Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) Ecoinformatics Partner Meeting June, 2007 Copenhagen-Denmark

The Centre for Environment and Development (CEDARE), is an international organization established in 1992, in response to the convention adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment, in Damascus It is based in Cairo, Egypt. Cedare is governed by a high-level Board of Trustees, comprising environmental ministers, and policy and decision leaders from the Arab world, Europe and the international community. It works in close partnership with governments, United Nations entities, international organizations, governmental organizations, business, private sector, media, and civil society at large. CEDARE at a Glance Cedare is also a member of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development (MCSD) and Horizon2020’s Steering Committee. The prospects for collaboration envisioned between Cedare and the European Union include building on mutual commitment and shared values. Many are woven within the fabric of various regional association agreements, strategies and plans such as the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Barcelona Process), the Arab Initiative for Sustainable Development (AISD), as well as Cedare's Vision and Plan of Implementation.

CEDARE’s Experience in Arabicizing Key Environmental Publications Cedare has extensive experience in Arabicizing environmental publications. Examples include: UNEP’s “Global Deserts Outlook” (English  Arabic) UNESCO’s publication on: “Environmental Education Activities for Primary Education”. (English  Arabic) Blue Plan’s publication on: “Water in the Mediterranean Basin” (French  Arabic) UNEP’s publication on: “ Africa Environment Outlook III - Executive Summary” (English & French  Arabic) UNEP’s “GEO Integrated Environmental Assessment Resource Book” (English  Arabic) UNEP’s Report on “Africa Integrated Environmental Assessment” (English  Arabic) Cedare has also arabicized and conducted the following e-learning courses: EC – SMAP’s III “E-Learning Course on ICZM” (English  Arabic) EUCC’s “ E-Learning Course on Sustainable Coastal Tourism” (English  Arabic)

The Need for Standard Arabic Terminology Currently, numerous inconsistencies exist between different English to Arabic translations of key environmental documents, mainly due to differences in culture, dialect, etc.. This leads to the use of different terminologies used in environmental publications. For example: The word “environment” in Arabic, is translated in some countries as “ Moheet” محيط, a word that could also be interpreted as “Ocean” in other Arab countries. Cedare is currently leading the process of developing the first Arab Environment Outlook Report (AEOR). Country inputs are received in three languages: Arabic, English and French. The production of the final report in the Arabic language, calls for approved standardized environmental terminology. The Case for Arabic GEMET The Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) mandated Cedare to contact international regional and Arab organizations to translate GEMET into the Arabic language, especially since it contains over five thousand environmental terms and over four thousand definitions, and has been translated into more than 24 languages excluding Arabic. Cedare highlighted the need for Arabic GEMET during the recent Horizon 2020 Steering Committee Meeting (June 3- 6, 2007, Marrakech – Morocco), as the production of an Arabic GEMET will be extremely useful in standardizing and harmonizing Horizon 2020’s future reports on the State of the Mediterranean, and other relevant reports, in Arabic. Linking Arabic GEMET to regional applications will also be of great benefit for effective information sharing..