Action Day” for all the Members of the Federation. The determination of the date for this event will be further investigated by the EB.

In the framework of the preparation of the AGM the 10^th EBM was held on the 18^th of December and focused on issues that were to be discussed at the AGM, as well as on the finalisation of the AGM’s agenda. The 11^th EBM took place after the AGM and was attended by the newly elected EB. The meeting focused on the evaluation of the outcomes of the Mediterranean Workshop on the Promotion of Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability, as well as the outcomes and suggestions of the AGM, concerning MIO-ECSDE’s work plan of 1999.

The 2^nd and 3^rd intensive training Workshops for NGO staff, that were foreseen in the MIO-ECSDE 1998 Work Programme, were held in Athens:

The proposal deriving from the Workshop on the establishment of a MIO-ECSDE Working Group on the issue includes the following items:

1) Background, 2) Objectives and Sub-objectives, 3) Working Group Composition, 4) Working Group Mode of Operation, Activities and Actions, 5) Expected Outputs, 6) Securing Financial Resources, 7) Schedule of Action, 8) Monitoring and Evaluation.

• The 3^rd Workshop (14-17 December 1998) focused on the issue of “Education and Public Participation” and was attended by representatives from: ITACA (Spain), PHG (Palestine) and SETIF (Algeria).

The proposal deriving from the Workshop on the establishment of a MIO-ECSDE Working Group on the issue includes the following items:

1) Introduction, 2) Objectives, 3) Target Groups, 4) Activities, 5) Expected Results, 6) Recommendations.

The full reports are available by the Secretariat, to all MIO-ECSDE members, upon request.

In June 1998, MIO-ECSDE submitted a project proposal to DGXI of the European Commission (EC), within the Short and Medium Term Priority Environmental Action Plan (SMAP) Budget-line, with the title “SMAP Awareness Exhibition held throughout the Mediterranean”. The Secretariat was informed by the EC that the proposal was not favourably evaluated under this budget-line. It was considered though, interesting and relevant to be potentially submitted under other budget-lines of the EC.

The aim of this programme is to support activities which are of Community interest, meet the principle underlying the Fifth Environmental Action Programme and are promoted by NGOs operating at the European level in the framework of their annual work programme. The proposal of MIO-ECSDE includes the main items indicated in the 1999 provisional work plan that was presented and discussed during the 3rd AGM (19/12/1998). The proposal was prepared during January.

In the framework of its Secretarial support to the Thessaloniki Conference, MIO-ECSDE had undertaken the task to supervise the publication of the conference’s proceedings.

The proceedings were produced both in the form of a book, of some 900 pages and in the form of a CD-Rom. The Secretariat has already started the dissemination process, which is bound to be finalised in the begging of February.

• Meeting of SMAP Correspondents, Brussels 16-17/11/1998, organised by the European Commission DG XI. MIO-ECSDE, being one of the representatives of the NGOs’ Steering Committee for SMAP, was invited to attend the first session of the meeting (16/11/98) as an observer. This session aimed at reviewing the implementation of SMAP at regional and national level. MIO-ECSDE was represented by Ms A. Roniotes, Programme Officer. It was recognised by all present that more effort must by made by both the European Commission and the corresponding countries. The comments prepared by the NGOs were applauded by all present.
• Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Sustainable Cities and Towns, Seville, Spain, 21-23/1/1999, organised by the World Federation of United Cities and the City of Seville. The conference’s objective is to give the opportunity to mayors, representatives of local authorities and other relevant bodies to exchange points of view on the future of their towns and organise the strengthening of cooperation between Mediterranean towns, to enable them to progress together towards a sustainable urban development. MIO-ECSDE representative: Prof. M. Scoullos.
• Interim Mediterranean Regional Technical Advisory Committee (MEDTAC), 1^st Meeting, Marseille, France, 24-25/1/1999, organised by IME. As agreed in Cyprus on 24/10/1994 at the consultation meeting on the establishment of a Mediterranean network on water, the setting up of an interim Mediterranean Regional Technical Advisory Committee was to be proposed for approval to the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Water Partnership. The proposal was approved and the MEDTAC has been set up. Its 1^st meeting, aiming to organise the work of the Committee, was arranged for the 24^th and 25^th of January. Prof. Scoullos who is the temporary representative of MIO-ECSDE at this Committee will be attending the meeting.
• “Priorities for Development and Environment in the Mediterranean: A Roundtable discussion”, among the Mediterranean NGO Networks and the European Commission, Brussels, 28/1/1999, organised by the WWF-EPO. MIO-ECSDE representative: Prof. M. Scoullos.
• Workshop of the MCSD Thematic Group on “Information, Awareness, Environmental Education and Participation”, April 1999. MIO-ECSDE in its role as Task Manager of the MCSD thematic group on “Information, Awareness, Environmental Education and Participation” is arranging a workshop of the thematic group in April 1999. Further information on this workshop will be included in the next Bulletin. 

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