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A. ON GOING MIO-ECSDE ACTIVITIES

Core Funding 2000
The MIO-ECSDE Secretariat, based on the Work Programme formulated during the 4th AGM, prepared the 2000 Running Cost/Activity Grant proposal and submitted it before the deadline of January 17th 2000, under the budget-line "Community Action Programme: Promoting NGOs Primarily Active in the Field of Environmental Protection". News on the approval of the submission will not reach the secretariat before May.

Core Funding 1999
The MIO-ECSDE Secretariat prepared and submitted to the European Commission by the end of March 2000, the Final Report for the 1999 Core Funding. The report was an impressive set of 3 volumes (report and two folders of attachments). We are looking forward to a positive reaction from the European Commission DG ENV.

EUPHEMET Workshop on: Trends in production, uses and policies on heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium) world wide and within the EU (with a special session on batteries)
Preparations for the EUPHEMET (EU Policy for HEavy METals) meeting have been fully under way since the beginning of the year. The special session on batteries, which will focus on the current and future trends of the use of the three heavy metals in batteries, is a direct follow-up of the International Conference and Exhibition on Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Mediterranean and Arab regions, held in Cairo (co-organised by RAED, MIO-ECSDE and Envirotech). The meeting will be held on Monday and Tuesday, 17 and 18 April 2000 in the central building of the University of Athens, with participants from the International and Greek scene. The partners of the EUPHEMET project are the University of Athens, Greece, Imperial College, London, ICON Consultants ltd., UK, Instituut voor Europees Mileubeleid, Belgium and the meeting is sponsored by MIO-ECSDE, UNEP/MAP and Elliniki Etairia.

Ongoing tasks with UNEP/MAP
The MIO-ECSDE Secretariat, upon invitation of the MCSD Secretariat, has undertaken the task to prepare the NGO segment of the Strategic Review for year 2000 (questionnaire and national summary report). This Strategic Review will be submitted by the end of April and will be presented at the Comite de Pilotage meeting of the MCSD which will be held in Monaco on the 11th of May and at the 6th MCSD meeting which will be held in November 2000 in Tunis. Already two consultants appointed by UNEP/MAP interviewed the Chairman on the MIO-ECSDE views for the work and future of the MCSD.

The Secretariat has begun the process of selecting two students and their escorts to attend the International Millennium Children's Conference in England (May 22-24, 2000). One student will be from Tunisia (South) (the Co-Chairman Y. Nouri has undertaken the task of finding a qualifying candidate) and one will be from Greece (North) (the MIO-ECSDE member organisation Hellenic Association of Educators for Environmental Educators is responsible for finding the candidate).

Development of a Joint Mediterranean Co-operation to Strengthen Education for Environment and Sustainability
This is a proposal, which was prepared by the Secretariat based on the proposal drafted as an exercise in the joint MIO-ECSDE Residential Workshops (November - December 1999). It was submitted to the Greek Government and was approved in early 2000, but has been "frozen" till the new Government takes over. It involves the development of a Mediterranean network of educators for Environment and Sustainability from 5 Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, Turkey and Cyprus). It foresees a seminar held in Athens and 5 workshops held in each participating country immediately after that, as well as a kit with the necessary guidelines for creating a network of educators for Environment and Sustainability in each country at national level. It has a 14-month duration

The House of Constantinos Kavafis in Alexandria
MIO-ECSDE has submitted a proposal to the Ministry for the Environment of the Hellenic Republic for the purchase, restoration and appropriate use of the home of Kavafi, which is in Alexandria, Egypt. The ultimate aim is to create an environmental NGO center for innovative environmental practices, education and awareness, while at the same time upgrading and sustaining the Kavafi Museum which is currently housed in the building. The fate of the proposal will be decided after the formal initiation of the new government. Needless to say, the MIO-ECSDE Secretariat would be very pleased to have offices in Cairo as well!

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B. PUBLICATIONS

The following publications were also completed at the very end of the previous year and in the first part of this year and are now in the phase of being disseminated:

• Proceedings of the Workshop "Promotion of Education and Public Awareness for Environment and Sustainability in the Mediterranean" (English and French version).
• Minutes of the International Conference and Exhibition on Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Mediterranean and Arab Region (English version).
• Planning Sustainable Regional Development - Principles, Tools & Practices: The Case Study of Rhodes Island (English).
• Sticker and postcards on the '$ per ticket Environment Fund'.
• Pamphlet and poster on Desertification

The publications are gradually being sent out to all the member organisations (some in multiple copies), as well as to other NGOs included in MIO-ECSDE's NGO directory and to several International Organisations, libraries, Ministries and other bodies active in the Mediterranean.

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C. MIO-ECSDE PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS:

- Seminar on Groundwater Management, 9 March 2000, Zaragosa. The meeting was attended by Prof. M. Scoullos where he contributed his expertise. It was organised by the Mediterranean Water Network and it aimed to implement the decisions taken during the 2nd General Assembly of the Mediterranean Water Network in Malta where groundwater resources were identified as a main priority area.

- The Second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference, 17-22 March 2000, the Hague. The Chairman contributed to the many sessions of the meeting as follows:
1. Participation in the MEDTAC Administrative meeting.
2. Main Speaker at the Special Session on the Mediterranean (Europe and the Middle East)
3. Main Speaker at the Special Session on "Water and Tourism"
4. Requested by the Global Water Partnership to act as their rapporteur and give a brief assessment report on the NGO session.
5. Active participation in the NGO session and contribution to the drafting of the NGO statement
6. Lobbying with governments on suggested changes of the Ministerial decision
7. Other meetings with a variety of significant figures active in the scene.

- Euro-Mediterranean Conference on the Promotion of Women in Economic Development, Friday 24 and Saturday 25 March 2000, Brussels. The meeting was attended by Vanya Walker-Leigh who was invited as an expert. This initiative had been co-sponsored by Portugal, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Cyprus and organised by the Association A.I.M. (Actions in the Mediterranean) under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Louis MICHEL.

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D. UP COMING MEETINGS

- Strategic Challenges for Sustainable European Tourism in the XXI Century, 13-14 April 2000, Porto, Portugal. The meeting is organised by the EEB and the Federation of Portuguese Associations for the Protection of the Environment. Mr. E. Constantianos will make a presentation on the overall MIO-ECSDE viewpoint and action in the field, using the experience gained through the SUDECIR Rhodes Case study. He will also disseminate, among other things, the SUDECIR Rhodes Case Study publication and the "$ per ticket environment fund" sticker and postcards.

- Euro-Med Free Trade Zone: Can it be sustainable? April 17 2000, European Parliament, Brussels. The meeting is organised by Friends of the Earth Middle East and Friends of the Earth Europe in cooperation with Global Legislators Organisation for a balanced Environment (GLOBE) EU, Friends of the Earth's Mednet Programme and the Centre for International Environmental Law. The objectives are to raise awareness on the potential environmental implications of EU-South Mediterranean trade liberalisation and to underline the necessity of conducting sustainability impact assessments of trade agreements and the MFTZ in particular; to present and discuss policy recommendations resulting from the SIA and other studies.

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