1. Beyond Compliance: how regions can help build a sustainable Europe Budapest, 17 May 2007 Marta Szigeti Bonifert, Executive Director

2. www.rec.org Bridging Stakeholders The REC is an international organisation with a mission to assist in solving environmental problems The REC is legally based on a charter signed by the governments of 29+ countries and the European Commission Multi-stakeholder International Board 190 staff (some 30 nationalities) 100% project based organization (over 300 running projects) 10 million Euro annual turnover 17 country offices & 2 field offices Population served ~ 200 million Operations beyond Central and Eastern Europe

3. www.rec.org REC office network

4. www.rec.org Board of Directors Corrado Clini - Chairman of the Board - Director General Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea, Italy Nadya Boneva Director Prome Consulting, Bulgaria Ferruh Ertürk Professor, Yildiz University, Turkey Tom Harvey Global Environment & Technology Foundation, Founder and Chairman of the Board, USA Jon Opem Senior Advisor Ministry of the Environment, Norway Adriaan Oudeman Coordinator Ministry of Housing Spatial Planning and Environment, Netherlands Istvan Pomazi Chief Advisor Office of the Prime Minister, Hungary Claude Rouam Head of Unit European Commission Yukio Yanagisawa Professor of Environment Systems University of Tokyo, Japan

5. www.rec.org Main directions of work following the strategy 2006-2010 Strengthening institutions Sustainable development strategies and plans LEAP Development and implementation Environmental law, national, EU and international Environmental financing Environmental enforcement and compliance Capacity building of stakeholders and assisting partnerships Education for sustainable development Capacity building NGO financing Providing environmental information Assisting the practical implementation of the Aarhus Convention

6. www.rec.org Main directions of work following the strategy 2006-2010 Sustainable management and use of natural resources Biodiversity, agriculture and rural development Water management Resource and waste management Environment and security Sustainable enterprise Sectoral integration Environmental assessment Climate change and sustainable energy Sustainable transport Health and environment

7. www.rec.org REC Partners EEA – Several topic centers of the European Environment Agency EC - Environmental Experts Group on Structural Funds (DG Env.) OECD - EAP Task Force, Development Assistance Committee Working G. on SEA UNDP - Danube and Black Sea Task Force UNEP - Finance Initiative Task Force, Joint work on the Carpathians Convention, Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles CSD – Commission on Sustainable Development UNECE - Cooperation with UNECE on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention, the Espoo Convention, the International Water Convention, the International Accidents Convention and related protocols ICPDR - International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River MEDREP – Mediterranean Renewable Energy Programme Initiative E3G, HBLF, VIU, CEU, Agroinnova, Bellagio Forum, IUCN, EPE, AMCHAM TOYOTA, JIBIC, Philips, GE, ITDH EECCA RECs

8. www.rec.org Sustainable development is already a component of European policy-making, and has been for many years. Now, however, in the context of the new Cohesion Policy and EU-fund allocations, new challenges are arising for European regions seeking to integrate economic and social concerns – primarily through meeting “Lisbon Agenda” targets for environmentally sustainable economic growth and employment.

9. www.rec.org Greening Regional Development Programme (GRDP) project GRDP is a EU wide network funded by the INTERREG IIIC programme with 17 legal partners from 8 EU member states (Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom) + 20 other associated organizations (non legal partners)

10. www.rec.org Project’s main aim Develop a common European methodology for integrating the environment into regional development programmes

11. www.rec.org Project milestones July 2004: approval of the Project Proposal December 2004 Bath: official project launch February 2005: audit report May 2005 Vienna: IRT1 “Identifying good practices into regional development programs” September 2005 Debrecen: IRT2 “Influencing the implementation of the EU Structural Funds post 2006” February 2006 Exeter: IRT3 “Making the environment an economic case” November 2006 Patras: IRT4 “Integrating the environment into ALL future regional development programs” April 2007 La Rioja: GRDP Final Conference

12. www.rec.org Main GRDP products The final and crucial project products are: THE GRDP METHODOLOGY/TOOLKIT on environmental integration. THE GRDP CHARTER set of principles/golden standards on environmental integration

13. www.rec.org „I believe that environmental protection is a driving force for the economy” Corrado Clini Director General Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea, Italy Chairman of the Board

14. www.rec.org Thank you for your attention.