environmental technology will be developed in the Narew area to provide knowledge and experience transfer among different users in Poland. UBA’s specialist expertise is also incorporated in projects to implement international agreements: an advisory assistance project of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) should promote the implementation of the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents and thus transboundary risk management. The aim of the project is to develop an effective and practical testing of risk prevention systems for incidentrelevant facilities to safeguard the Danube Delta. One of the key measures of the project is to develop safety guidelines for oil terminals. Three terminals are directly above the Danube Delta, one each in Romania, the Republic of Moldavia and Ukraine. Further training of Ukrainian, Romanian and Moldavian specialists within this project will contribute to achieving the goals of environmental co-operation agreed at government level. The project will be a flagship project for the implementation of the EU’s strategy for the Danube Region. The EU offers a variety of instruments for collaborating on solving problems: these are long-term administrative partnerships, known as “Twinning”, and short-term actions for Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX). The European commission aspires, with both cooperation instruments, to support the establishment and development of institutional structures in countries which joined the EU, want to join or, as European neighbours, are interested in a closer cooperation with the EU. UBA uses these tools for knowledge transfer; 91 of UBA’s employees have so far passed on their experiences in environmental administration in 12 Central and Eastern European countries, Turkey and Egypt.
and is used for the transfer of German environmental technology. Conversely the project partners of each individual project bring innovations from the EU states involved so enabling the reciprocal transfer of environmental technology. Through the Integration of the identified techniques and procedures into their production processes, SMEs can be more material and energy efficient, thus reducing their costs and relieving the environment. The action catalogue “Transnational Agenda” highlights pathways towards sustainable development of the economy to policy makers in the participating countries.
Responsible for the text: Anneliese Looß, Head of Section I 1.2 Esther Wörner, Section I 1.2
A key part of these projects is a freely accessible project database with examples of innovative environmental technology where entrepreneurs will find examples of how they can make production processes more sustainable. The database is linked closely with UBA’s Internet portal “Cleaner Production Germany”, which presents the state of the art
Contacts: International Environmental Protection and European Environmental Policy: Hans-Joachim Hermann, Matthias Winzer, Section I 1.2 Green Economy: Dr. Andreas Burger, Head of Section I 1.4 Climate Protection and Energy: Dr. Klaus Müschen, Head of Department I 2 Resources Efficiency: Matthias Koller, Head of Section I 1.1 Waste Management: Barbara Friedrich, Section III 1.5 International Chemicals Management: Dr. Steffi Richter, Head of Section IV 1.1 Transport and Noise: Dr. Hedwig Verron, Section I 3.1, Matthias Hintzsche, Section I 3.4 Air Quality Control and Biodiversity: Marion Wichmann-Fiebig, Head of Department II 4 OSPAR und HELCOM: Ulrich Claussen, Head of Section II 2.3 Protection of the Antarctic: Dr. Heike Herata, Head of Section I 3.5
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What Matters 2011
Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Production Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for roughly half of the total industrial pollution in the EU [34]. Because they are not sufficiently informed about the avoidable environmental impacts of their activities, many business owners see no reason to change their actions so they can be more sustainable in terms of environmental protection and economic efficiency. The INTERREG projects SPIN [35] in the Baltic Sea region and Act Clean [36] in Central Europe have therefore adopted a common environmental goal to support these companies in the introduction of innovative environmental technologies [37].