Regional Environmental Center Welcome!

Milestones – 1989… Budapest, July 12 – the historical speech of President Bush at the Marx University 1990 The REC’s Foundation Charter is signed by Hungary, the EC, the US and the Netherlands on June Japan special Fund 1995 International status in Hungary th Anniversary and The Regional Environmental Reconstruction Program for South Eastern Europe, brokered with REC assistance, is endorsed by the Stability Pact Italian Trust Fund 2005 Declaration of the Signatories to the Charter of the REC on the occasion of the 15 th Anniversary The REC today and the story goes on… The Climate Project discussions for regional cooperation A Salute to President George Bush REC founding father Royal visit for the 20 th anniversary

Regional Environmental Center (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 31 countries (from June Sweden and UK) and the EC Multi-stakeholder International Board 190 staff (some 30 nationalities) 100% project based organization (over 300 running projects/year) 10 – 12 million Euro annual turnover Offices in 17 countries Population served ~ 200+ million Operations beyond Central and Eastern Europe

Board of Directors Jaakko Henttonen Director of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Support Fund, EBRD Chairman of the Board of the REC Ferruh Ertürk Professor Yildiz University, Turkey Andrzej Kassenberg President, Institute for Sustainable Development, Poland Melinda L. Kimble Senior Vice President UN Foundation, US Adriaan Oudeman, Coordinator, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, the Netherlands Jin Sato Associate Professor; University of Tokyo, Japan Sinisa Stankovic Deputy Minister Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning, Montenegro Istvan Teplán Director General Government Centre for Public Administration and Human Resource Services, Hungary Timo Makela Director DG Environment European Commission Ex officio: Corrado Clini Director General Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea, Italy President of the General Assembly of the REC Marta Szigeti Bonifert Executive Director REC

Asia Pacific & Transatlantic Cooperation EU Countries Countries in Transition International and private Institutions EFTA (…) Signatories PARTNERS OF THE REC National Institutions (…)

Top 14 Projects – 2009 (based on RECtivity)

Bridging Government Local Governments Business Citizens NGOs The REC Government NGOs Local Governments Business Citizens Bridging – Across Borders Sustainability, Climate Change SEA Environmental Financing, LEAPs Awareness Raising, Green Pack Improvement of energy efficiency Grants, training programmes

Environment and Health Topic Area in the REC Supporting cooperation between environmental and health sector by policy integration on international/national level Strengthening the role of the precautionary principle in public health and environment protection, with special focus on children Implementation of the EU Environment and Health Action Plan/ WHO CEHAPE by active involvement in the European processes/multi- stakeholder cooperation Reg. participation in implementation of the CEHAPE Priority Goal 3: SEARCH project

Legal instruments and policy tools (1) The legal and policy instruments in some pilot, CEE, NIS and SEE countries were assessed and specifically addressed to the four Regional Priority Goals of the CEHAPE RPG I: Water and sanitation RPG II: Transport safety and accidents RPG III: In door and outdoor air quality RPG IV: Chemicals safety

Legal instruments and policy tools (2) REC developed a consultative framework for national experts in the line of the Establishment of E&H Information System 2 project Guiding questions: Existing national legislation and policies, specifically address to children’s H&E and the Regional Priority Goals Responsible authorities: who is in charge, national, regional, local authorities? Implementation and enforcement to prevent/reduce children’s environmental risks Gaps and deficiencies and good practices

European cooperation on in-door air quality in schools In-door air quality project in 8 countries in Austria, Italy, Norway- Hungary, Slovakia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia reporting: E&H Ministerial conference in 2010

Perspectives towards Healthy Europe Cooperation in Europe in E&H process Parma Declaration for intensification of the E&H process E&H Research and project implementation with partners in the whole WHO Europe region Sub-regional assessment of the progress in E&H Reducing E&H vulnerability

I. Green transport Topic Area has become increasingly involved in the field of sustainable urban mobility in recent years, implementing projects focused on the large-scale dissemination of information and the take- up and exploitation of the results of research and demonstration projects The flagship activity of the topic area is its four-year support to the European Commission’s CIVITAS Initiative though the CIVITAS Plus phase of the initiative. Other assignments AENEAS – related to elderly persons’ sustainable mobility SPICYCLES – where the team helped promote cycling as a more popular means of urban transport

II. Green Pack 2001 with the support of Toyota Motor Corporation, the REC developed a comprehensive environmental education programme in Central and Eastern Europe (Green Pack) The REC and respective local partners developed a comprehensive environmental education programme special for each country. A multi-media environmental education curriculum kit Primarily intended for secondary school teachers and their students Focus on particular aspects of environmental protection and sustainable development teachers students In 15 countries….

III. Zero Emission Conference Center THE BIGGEST SOLAR POWER PLANT IN HUNGARY – connected to the grid! Photovoltaic The PV system generates close to 30 kilowatt hours High efficiency envelope minimise heat loss in winter, prevent heat gains in summer and maximise the exploitation of natural lighting Lighting system a „light shelf” diffuses natural light throughout the interior Heating ventilating and air-conditioning Ground source heat pumps Architecture Energy systems and architecture have been designed in a modern and integrated approach

SINPHONIE Project I wish you a successful implementation to this breakthrough project!

Thank you!