The GuardEn. Newsletter

Transcription

1 The GuardEn Newsletter Issue No 2, January 2014-July 2014 GuardEn : Guardians of Environment Framework: An Integrated Approach of Strategies for Prevention of Soil Pollution and Rehabilitation of Harmed Territories Duration of the project: 01/10/ /09/2014 The GuardEn project is implemented under the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme (SEE) Programme is financed by ERDF & IPA INSIDE THE ISSUE The GuardEn Project. GuardEn awareness raising workshops. Training workshop for trainers GuardEn training seminars Coordination meeting in Budapest, Hungary GuardEn territorial validation workshop. Communication activities Territorial project conferences Edited by ERDF-PP SZIE a) The GuardEn Project Pollution prevention is a much more cost-efficient strategy than rehabilitation of soil. The purpose of the project is the development of an integrated mechanism aimed to support rational design and effective implementation of local strategies for environmental risks prevention and rehabilitation, specified for rural territories threatened by soil or water pollution. The keys of the solution could be in the hands of Polluters themselves with necessary motivation, support and training from other stakeholders guiding them towards a Socially Responsible attitude and behavior. The project s specific goals are: Formulation of the GuardEn Model System : Definition of the Profile of the GuardEn Enterprise. Development of a set of Methodological Tools to support Enterprises to move towards the GuardEn Status. Development of a Methodology for Rational Strategic Planning for Soil Pollution Prevention and Rehabilitation at the Local Level including: awareness raising, motivation and training of different target groups. Focus on the development of sets of indicators permitting multi-criteria Impact analysis at the company and the Community levels. Identify best practices of responsible environmental performance of industrial activities. Design-Development of local Collaborative Patterns/Clusters for water and Soil Pollution Prevention and soil Rehabilitation, and of a supportive Transnational Expert Network. 1

2 Project Activities b) GuardEn awareness raising workshops Workshop of the Veneto Region in Vallevecchia, Caorle 18/10/2013, Italy The Veneto Region partnership have organized the workshop with the title Networking with the Cooperative system becoming Guardians of Environment in October 2013, bringing its participants directly to the on of the best agricultural practices of the region, an agricultural demonstrative pilot farm Vallevecchia. This event gathered more than 40 participants mostly from small and medium agricultural cooperatives and their regional associations. This event allowed to create first links and network for further GuardEn activities and initiatives. Workshops of the Közép Magyarország Region in Gödöllő by Szent István University 09/12/2013 and 11/12/2013, Hungary In Hungary two workshops were organised addressing the two major types of stakeholders of the GuardEn project. 21 participants gathered on the 1 st worskhop for farmers on 09 December participants were present on the 2 nd workshop for institutional experts (including representatives of the National Food Chain Safety Office, the National Institute for Agricultural Advisory, Training and Rural Development, National Chamber of Agriculture, National Institute of Environment - Ministry of Rural Development, Biokontroll Hungaria, Research Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geological and Geophysical Institute, Middle-Danube Valley Region Water Management Directorate). At the meetings the environmental protection issues of agricultural production was discussed and the role of standards guiding appropriate agricultural practices were highlighted. As background to the event major environmental problems based on experiences of the environmental authorities were presented. Then the GuardEn project was introduced, followed by a presentation on the GuardEn standard with results of interviews and questionnaires carried out with farmers on and the subject. In facilitated small group discussions were organised related to the role of authorities, fertilisation practices and main problems related to cross compliance requirements. Both workshops underlined the importance of voluntary instruments and expressed the need for a standardised consultancy and control in case of agricultural production. 2

3 Workshop of the IBA Bucharest, 18/12/2013, Romania Awareness raising stimulation workshop was organized, at IBA Bucharest, Ancuta Baneasa, 5, Bucharest with 2 participants, representatives of companies, authorities (National Environment Guard), universities, research centres. The purpose of this event was to identify information about the needs for training (in Romania) in this area, information about water and soil pollution. Workshop of the Zadar County Development Agency ZADRA, 20/12/2013, Croatia In December 2013, ZADRA had organized a workshop in order to raise the awareness about the soil and water pollution issues in Zadar County among farmers, agri-food companies and SMEs, and discuss the issues important for the preparation of the Pilot Territorial Strategy for Prevention of Soil and Water Pollution. The workshop also intended to promote GuardEn project and the GuardEn system to be developed and implemented within the project. The stakeholders that were invited ranged from farms and SMEs to larger agri-food companies, local and regional authorities to Agricultural Advisory Service. 23 participants attended the workshop and actively involved in the discusision. The most important achievement was the proposal to focus the Pilot Territorial Strategy on 3 target areas (Vrane lake, Bokanjačko blato and the area around the Zadar city landfill), and an overview of suggestions for good practices. Meetings by the Chamber of Commerce of Potenza, Italy The partner Chamber of Commerce of Potenza has presented the Guarden project, and especially the main outputs (territorial report and check list), during two meetings organized by the Chamber on 17th and 22nd July 2014; the first one on the social cooperation in agriculture, the second one dedicated to potential new entrepreneurs in the agro-food sector. c) Training workshop for trainers The training workshop for trainers was organised in Tripoli, Greece in March During the training several important issues were raised introducing the training materials for sustainable soil and water management. Participating experts identified essential Training package elements, contents, methodologies to be used for the target groups of the GuardEn seminars and other suggestions in order to ensure the quality of the training activities that should be organized in each partner territory. Additionally, recent development of the GuardEN Standard was presented and discussed. 3

4 d) GuardEn seminars GuardEn seminars of the Közép Magyarország Region in Gödöllő at Szent István University 30/04/2014, Hungary In Hungary two GuardEn seminars were organised in April 2014: one for the potential GuardEN farmers and one for the prospective GuardEn auditors. Previously, farmers were consulted personally regarding the proposed requirements of the standard and their most relevant environmental performance and problems. The outcomes of these pre-audits were incorporated to the developing GaurdEN Standard. During the meetings the main water- and soil protection possibilities and practices were presented and discussed. In the light of the outcomes of this discussion the functioning and reliability of the prescriptions and capacity audit methodology were tested both viewpoints of producers and auditors. The results of the workshops were used to fine tune the requirements of the GuardEN Standard and Audit Methodology. "Environmental Protection and Management of Environmental Risks" Seminar in the Zadar County Development Agency ZADRA in Zadar, 27/05/2014, Croatia *** The 2-day seminar was organized in June 2014 in ZADRA premises in Zadar. The 27 participants who attended the seminar included the representatives of the Zadar County, the University of Zadar, the Agricultural Advisory Service Zadar, the Local Action Group, NGOs, public institutions, and representatives of local media. The topics followed the common plans defined by the Thessalonica Agricultural and Industrial Institute, and were adjusted to the situation in Zadar County. The key adjustment was more strategic, broader presentation of the EU agricultural and environmental policy that is needed. *** 4

5 Training seminars of the Veneto Region, Italy In the Veneto Region various seminars have been organized, separately for agricultural enterprises and for experts, thus deepening different aspects of the sustainability and environmental protection in agricultural activities with different target groups. Each of the trainings was organized in two or more meetings and with participation of experienced experts of the field. Training seminars by IBA Bucharest, Romania *** Seminar for executives, experts and consultants was held on the 17-18th of June 2014 and seminar for officers and authorities was held on the 19 20th of June.2014, at IBA Bucharest, Dinu Vintila,, Bucharest. The main topics of discussion were related to the effect of pollution on areas cultivated with medicinal and aromatic plants, but also on the spontaneus flora. Both operators and national authorities debated specific legal problems, concerning both national and international legal frameworks, and the common agricultural policy. After the seminar meetings, concerning both operators (producers and importers) and authorities, that took place at the National Institute R&D for Food Bioresources, the common opinion was that the subject represents a big interest for all the parts involved. 5

6 e) Coordination meeting in Budapest, Hungary, 29-30/05/2014 The 3rd Steering committee meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary organized by the Szent István University. During the meeting partners analyzed the state of art of project activities, like Analysis of current status on the Environmental Risk Management; Design and Development of the Guardians of Environment Framework; Establishment and Operation of the Transnational GuardEn Expert Network and other. Program of the meeting included also discussions on the challenges and difficulties met in the implementation process, qualitative and quantitative evaluation of already produced project outcomes and the scheduling of the last project period. f) GuardEn territorial validation workshop Having run the GuardEn standard in the GuardEn farms in Hungary, a territorial validation workshop was organised to conclude the territorial project results and discuss the experiences. As a result, it was concluded that the GuardEn System may help farmers in Hungary to a great extent in conforming with the increasing soil and water protection requirements related to the Common Agricultural Policy payments of Regulation EC/1420/2013. The territorial project results will be presented at a national conference in September. g) Communication activities From the early stages of the project, the partners started carrying out communication Activities (publicity through the Mass Media and the Internet, development and operation of the GuardEn Website etc.) based included in an intensive Communication Strategy which will be implemented throughout the project s lifespan. This Strategy includes publications, preparation of dissemination materials, participation in different conferences and fairs linked with the topic of the project- environmental and sustainable agriculture. The GuardEn project has been presented in the international conference Researchers Supporting the Food Industry through Innovation and Services organized by The National Research and Developmet Institute for Food Bioresources, IBA Bucharest, on April 13, * * * * * *

7 The Veneto partners presented the GuardEn project, objectives and its on-going activities to participants of the 9 th edition of the annual fair Fiera 4 passi in Treviso, Italy, which in 2014 year was dedicated to the themes of cooperation and sustainability. * * * With a title Measurement of sustainability outputs in Agriculture a poster on GuardEn project and the GuardEn Standard to the 5th CASEE Conference "Healthy Food Production and Environmental Preservation The Role of Agriculture, Forestry and Applied Biology" May 25-27, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Serbia ( was presented by the Hungarian partner Szent István University. h) Territorial project conferences Project partners in the last phase of the project will organize national and international conferences in order to present project results to wider public, multiplying its outcomes still after its end. GuardEn Territorial Conference in Hungary: Environment friendly farming - soil and water protection in agriculture, 15/09/2014, House of Arts, Gödöllő, Hungary The objectives of the conference are - to strengthen the importance of agriculture in soiland water protection through the project results, - to raise awareness among agricultural producers and advisors on their important roles as socially responsible actors in order to protect natural resources, - to provide a forum for discussing the domestic issues of this topic, - to call the attention to the GuardEn Standard and Audit voluntary qualification system for Hungary, a tool that was elaborated with support from the South- East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme for advancing socially responsible agricultural production for soil and water protection. Conference languages: Hungarian, with English translation Participation at the event is free of charge but registration is required. Registration deadline: 31 August Registrations shall be addressed to guardenkonferencia@gmail.com. The invitation flyer with the preliminary programme is available for download from the project website: 7