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A. First meeting of the MIO-ECSDE Executive Bureau for 2000

The EB meeting was held in Athens on Sunday, April 16, 2000 at the MIO-ECSDE premises. The Secretariat gave a detailed Report of Activities for the first trimester of the current year. The highlights of the discussions were: the MED TAC meeting hosted by MIO-ECSDE in Athens in May, the EUPHEMET meeting organised by MIO-ECSDE on the following two days and the launching of the $ per Ticket campaign. (For details on the $ per ticket campaign please click here).

The next EB meeting is foreseen to be held at some point during the summer.

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B. Update on SMAP

MIO-ECSDE, as a member of the Comite de Suivi (CdS), has been invited to attend the Meeting of the SMAP Correspondents which will be held in Brussels, 13-14/6/2000. The CdS has been given the opportunity to present an NGO statement relating to SMAP during the morning session of the 13th and for the first time to observe the meeting throughout its duration as the Commission deems our input profitable. 

MIO-ECSDE volunteered to prepare a draft NGO Statement, circulate it to the members of the CdS( and finalise it to be presented at the meeting. You will be able to read the final version in our web site (www.mio-ecsde.org) and in the next issue of Sustainable Mediterranean. 

During the meeting the following issues will be discussed among others:

• the implementation of SMAP at regional and national levels
• the procedures foreseen for the submission of new regional SMAP projects

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C. Meetings organised by MIO-ECSDE

* 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)
The EUPHEMET (EU Policy for HEavy METals) meeting was held as scheduled. The special session on batteries, which focussed on the current and future trends of the use of the three heavy metals in batteries, was 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 was 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 meeting was sponsored by MIO-ECSDE, UNEP/MAP and Elliniki Etairia. The results of the meeting and a detailed look at heavy metals in batteries, battery recycling, etc., are included in issue 17 of Sustainable Mediterranean. 

* Global Water Partnership Technical Advisory Committees meeting hosted by MIO-ECSDE in Athens, 10-17 May, 2000
MIO-ECSDE hosted the assembly of all the regional Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) (Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe, South and Central America, South and Southeastern Asia, West and Southern Africa) of the Global Water Partnership (GWP), at the Divani-Caravel Hotel in Athens. The meeting is a direct follow-up of the 2nd World Water Forum held in the Hague earlier this year and the main question answered was "where do we go from here?". During the last two days the Mediterranean TAC met and discussed the necessary actions to avoid a future water crisis in the region. Among other things it was decided that a major conference on "Water in the Mediterranean" will be held in November in Athens and will be co-organised by the GWP MED-TAC and MIO-ECSDE with the support of several international partners. During the conference major documents, such as the "Mediterranean Vision to Action for Water in the 21st Century", the "Framework for Action" and the Mediterranean follow-up of the Hague meeting will be debated in detail.

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D. MIO-ECSDE Participation in international meetings

* International Millennium Children's Conference, Eastbourne, England, May 22-24, 2000.
MIO-ECSDE sponsored two students aged between 10 -12 years to attend the International Millennium Children's Conference. One student was from Tunisia, Mohamed Yahyaoui, who was escorted by his father, and one was from Greece, Mary Plyta, who was escorted by the school secretary. It was a huge event which offered a memorable experience to the two youngsters. They participated actively in the sessions, workshops and debates with the rest of the children their age from around the world. The children were also given the opportunity to participate in study tours around the coast and countryside of Sussex. The reports of the two children, based on their experience at the Conference will be included in an up-coming issue of Sustainable Mediterranean. 

* Strategic Challenges for Sustainable European Tourism in the XXI Century, 13-14 April 2000, Porto, Portugal. 
The meeting was organised by the EEB and the Federation of Portuguese Associations for the Protection of the Environment. Mr. E. Constantianos made a presentation on the overall MIO-ECSDE viewpoint and action in the field, using the experience gained through the SUDECIR Rhodes Case study. As promised he disseminated, among other things, the SUDECIR Rhodes Case Study publication and the "$ per ticket" sticker and postcards. The results of the meeting will be included in the upcoming issue of Sustainable Mediterranean which will be mailed to you.

* Euro-Med Free Trade Zone: Can it be sustainable? April 17 2000, European Parliament, Brussels. 
The meeting was organised by Friends of the Earth Middle East and Friends of the Earth Europe in co-operation with Global Legislators Organisation for a balanced Environment (GLOBE) EU, Friends of the Earth's Mednet Programme and the Centre for International Environmental Law. MIO-ECSDE was represented by Vanya Walker-Leigh. The press release outlining the results of the meeting, are included in the MIO-ECSDE web site www.mio-ecsde.org

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E. Up-coming meetings

* Seminar on Public Access to Environmental Information, Athens, Greece, 5-7 June 2000, organised by OECD-Working Party on Environmental Performance, and is hosted by the Hellenic Ministry for Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works.
* Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Water Directors, Brussels, 7 June 2000.
* European Rio+10 Coalition, Brussels 7-8 June 2000, organised by European Movement and European Partners for the Environment in co-operation with ETUC, GLOBE, ICDA, ICLEI, UNEP, WBCSD, WWF.
* 2nd Meeting of the Dialogue Group between the Candidate Countries and DG ENV, Szentendre, Hungary, 17-19 June 2000
* Geneva June 2000: A decisive step in the co-ordination of international action, 22-24 June 2000, organised by the Comite Suisse de l' Appel de Bangkok. The summit will take place before the United Nations World Summit on Social Development that opens June 26. 
* European Environmental Week at EXPO 2000-Hanover, 24-30 June 2000. Look at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/expo2000/index.htm for further details.
* Round table on "Sustainable MEDA", Brussels, 29 June 2000, organised by the Heinrich Boll Foundation, WWF and Mr. Yves Pietrasanta (Member of the European Parliament). 

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