2 Thinking outside the border: an interview with Corrado Clini

4 Against the flow: profileof alumnus Kiril Gyoshevof Bulgaria

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By Richard Filcak

Finland replaced Austria as the torchbearer of the European Union presidency onJuly 1, 2006. During its tenure, Austria successfully concluded negotiations on thenew European Strategy for Sustainable Development, made limited progress onair and waste policies, and — despite higher expectations — achieved very littleon the topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Finland announced thatit will continue the work, as agreed in the joint annual programme of the counciland announced its own priorities for the second half of 2006.

Finland’s agenda calls for concrete activities working toward the developmentand implementation of further common environmental policies for the EU andbroader policies for sustainable development and international commitments.

In the former, its priorities are mainly a continuation of work on climate changeissues, maintaining the EU’s leadership role in international negotiations. Thepresidency also plans to focus on halting the loss of biodiversity, to achieveprogress in marine environment protection, and to continue work on air qualityand waste framework directives. The hope of reaching an agreement on LIFE+,INSPIRE and the groundwater directive was also expressed.

In terms of policies for sustainability, Finland plans to further increase theopenness and transparency of council deliberations, to review progress inimplementation of the 6th Environment Action Programme, and to work on the pesticide strategy and the linked proposed directive.

The presidency started with an informal environmental ministerial meeting inTurku, Finland, on July 15-16. In addition to the above-mentioned plans, therewere some interesting issues on the agenda. Finland opened discussion on thefuture of European policies by publishing a discussion paper entitled “GoingGlobal on Eco-Efficiency — New Generation of Environmental Policy.”

The main thrust of the paper is to focus attention on sustainable production andconsumption opportunities. Related discussion should also reveal gaps in the

Continued on next page

Finland lights the way on EU environment

IN BRIEF

COMING BACK: The European bison, the symbol of conservation in Poland, couldbenifit from Finnish plans to make biodiversity a focus of its EU presidency.

Internet? No, extranet!

The project team is pleased toannounce that the newalumni/participant extranet isnearing completion and will belaunched in September. Theextranet is a password-protectedwebsite on which visitors can findresources, catch up with fellowalumni, and stay posted on thelatest developments both withproject partners and in the field ofsustainable development.

Report from theWestern Balkans

The REC’sNGO SupportProgrammerecentlyreleased abook entitled“Sustainabilityin Action:NGO Initiatives

for Sustainable Development in theWestern Balkans.” The reporthighlights achievements of a RECgranting programme and containsoutcomes of exercises conductedwith grantees during a workshopin Sarajevo last November.Participants envisioned ideas ofsustainability and discussed waysto achieve them. The publication isavailable in hardcopy and online at<www.rec.org/REC/Programs/NGO_support/Grants/SustainableDevelopment/Default.html>.

Hungarian alumni in ministry reshuffle

Hungarian ministries have beengoing through extensivereorganisation, includingsignificant layoffs, since nationalelections took place in April. ManyHungarian alumni and currentparticipants have been affected bythe changes, facing job changesand uncertain futures.

Contributed by Course for Sustainability

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Continued from previous pageimplementation of current policies, andoutline challenges in the EU environ-mental policy development process.

On the international front, the EU plansto maintain its international obligationsto global sustainability. One verypractical step is the first ever EU-RussiaPermanent Partnership Council, whichwill be held next autumn. A dialoguebetween the EU and the RussianFederation on environmental policy isalso being established.

However ambitious the agenda is,progress does not depend only on theFinnish presidency. European environ-mental policies face chronic problemswith implementation, and more ambi-tious policies and legislation facestrong opposition from different stake-holders, most notably business. Onthe other hand, non-governmentalorganisations criticise the commissionfor its slow advancement and aredeeply concerned with the lack ofprogress in addressing climate changeand the dramatic loss of biodiversity inEurope. How the Finnish Presidencywill approach climate change will bevisible at the next round of interna-tional negotiations in Nairobi thisNovember. But before that, the EUshould reach consensus on targets fordomestic reduction of emissions. Thenext challenge would be the imple-mentation of the REACH agreement onphasing out hazardous chemicals, orthe development of a waste frame-work directive, on which substantialprogress is needed.

Thinking outside the borderAn interview with Corrado Clini, director general of theItalian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea

EUROPEAN TIES: Finnish Prime MinisterMatti Vanhanen (right) visited withEuropean Commission President JoseManuel Barroso in Helsinki on July 3.

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By Todd Schenk

InGear: The Italian Ministry for theEnvironment and Territory has givena great deal of support — both finan-cial and otherwise — to developingcountries and regions around theworld. Why should Italian taxpayersfund environmental improvement inother countries?

Corrado Clini: The environmentalquality of one country is not limitedto its borders. Climate change, whichis an issue we work on globally agreat deal, is a good example of howactivities in one part of the worldhave global consequences. As anindustrialised country, Italy has aresponsibility not only to improve itsown situation, but to help othercountries improve theirs, and per-haps avoid some of the mistakes wemade. Developing countries havethe right to want the same standardof living we have as Italians, but it isa win-win situation if they can attainthat standard of living more effi-ciently in terms of resource use,pollution and so on. In the globalmarketplace, this also gives us theopportunity to introduce Italiantechnology to the world and hope-fully foster new markets for it.

InGear: Do you feel that the impactof this aid has been significant glo-bally? Do you have an example of asituation in which you feel that yourassistance has made a difference?

Corrado Clini: I do. I think ourwork in China is particularlynoteworthy and has positive long-term consequences. Through theSino-Italian Cooperation Program forEnvironmental Protection, we arehelping Chinese authorities monitorand control environmental pollution,protect and conserve natural resour-ces, promote energy efficiency andenergy conservation, developrenewable energy sources, dissem-inate environmentally-friendlytechnologies, and promote sustain-

able transportation and moresustainable agricultural production.

Projects supported through thisprogramme range from state-of-the-art landfills to the development of asub-plan for the Beijing Olympicscovering environmental protection;energy development and energysource readjustment; and transportconstruction and traffic management.

InGear: Your Ministry assistsCentral and Eastern Europe. Why isthis region in particular a target forItalian assistance?

Corrado Clini: Central and EasternEurope is important for us for tworeasons. First of all, it is in our neigh-bourhood, and it is important to lookafter your neighbours in order tofoster longer-term regional harmonyand well-being. Secondly, Centraland Eastern Europe has, of course,been changing rapidly over the past16 years and, particularly in SouthEastern Europe, continues to changerapidly. Development can followmany different paths and, as inChina, we see a responsibility — andan opportunity — to help Centraland Eastern European countries takemore sustainable paths.

NEIGHBOURLY: Clini believesenvironmental assistance promotesbetter international relationships.

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COURSE NEWS

Francesca Radin

Francesca Radin, teaching assistantfor the Course for Sustainabilityand the Sino-Italian CooperationProgram at the Venice InternationalUniversity, won a Ph.D. fellowshipin Analysis and Governance ofSustainable Development at theSchool for Advanced Studies inVenice. The program focuses onsustainable development andenvironmental governance andteaches interdisciplinary skills todeal with economic, environmentaland socio-cultural questions.

Eleonora Chinellato

Eleonora Chinellato, former assis-tant coordinator and a familiar faceto course alumni, left Venice Inter-national University at the end of2005. She followed her spirit toIndia, where she spent a fewmonths teaching Italian. She wasreplaced at VIU by Elisa Carlotto..

Professor Ignazio Musu

Ignazio Musu, professor of politicaleconomics at the Ca’ FoscariUniversity of Venice and formerdean of the Venice InternationalUniversity, is now president of theCenter for Thematic EnvironmentalNetworks (TEN), located at VIU.The TEN Center promotes theexchange of knowledge in theenvironmental field, offering toolsand supplementary approaches tosolve environmental problems.

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Green letter from green leaders

On the occassion of this year»s Green Week, the presidentsof Austria, Finland, Lithuania and Hungary wrote a letter toparticipants, stressing the importance of Europe»s flora andfauna and the importance of the EU»s commitment ≈to haltthe loss of biodiversity [in the EU] by 2010.∆

CREWMATES: Eleonora Chinellato(second from right) and FrancescaRadin (far right) attend a Coursecelebration on the Danube withfellow project team members.

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By Konstantin Ivanov

Visiting a government institution maystill be a harrowing experience formany, with the long, dark corridorsinviting reminisces from thecommunist past. But there’s somethingdifferent in the air. People are youngerand committed to their work, and tosustainable development. At least thatis how it feels on the fourth floor ofthe Ministry of Regional Developmentand Public Works in Sofia. This is theworkplace of Kiril Gyoshev, themanager in charge of quality assuranceand control of Bulgarian projectsfunded by the European Union’sInstrument for Structural Policies forPre-Accession (ISPA).

Bulgaria hopes to join the EU in 2007but to do so a series of reforms mustbe executed. The country agreed withthe EU to build 37 new wastewatertreatment plants by the end of 2006with the purpose of improving theenvironment around large cities.Gyoshev’s job is to make sure thesecommitments are kept. It’s no easytask, especially when if you’redetermined to follow the principles ofsustainable development.

Gyoshev is one of 150 senior decisionmakers who took the Venice Coursefor Sustainability, a professionaltraining programme for Central andEastern Europe that is organised by theREC. From knowledge gained in thecourse, Gyoshev devised an expeditedtendering procedure that allowswastewater treatment plants to befinanced and built in Bulgaria withoutgetting bogged down in red tape.

“Bulgaria’s urban water and sewerageinfrastructure urgently needs to beextended, overhauled and upgradedfrom providing access to basic servicesto meeting the challenges of Europeanlegislation,” Gyoshev said. “Yet

Agency head won»t go with the flowAs a quality control chief for EU-funded projects in Bulgaria, Kiril Gyososhev finds that wastewater plants present sticky challenges to sustainability

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MAKING STRIDES: Apart from bringingEU funds for waste water treatment,Kiril Gyoshev likes windsurfing anddrives his new 15-years» old Mercedes.

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political constraints and affordabilityconcerns are limiting the ability ofutility companies to finance their work.This raises a huge challenge to theBulgarian administration to identifyprojects and to assure their sustain-ability and viability. The major pro-blems are caused by technicaldifficulties, changes in the environ-mental legislation and the operation of the facilities.”

Gyoshev has had to learn to handleCatch 22 cases like the one involvingthe Bedecha and Maritsa rivers. In feasibility reports the rivers werecategorised as “non-sensitive” areas as defined European EnvironmentCommission European Economic Com-munity directives, Gyoshev explained.Accordingly, a lower budget was givenfor the plants because the wastewaterwould require less treatment.

In the meantime the Bulgarian ministerof environment and water re-classifiedall the sensitive river areas in thecountry. The new list included allmajor tributaries and other importantrivers that pass through settlements,cross borders or have a low capacity toclean themselves. Specific levels ofnutrient removal would have to bereached in all these rivers. This is howthe Bedechka and Maritza rivers weredeclared “sensitive,” while newwastewater treatment plants in thecities of Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgradwere allowed to discharge into therivers without nutrient removaltechnology, Gyoshev said. “Unfor-tunately, the financial memorandumprovided by the European Commissionstated that the price for the additionalequipment needed was not included,”he said.

Tough choiceThe choice was tough — either theprojects had to be amended, oradditional financing needed to befound. At this juncture, Gyoshev’sknowledge of sustainable develop-ment was invaluable. In 2004, he hadtaken a Course for Sustainability inVenice. “At the course I committed totry and apply principles of sustain-ability for all new projects in theenvironmental sector, including largeinfrastructure projects like wastewater

treatment plants,” he remembed. Thusthe solution was found: “We imme-diately included a new option in thetender documentation for the watertreatment plants in Stara Zagora andDimitrovgrad. It stated that investorsshould be prepared to present atechnology to discharge wastewaterinto a sensitive zone,” Gyoshev said.

Commission appealThe Delegation of the European Com-mission in Sofia was informed aboutthe problem. Gyoshev and hiscolleagues asked for a modification inthe financial memorandum to get moremoney for the two projects. They hopethat the tender amendment will soonbe signed by all parties, thus speedingup the projects.

Recently turned 32, Gyoshev repre-sents a new generation of state officialsin Central and Eastern Europe whoreceived non-ideological education,chose their own career paths, and likethe jobs they are doing. Gyoshev isaware of the somewhat negative publicimage of officials dealing with EUfunds. Many in Bulgaria associate themwith inefficiency and even corruption.

But that is something Gyoshev seeschanging. “For the first time now weare able to attract quality experts withforeign experience and keep themfinancially motivated, so they like andenjoy their jobs.” Indeed, from five staffmembers in 2001, his unit has grown to30, a shift that brings new capacity andquality to work, he says.

The next challenge that Gyoshev isfacing is how to deal with sludge fromthe new wastewater treatment plants.Along with figuring out how toprocess it in its raw form, he has tofind out what to do with the stabilisedsludge. “It could be sold to farmers asfertiliser, but they do not trust itscontents. It could be sent to thenearest mine for reclamation, butpeople there ask for physical samplesand do not trust written declarations.The sludge could be disposed of insanitary landfills but EU legislationforbids the disposal of organic wastein landfills. Problems like these obligeme to start looking for innovativeapproaches and be proactive in thepreparation phase of the projectswhen it is easier for the issues to beresolved,” Gyoshev said.

STRONG SUPPORT: EU funds havebeen crucial in building sewage plantslike this one at Stara Zagora.

≈For the first time, we are able to attractquality experts with foreign experience and keep them financially motivated, so they like and enjoy their jobs.∆

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By Todd Schenk

The American Dream: Huge stores fullof products affordable to the masses, acar for everyone and homes withample gardens and double-car garages.For so long this is what so many inCentral Europe aspired to, and now itwould seem that quite a few havemade it. Large retail outlets ring theregion’s cities, car sales are booming,and more and more people areabandoning inner cities to find newhomes on the outskirts.

The shifting of life — residential,occupational, retail and otherwise —from cities to their edges is referred toas “suburbanisation.” Thephenomenon is ubiquitous in NorthAmerica, increasingly common inWestern Europe, and is quicklybecoming familiar in Central Europe.Statistics show that the populations of

many of the region’s cities have shrunkor stagnated after the changes in theearly 1990s while the surroundingareas boomed, showing patterns ofoutward migration. These numbers donot tell the whole story either, as muchof the growth within cities was innewly developed areas rather thantraditional hubs.

Suburbanisation impacts the way welive, particularly the way we travel. Inhis research on changing shoppingpatterns in Prague with the shift to ahypermarket-dominated environment,Yaakov Garb, director of Europeanprogrammes with the Institute forTransport and Development Policy,found that private car use rosesignificantly: “In the transition tohypermarket shopping, [public] transittrips were significantly reduced, whilenon-motorised trips were almosteliminated … . While the overallnumber of shopping trips has

decreased with the advent of thehypermarkets, the overall amount ofmotorised trips has increased sharply.”

The private automobile is overwhel-mingly the favoured mode of transportin suburban environments because thelack of density moves points of originand destination apart, making walkingor cycling difficult; public transitsystems thin on resources face diffi-culties shifting traditional networks tonew travel patterns, and public trans-port is inefficient in low-densitysituations; road networks have beenthe dominant infrastructure priority;and culture venerates the car as a signof status and freedom.

Exhaust problemsThis nearly wholesale shift to privatecar use has negative consequences onour environment, such as the impact ofemissions and road runoff. Accordingto the REC’s Robert Nemeskeri, “Theworst pollution problems in most CEEcities are caused by exhaust frominternal combustion engines… Publichealth can be affected by vehicleemissions of VOCs like benzene andbenzol, photochemical products likeozone, carbon monoxide, sulphuroxides, nitrogen oxides, lead, otherheavy metals and various particulateslike dust and soot.” Cars are also amajor source of carbon dioxide, asignificant greenhouse gas leading toclimate change.

The domination of private cars alsohas more subtle consequences, such asthe fostering of furthersuburbanisation, thus causing farmlandand natural areas to be given over todevelopment. This diminishes theresource base on which cities andsuburbs depend for food, materials,recreation, and waste absorption.

In order to stem the tide, we mustunderstand why suburbanisationstarted in the first place. Interestingly,according to Garb, “The first form ofdeconcentration in the wake of thepolitical transition in the CentralEuropean countries was the rapidexodus of retail from the traditional citycore.” This is different than in the west,

Sprawling retail and housing projects have saddledregional capitals with rings of unsustainable suburbangirth. Cities need to implement land-use and transportpolicies in order to restore the allure of urban living.

SUBURBAN BAIT: Hypermarketspioneered suburban growth in post-Communist Europe, as retailers soughtinexpensive land to move into theemerging markets.

Development TRENDS

The road to suburbia

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Antal Szvetnik,HungaryAntal Szvetnik has been shiftedfrom the former Department forEnvironment to the Department forEnergy within the Ministry ofEconomy and Transport. His newduties include emissions trading.

Nenad Ilic,SerbiaNenad Ilic wasappointedassistant ministerwithin theSerbian Ministryof InternationalEconomicRelations inDecember 2005.

Radu Dorcioman,RomaniaRadu Dorcioman, a former deputy general director in theDepartment for Fiscal andBudgetary Policies and LocalInvestment, left the ministry totake a job with OTP BankRomania starting in July. Hisposition is public sector manager,a post dealing with municipalgovernments. He also celebratedthe birth of his son last year.

Martina Makai,HungaryMartina Makai was recentlyappointed head of the develop-ment coordination and environ-mental technology section within the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Water.

where suburbanisation typically startedin the residential sector. “Given CentralEurope’s compact cities, excellenturban public transport and predom-inantly urban customers, market forcesalone might have encouraged themore central location of new retailfacilities,” says Garb, “[but] variousaspects of post-socialist urban realestate and planning proceduresrendered the siting of large modernretail facilities in town centres or sub-centres nearly impossible.”

The opening of hypermarkets on cityoutskirts was followed by the develop-ment of new road networks connectingthem, and rapid expansion of whatwere previously small villages in theperiphery as subdivisions weredeveloped on greenfield sites. Peoplemoved out for countless reasons;among them, cleaner air, more space, apreference for single family dwellings,safer streets, unclear ownership rightsin cities, and newfound mobility.

Livable citiesThe alternative to increasing suburban-isation is liveable cities that can meetpeople’s needs. Planners and politi-cians can and must play a major role inthis by cleaning cities up, simplifyingzoning and permitting processes toencourage redevelopment on inner-citysites, and supporting efficient publictransport, cycling and walking whilediscouraging private car use. As Garbpoints out, many Central European

cities have significant parcels of underor unused land suitable for develop-ment if the conditions are right.

In light of the negative conse-quences, planners and politiciansalso need to consider how todiscourage suburbanisation anddependency on the automobile ratherthan encouraging it with easy zoningprocesses, subsidies in the form ofnew infrastructure, and lower taxrates in suburban municipalities.Many Western European countrieshave successfully protected theircities and curbed suburbanisation.“Zoning has been used to restrictretail development to town centres,or to urban areas with good accessby all forms of transport. In othercases, countries have limited the sizeof new retail projects, the kinds ofgoods sold, and even their openinghours in order to reduce competitionwith small retailers,” says Garb.

Similar zoning restrictions, environ-mental laws and efforts to internalisethe costs of greenfield developmentshave also worked to curb the trend inthe residential sector.

Many Central European cities arealready far along the road to subur-banisation. The choice must be madebetween continuing in this direction or revitalising cities and encouragingdevelopment independent of theprivate automobile and greenfieldconsumption.

IN GEAR September 2006 Issue 3 7

IN GEAR, the alumni newsletter ofthe Course for Sustainability, seeks tobuild and nurture a network of civilservants and other experts dedicated toimplementing the principles ofsustainable development in Centraland Eastern Europe. It does this bycovering regionally relevant news in

the field of sustainable development,reporting on how course graduates puttheir expertise in sustainability to use,and carrying updates on current andfuture sessions of the course. The Course for Sustainability projectteam wishes to thank the ItalianMinistry for the Environment and

Territory for their continuedcommitment to both the Course forSustainability and its alumni network.Send contributions and comments toTodd Schenk at todd@rec.org.

Editor TODD SCHENK

Copy-editor and layout GREG SPENCER

Design SYLVIA MAGYAR

Contributors KONSTANTIN IVANOVRICHARD FILCAK

Art FINNISH PRIME MINISTER'SOFFICE •• NENAD ILICTOMMY KOLEV •• R.LONGENECKER

REC ARCHIVES •• GIL WOJCIECH

Web TAMAS BODAI

Publisher THE REGIONALENVIRONMENTAL CENTER FORCENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Donor THE ITALIAN MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, LAND AND SEA

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In Western Europe, zoning has been usedto keep shopping in town centres andother areas with good access by all formsof transport.

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