The Regional Cooperation Magazine - Issue 3

Contents

Director’s Editorial

Nine international partners are implementing a project that encourages social inclusion of children and young people with intellectual disabilities

Protecting Civil Society Space: Strengthening Freedom Of Association, Assembly And Expression

Meet the new Fund for Regional Cooperation family member!

COMPETENCE – Capacity building Of eMployees of municiPalitiEs for beTtEr provisioN of publiC sErvices

Projects

Assessment of trans-boundary groundwater resources in two pilots: Latvia-Estonia and Poland-Ukraine borderline

Survey: Mainly the understanding of finances, courage and business relationships are most needed to multiply the number of women entrepreneurs in Hungary.

Romania and Moldova - close collaborations for supporting and promoting female entrepreneurship.

BLUE-GREENWAY: Ocean current conditions in the Ionian Sea

Social media communication in agriculture: case study of Croatian Wine Market

Holistic Radicalisation Prevention Initiative committed to building a European learning hub on radicalisation

The long-term effects of an efficient transition to a Circular Economy

The 1st press event of the project SUPMed, organised by Cyprus Hotel Association, has been successfully implemented

Director’s Editorial

Dear Friends,

Two months have passed and, meanwhile, I hope you all enjoyed some holidays. Not everywhere we have sunny summers, but, this is usually a period where, if possible, we try to leave problems outside, looking for some stimulus, new motivations.

Motivation is, in effect, what we always aim and try to transmit to all of you through our initiatives and, I have to say that we see the first results of this “online space” for thoughts. Motivation is also an important part of our spirit; it is an emotion that guide us in thinking how to structure the best solutions for our common challenges through different forms of innovative collaboration.

The cover picture is what I wanted to reach, since I see in that image different points which unite the entire Family. Our Projects, in the name of the Fund for Regional Cooperation and on behalf of the entire Fund Operator and Donors, recently received a little gift. A keychain representing the logo of the Fund itself. But this is not the important news. The news is that they have been prepared (cleaned one by one and placed into their boxes) by some people I like to define as “special”. I usually don’t like definitions when talking about people; but I also know that I don’t like to talk about “disabled”, since they are, for sure, able to do things. Sometimes in a better way than us and always wearing a smile. We also wanted to give you the idea that behind money, behind the funding activities, there is the motivation to demonstrate that everything we do, big or small, worth it.

And, especially, we also have a Project, known as “Inclusion through sport for children with developmental disabilities”: they prepared something for us totally in line with what we want to transmit with our picture. Last but not least, stay tuned since I know they will tell us some good success stories in the near future. This is, for our Fund, fundamental. Fragile categories, however you consider, they should be defined or refer to, are at the heart of our mission. Not only because they deserve a special treatment. But, since they do deserve it, also because they are an active part of our societies and they do have a role, as we do.

Our Friend and Expert Tom, not surprisingly, is telling us more about societies. His article is not dealing directly with the above mentioned “fragile categories” but let me just quote him directly with his self-explanatory words: «A vibrant, thriving, inclusive and pluralistic civil society is an essential pre-condition for democracy».

We see, today, unfortunate cases of dangers with respect to democratic societies… but this Mag is not the space to talk about politics. I prefer to think about a possible link among the wellbeing of our societies, democracy and the rights of some specific categories (a link that I am sure we are all thinking of, in this framework, when structuring our goals and related activities). And, these days, we have in front of us a show which is giving space to “special people”; I am talking about the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games, since I like to see in sport another good example of collaboration and cooperation, a way, a mean for better societies. And above all, how many different countries we see there?

Such as our Fund for Regional Cooperation: different flags, different countries, different specific activities but some unique common goals.

And, talking about our Fund’s Family, I don’t want to forget that we just enlarged it, with a new member which will contribute to the achievement of objectives that aim, in fact, at the common goals I mentioned earlier.

As our Marga is announcing in this issue, indeed, we contracted the last (but for sure not least) Project: it is COMPETENCE and it aims to improve the quality of public services provided by municipalities through capacity building of the civil servants. Let us see which will be our Family’s participation with respect to the coming European Week of Regions and Cities of this 2021!!!!

Thanking all the rest of the Projects who helped us in creating this new issue, I am happy to see that our “machine” is starting to run. This issue of our Mag is mixing “keychains” with nature, with agriculture and wine, with concrete proposals to fight radicalisation and violent extremism, and again the empowerment of women and circular economy benefits and… some other interesting contributions.

I leave you to a reading that I hope will be enjoyable and I look forward to seeing you at the next issue, some news is about to arrive, together with an important “save the date”!

Gian Luca Bombarda The Fund Director

Nine international partners are implementing a project that encourages social inclusion of children and young people with intellectual disabilities

The beginning of 2021 coincided with the start of an international project that co-opted 9 partners in a joint initiative that encourages social inclusion and improves the cognitive, social and motor skills of children with intellectual disabilities. The partner organizations work in Ireland, Iceland, Poland, Romania, Montenegro, Slovakia, Lithuania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the three years of implementation, the project "Inclusion through sport for children with developmental disabilities" will involve more than 5,200 children and young people with and without intellectual disabilities aged 6 to 12 years from 55 cities in Central, Southern Europe and the Balkans. They will participate in sports competitions and team games that value their skills and emphasize the importance of including young people with disabilities in the community.

Cristian Ispas, General Manager of Motivation Romania Foundation and National Director of Special Olympics Romania: "In 1995 we created Motivation Romania Foundation to fight for the rights and independent life of people with disabilities. In 2003 we proposed a new beginning for the Special Olympics Romania program. The project "Inclusion through sports for children with developmental disabilities" is the result of many years of work and innovation in the field of disability. Together with our partners from 8 European countries we will bring a new and unified approach, on the practice of sport for children with intellectual disabilities aged 6 to 12. We

also want to involve families in debates and training on health issues. The pandemic has greatly changed the way we work, people's perceptions, but together with our partners we will find new methods and solutions to implement the activities we have planned. The biggest challenge remains the social inclusion of children and young people with developmental disabilities, and we address this challenge by bringing them to sports activities where they can show their skills and abilities."

The Covid - 19 pandemic restrictions represented a challenge for the coordinators of the sports activities, but not an obstacle. The activities had a flexible calendar, to protect the health of all participants during the project`s sports events.

Here is how some of the participants in the project received the invitation to sports activities:

Special Olympics Montenegro: `The relevance of this project is confirmed by honest and positive reactions of children with and without intellectual disabilities and their parents, caregivers, family members as well as coaches and volunteers.

The beginning of the project was limited by measures against the Covid pandemic. Therefore, the project activities did not go as planned related to sport training sessions and competitions.

Nevertheless, Special Olympics Montenegro organized educational workshops for coaches to train them for further engagement through working with children of this age. The motivation and enthusiasm that the coaches gained during the two-day workshops was felt in the first trainings with the children.

On the other side, Family Health Forums were held to provide helpful advice from health experts about healthy life styles, physical activity, recommendations for parenting during the pandemic, as well as information on activities to be covered by the project. Parents of children with ID do not hide their excitement for this kind of support and gratitude for this aspect of their children's involvement in the community. On the other hand, parents of children without ID believe that inclusion is learned and lived from an early age. They are therefore proud that their children will socialize, help and share successes with peers regardless of their abilities. Sport is a great way to make a friendship and team spirit, in addition to being necessary for children’s growth and development.

In the hope that the second part of the year will bring us better conditions, we will continue to work towards fulfilling our goals!

Working together for an inclusive Europe!”

Special Olympics Iceland: `In Iceland, selected sport clubs’ leaders and coaches were very open to work with us to analyze and test the new young athlete development Guide that was made for this project. The focus of the Guide was on basketball and football.

The task was to split up the test process to ongoing training project and as well start a new project.

The mainstream basketball club Haukar became partner in the project and started the activities focusing on football and basketball. Training sessions have been running on and off, depending on the pandemic situation. We are proud to say that in Iceland, participants become more active to meet up the activities in the project.”

The European project "Inclusion through sports for children with developmental disabilities" is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. The project is coordinated by Motivation Romania Foundation in partnership with Special Olympics Romania, SO Iceland, SO Slovakia, SO Lithuania, SO Bosnia and Herzegovina, SO Montenegro, SO Europe Eurasia Foundation and Poznan University of Physical Education.

Project’s website: https://inclusivesportsforchildren.eu/ You can contact us: Motivation Romania Foundationcomunicare@motivation.ro

A special thanks to Monica Tautul for the contribution

Protecting Civil Society Space: Strengthening Freedom Of Association, Assembly And Expression

The Slow Crawl From Rhetoric To Reality

In a perverse manner the restrictive regimes engendered by Covid regulations offered panoramas of what repression of populations in totalitarian states can look like. Government legislation essentially crippled freedoms of movement and association. We witnessed the return of borders in Europe with Schengen stalled; there were restraints on association and limitations of movement; curfews; a governance of gatherings and mobility. However, it does not need a plague for some governments to deny their populations much cherished freedoms, although the virus can provide convenient smokescreens. While the restrictions were generally imposed for the benefit and well-being of society, there were many cynical examples of restraints being used for the benefits of despotic leaders and their acolytes. Other governments happily waived any such efforts at subterfuge, and continued to clamp down anyway on basic freedoms. Over the last 10 years an increasing number of governments have adopted new laws and practices that constrain civic space – the set of conditions that allow civil society and individuals to organise, participate and communicate freely and without discrimination

or surveillance. In doing so, they strive to influence the political and social structures around them, and importantly, hold them to account for their legislation and actions. These constraints have taken a wide variety of forms, and affect a diverse range of actors, but many have targeted formal civil society, media outlets and academic institutions.

Civil society space is the place civil society actors occupy within society; the environment and framework and legal grid in which civil society operates; and the relationships among civil society actors, the State, private sector and the general public.

If the space for civil society and youth organisations is shrinking, the consequences for democratic societies could be considered an impediment to the exercise of citizens' rights to freedom of association and expression; and therefore, a serious threat to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Civil society does not, however, exist in isolation or a vacuum, being an integral part of democratic systems and societies. Therefore, current efforts by governments around the world to curtail the enabling environment, to ‘shrink’ the space for civil society – or to keep

that space at very minimal level – needs to be understood as part of a wider trend towards electoral self-interest, the erosion of liberal democracy or political regress – a trend that is affecting all stakeholders in democratic societies, not only civil society.

Over the last years, civil society organisations in the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Platform have voiced increasing concern about the legal and practical challenges affecting their work. They include:

• Regulatory environment: (changes in) legislation that affect civil society organisations’ work;

• Finance and funding: availability and accessibility of resources;

• Right to participation: difficulties in accessing decision-makers and providing input into law- and policymaking;

• Ensuring a safe space: attacks on, and harassment of, human rights defenders, including negative discourse aimed at delegitimising and stigmatising civil society organisations.

These challenges are often cumulative, putting pressure on civil society organisations and human rights defenders.

The international and regional standards on freedom of association, assembly and expression, and the ability to defend rights oblige states to respect the independence of civil society actors. However, critical civil society actors, such as watchdog NGOs and other human rights defenders, have been put under particular pressure across the EU, since they highlight social injustice, speak ‘truth to power’, protest against certain government policies, or defend the rights of others at times of ‘crises’.

These civil society actors are essential to upholding the rule of law, fundamental rights and democratic accountability – the Union’s founding values – as enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The EU, therefore, must protect civic space from unjust interference by EU Member States and even by the Union’s institutions and agencies. The EU’s new budget package for 2021–2027, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF), will have an impact on civil society support. Under the Commission’s MFF proposal, a new Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) worth 89 billion euros will set aside 1.5 billion euros specifically for civil society organizations, and the same amount for human rights and democracy. This comes with the caveat that, despite approval of the overall MFF

package, some Member State governments are keen to revise the Commission’s proposals downward.

EU civil society support faces a pivotal moment. The union has been fine-tuning this support in recent years and is now contemplating further reforms. Civil society around the world is undergoing far-reaching changes as new types of informal activism emerge, governments try to constrict civic activity, and digital technology has major political implications.

A report by Carnegie Europe lays down suggestions as to how the EU should improve its Civil Society assistance

• Tie critical measures to civil society support;

• Set minimum thresholds for mainstreaming;

• Engage with unfamiliar civil society partners;

• Define clearer rules on governmentorganized nongovernmental organizations (GONGOs);

• Focus on systemic resilience;

• Help local fund raising;

• Widen support networks;

• Better connect civil society to politics;

• Assess the civil society impacts of other EU policies; and

• Link civil society to foreign policy.

All the above can be summarised in guiding principles that are driving a rethink by the EU on relations with Civil Society, after years of tokenistic support:

• Build coalitions and supportive structures, for dialogue between civil society, business and authorities/international institutions;

• Catalyse cooperation between government and non-state actors in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating public policies, to ensure that people have an input to policies and programmes that affect their lives and livelihoods;

• Create enabling, institutional, legal and financial mechanisms with the aim of fostering government-civil society dialogue and cooperation.

“Political freedoms are not a luxury in a democratic state; they are a necessity. A democratic society cannot be built or preserved if freedom of assembly and freedom of association are not guaranteed, encouraged and respected. These political freedoms are an indispensable check on any democratic power. Freedom of assembly and freedom of association are key building blocks of democratic security.”

*State of Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Role of Institutions, Threats to Institutions, Report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe 2018.

A vibrant, thriving, inclusive and pluralistic civil society is an essential pre-condition for democracy. The European Court of Human Rights acknowledged that the role of “watchdog” of democracy may also be exercised by non-governmental organisations. Any effort to strengthen democratic institutions should also support the spontaneous flourishing of civil societies and non-governmental groups, so they can have their own say on how their democracies are being shaped. And this support should come strong and clear from the EU, especially in cases where its own Member States are undermining civil society’s role and existence.

It is now time to move on from that rhetoric.

Thomas Mc Grath

Meet the new Fund for Regional Cooperation family member!

I am pleased to announce that we contracted the last (but for sure not least) project under the Common Challenges – Shared Solutions call for proposals. This process was a real saga with plot twists and cliff-hangers. But the project partners were driven to overcome any obstacles and we as fund operator supported them in every step.

Project COMPETENCE aims to improve the quality of public services provided by municipalities through capacity building of the civil servants. The Hungarian lead partner (Ujbuda Municipality) will work with four beneficiary partners: the Arad Directoriate for Social Welfare (Romania), Kallithea Municipality (Greece), City of Trogir (Croatia) and Municipal District of Prague 6 (Czech Republic). The project will be supported by Apenhet AS from Norway as expertise partner. We are happy to welcome the project partners in the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation and the Regional Cooperation Magazine and wish them success and fruitful collaboration. If you want to learn more about their plans and goals, read the short information prepared by the lead partner.

Małgorzata Nowak

COMPETENCE – Capacity building Of eMployees of municiPalitiEs for beTtEr provisioN of publiC sErvices

Nowadays EU member states are experiencing a decline in their common democratic values. This is especially true for the countries in the former Eastern Bloc and the South-Eastern Europe, where the dissatisfaction with the quality of public services is also increasing. Therefore it is crucial for public entities in this region to establish a stronger relationship with the society, and to get capable to quickly adapt to its changing societal needs. The main objective of the COMPETENCE project is to improve the quality of public services provided by municipalities through capacity building of the civil servants. For this purpose the project wishes to improve the communication and intercultural skills of the employees of the municipalities, and thus create better relationship between the local governments and societies. The project aims also to intensify the international cooperation with the Donor States, and promote the transfer of specific knowledge generated and collected in the project in this topic for the internal education within the public sector.

(1) employees of municipalities providing public services on daily basis;

The project target groups are:

(2) local and regional public authorities wishing to adapt their services to meet the changing needs of the society;

(3) NGOs and other bodies providing local public services and interested in capacity building for their employees.

In the project implementation 5 transnational study visits and 4 stakeholder conferences with public bodies will be held to share the project results and to encourage the public actors to improve the intercultural and communication skills of their staff, 1 training course for staff delivering public services on daily basis at the beneficiary organisations will be implemented, and 1 action plan will be elaborated to contribute to efforts relating to improving the communication and intercultural skills of civil servants beyond the project partnership.

Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy

Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance and Fundamental Rights and Freedoms

Justice and Home Affairs

Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness

Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Povery Reduction

Assessment of trans-boundary groundwater resources in two pilots: Latvia-Estonia and Poland-Ukraine borderline

We are proud to present you the first EU-WATERRES output – report “Assessment of the resources of transboundary groundwater reservoirs for the two pilot areas”. The report consists of tree major parts. First, the knowledge of international laws about management of transboundary areas with the emphasis of bilateral agreements (also harmonization of glossary and commonly used terms) between neighbouring countries in two pilots –Ukrainian-Polish and Latvian-Estonian borders. Second and third, the assessment of transboundary resources in two pilot areas starting from transboundary area delineation (“working area”), assessment of hydrogeological and geochemical conditions, to development of conceptual models to be used as a basis for further modelling studies, including pressure analysis (e.g., abstraction, clime change) and future scenarios modelling.

The report has been developed by EU-WATERRES project consortium and reviewed by invited Advisory board members. The report is an output for WP3 – “Harmonization of transboundary groundwater monitoring” lead by Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre.

Project EU-WATERRES “EU-integrated management system of cross-border groundwater resources and anthropogenic hazards”

Survey: Mainly the understanding of finances, courage and business relationships are most needed to multiply the number of women entrepreneurs in Hungary.

In an international research program Hungarian women were also asked about the recipe for successful entrepreneurship

26 May 2021 - The number of enterprises with only female proprietorship has increased in Hungary in the last 10 years, but they still represent only about 14% of the total domestic company portfolio. Spearheaded by the Hungarian SKC-Consulting Kft. the WINGATE international business stimulation program, implemented from a nearly HUF 660 million budget, was launched with the aim of supporting beginner and more experienced women entrepreneurs through knowledge transfer, training and networking opportunities. The WINGATE project covering four other European countries in addition to Hungary, as a first step examined in an international survey what women entrepreneurs really need to succeed.

The success of women entrepreneurs is a key issue for the performance of the entire global economy, as it is estimated that ensuring gender equality in business could contribute a surplus of about $12 thousand billion to the global GDP by 2025. There are currently more than 500 joint ventures in Hungary with an annual turnover of over HUF 1 billion, that have women owners and authorized signatories. Despite the fact that the number of these companies has almost doubled compared to the number a year earlier (300), the share of businesses with only female proprietorship in the category of enterprises with a turnover of over HUF 1 billion still represents only 6%.

The goal of the WINGATE project was to promote the start-up of new businesses led by women and the development of existing ones in Norway, Moldova, Serbia and Romania, besides Hungary. In addition to start-ups or more experienced entrepreneurs, the program also targets women who are

currently employed or inactive and who are still considering starting their own business. Through the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Norwegian Regional Cooperation Fund, the business incentive project is being implemented from EUR 1,824,320 (approx. HUF 660 million), of which nearly 40% is spent in Hungary. WINGATE is dedicated to support women entrepreneurs with a wide range of educational materials, trainings, networking and community-building events that can be put into practice.

It is very difficult to take the first step – knowledge on business and relationships are also much needed

WINGATE used a questionnaire in the countries concerned to assess which skills and business knowledge women entrepreneurs needed the most. More than half of the nearly 1,500 respondents were Hungarian, about 90% had a tertiary education and were fluent in English, and there was a roughly equal proportion of respondents who were already entrepreneurs and those who were just planning to start a business. The majority of women surveyed are between the ages of 26 and 40, and more than 40% still work in business, sales, marketing or commerce, however, they are still lacking the specific knowledge to run a successful business. As the next step the program will consist of various trainings to be developed available free of charge. Those interested can expect to benefit from business and management content primarily, but they will also be able to apply for skills development trainings.

“The result of the survey revealed that women envisioning their future as entrepreneurs want to develop both social skills and specific professional knowledge. They all consider thinking out of the box, the right level of selfconfidence and courage to be important regarding entrepreneurial success, and above all they value financial and management expertise. It also turned out that one of the biggest barriers to starting a business is considered to be the regulatory environment and the constantly changing market conditions. In addition to administrative issues, the first steps also create uncertainty: how to turn a good idea or product into a sound business plan, and how would it be attractive to an investor? On the other hand, almost 60% of the respondents considered it important to emphasize that they would need a much more effective networking to succeed; and based on the answers, personal competencies need to be developed the most, including communication, clear and compelling speech, conflict management and negotiation techniques. What the latter have in common is that these areas were typically less addressed at school - and still are today.” concludes

PUSKÁS Ágnes WINGATE project manager.

Women angel investors are a huge untapped resource

As for some respondents starting a business is no longer a challenge, but business development is, they need a completely different type of knowledge to move on. The survey found that high-level project management skills, confident budgeting, developing an effective PR and marketing strategy, successfully engaging investors, and knowledge of more advanced business models (franchises, joint ventures) are the key issues for business expansion. Business angels also have an unavoidable role in business development: investors who in addition to their experience embrace new ideas from their own capital and provide market entrants the necessary help to reach business success through their business network. There are very few female angel investors in Hungary, consequently the WINGATE project intends to fill in this gap.

“It shall give a very serious boost to the region’s economic growth if women also acquire the skills needed to become an investor and become competitive in this area as well. A number of promising new businesses can be created this way that can achieve considerable success even when entering the international markets. From this point of view, it is indeed particularly positive news that in our survey almost a third of those interested in “angel career” were Hungarian, although more than 60% of them are not even entrepreneurs yet. According to the survey, the Hungarian ladies wish to become angel investors - our goal, however, is to make this wish come true” – concludes PUSKÁS

Ágnes

.

Project Wingate

Romania and Moldova - close collaborations for supporting and promoting female entrepreneurship.

Digitization, innovation, entrepreneurship education, bilateral relations between the Romanian and the Republic of Moldova regarding business environment and academic cooperation were some of the most important topics addressed in Chisinau, during the Economic Forum "Opportunities to invest in the Republic of Moldova and Romania", organized in Chisinau on the 14th of July, with the participation of ANAA (National Association of Entrepreneurs) delegation led by the President of the association, Cristina Chiriac.

The visit to the Republic of Moldova focused on a series of bilateral meetings with representatives of the business environment, the associative and academic environment and the official meeting with the Romanian Ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ioniță.

Also, during the visit, ANAA together with the Association of Business

Women of Moldova - AFAM strengthened their partnership in order to develop sustainable projects to support women in business, entrepreneurship education and digitalization but also to support and promote the Wingate platform which has as a main purpose to increase the number of women-led companies in areas of interest such as innovation, contributing to competitiveness and equal opportunities.

The need of support and promotion of women who have succeeded in business so that they become benchmarks of good practice are essential to stimulate the community of women entrepreneurs in Moldova, and the role of the partnership between the two bodies is to promote gender equality and the ability of women to assert themselves in society, through common plans

and actions. Entrepreneurial education and digitalization are key factors in managing and developing the business and promoting gender equality. It also has been held meetings with representatives of the European Business Association - EBA and the Employers' Association of Light Industry APIUS. During the Economic Forum, meetings were held with many business women from the Republic of Moldova who were invited to join the international community of entrepreneurs that is being created within the Wingate project.

The Wingate project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Regional Cooperation Grant Fund.

Project Wingate

BLUE-GREENWAY: Ocean current conditions in the Ionian Sea

Many studies in the past have highlighted the importance of the Ionian Sea as it is a region where water masses meet and interact; see, e.g., Budillon et al. (2010), Gačić et al. (2010), Kalimeris and Kassis (2020), and references therein. In west, the Ionian Sea is connected to the Western Mediterranean via the Strait of Sicily, the Levantine Sea in South East, the Aegean Sea in East and the Adriatic Sea in North via the Otranto Strait. The southern Adriatic Sea is the traditional “engine” of the Eastern Mediterranean internal conveyor belt, which is the main and historical contributor to the deep and bottom waters of the Ionian and Levantine basins, from which the Adriatic Deep Water (ADW) exits crossing the Otranto Straits (Budillon et al., 2010).

In the framework of the EEA project BLUE-GREENWAY, ocean current conditions in the Ionian Sea have been studied for a period of ten years (2010-2019). For this, SINTEF's hydrodynamic 3D ocean model SINMOD has been implemented in a doubly nested setup (20 km resolution for the North Atlantic, 4 km for the Mediterranean, and 800 m for the Ionian Sea), using ERA5 atmospheric input, together with information concerning freshwater influx (main rivers) and tides; see Knutsen et al (2021).

SINMOD model is a fully coupled ocean model with hydrodynamics, ecology, and sea ice, and it has been developed at SINTEF since 1987.

SINMOD resolves sufficiently well the circulation dynamics of the oceans. Validation of the model has been performed throughout all these years using not only measurements of current, salinity and temperature but also data of primary production.

The analysis of results includes monthly, annual and interannual variability of fields of current speed, temprature, salinity, and wind speed at sea surface, and at a diagonal cross-section along the Ionian Sea. For currents, Mean

Annual Variability (MAV) is pronounced in large areas of the Ionian Sea, especially near both coasts (>60% of the mean value), while Inter-Annual Variability (IAV) seems to be less pronounced with the largest values (>30% of the mean value) are along the Italian coast and southwest of Cephalonia island, and the lowest along the Greek coast and off the Gulf of Taranto. Concerning the monthly variability, the largest patterns (60% of the mean value) are shown in winter months (Jan, Feb and Dec) in the central Ionian Sea, and near the coasts most of the year. Lower patterns (40% of the mean value) are exhibited in the southeastern area from April until November, and in the western part from February til August. At the cross-section along the Ionian Sea, the upper part (0-500 m) is layered horizontally, while the bottom part (500-3500 m) less stratified. Largest values at the surface (20 cm/s).

For temperature, MAV and IAV are significantly lower than in current speed (MAV: highest values approximately 22% of the mean value, and IAV: 4% of the mean value). Individual years are also used for the study of IAV. The warmest part is in the south-southeast area of the Ionian Sea, and the warmest year was 2016. At the diagonal cross-section, temperature in the upper part varies from 14 to 20 C, and it is layered horizontally, while the variability in the bottom part is much less (13.75–13.9 C).

For salinity, exhibited MAV and IAV are very low (highest values approximately 0.5% of the mean value). The lowest MAV is southwest of Peloponnese, while the greatest IAV is along the coasts and in the south. At the diagonal cross-section also, salinity exhibits very low variability; being (mostly) horizontally layered, with few exceptions in the upper part.

For wind speed, MAV is very high; the largest values (65% of the mean value) being in the southwestern part. On the other hand, IAV is very low; the higher values (6% of the mean value) are in the Greek coasts (Corfu island and Peloponnese).

References

Budillon G, Bue NL, Siena G, and Spezie G (2010). “Hydrographic characteristics of water masses and circulation in the Northern Ionian Sea,” Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography, 57(5), 441–457, the APLABES Programme: Physical, Chemical and Biological Characterization of Deep-Water Coral Ecosystems from the Ionian Sea (Mediterranean).

Gačić M, Borzelli GLE, Civitarese G, Cardin V, and Yari S (2010). “Can internal processes sustain reversals of the ocean upper circulation? The Ionian Sea example,” Geophysical Research Letters, 37(9).

Kalimeris A and Kassis D (2020). “Sea surface circulation variability in the Ionian-Adriatic Seas,” Progress in Oceanography, 189, 102454.

Knutsen, Ø., Stefanakos, Ch.N., Slagstad, D., “Ocean current conditions in the Ionian Sea”, 31st International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, ISOPE’2021, Online/Virtual Conference June 20-25, 2021.

Christos Stefanakos, Senior Research Scientist, SINTEF Ocean

Project BLUE-GREENWAY: Innovative solutions for improving the environmental status of eutrophic and anoxic coastal ecosystems

Fig. 1 Bathymetry of the Ionian Sea.

Fig. 2. Mean annual variability of surface current speed.

Fig 3. Mean annual values of temperature along depth, left: 0-500 m, right: 500-3500 m (see map on the bottom right).

Social media communication in agriculture: case study of Croatian Wine Market

The wine market forms a significant part of the total world agricultural market that expands, and marketing changes are needed to adapt to globalization and technology development. Croatia is a country with a long tradition of grape and wine production. In the last five years, there has been an increase in the agricultural areas under vineyards and increased wine production. Despite this, Croatia has continued to increase wine imports, most from neighboring countries. In the meantime, market liberalization will encourage the Croatian wine export, where the main disadvantages are inadequate branding, insufficient Internet promotion, and small production. Information technologies nowadays are completely changed techniques of planning and implementation of e-marketing in the wine industry. The new way of doing business is called "social media marketing" as a process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites.

On the other hand, the actual business benefits of this relatively new form of communication have hardly been investigated, particularly within the wine industry in Croatia. Therefore, in our case study, we wished to determine the use of social media by Croatian wine producers in branding (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, etc.); and identify wine consumer behavior on the Internet via Google Trends and Google Correlate tool. We focused on a new brand concept and architecture (Fig. 1) of "Vina CroatiaVina Mosaica", which Wine Cooperative of Croatia created to put Croatia on the map as a reputable source of distinctive, high-quality wines. Vina Croatia evokes a new brand of Croatian enterprise, harnessing indigenous strengths within, to compete on the world stage, and heralding a new identity to unify the Croatian mosaic with key brand words (for example, Dalmatia: World Heritage Wines; Istria: The Rite of Spring; Slavonia and the Croatian Danube. Pure Gold. The Croatian Uplands: Hillside Wines). The chosen visual identity should represent the brand Vina Croatia with an emphasis on

diversity (regional, national and international) and make Vina Croatia effective ambassadors of a new national wine identity, especially in conjunction with the interests of Croatian tourism and in the context of the Internet market. When we analyzed competitive positioning, it was possible to conclude that brand Vina Croatia will stand out from New World wines on heritage, from Old World on simplicity, from other emergent wine sources on accessibility.

Meanwhile, the research of wine consumer behavior in the context of the Internet and time of interest via the Google Trend tool showed us that consumer interest for Croatian wines and brands appears seasonally in the year (Fig. 2). Web visits are related to summer and winter when Google toll indicates the most considerable search by terms: Croatia/wine/brand. Therefore, before the growth curve of interest, it is necessary to start a brand campaign of wineries and cooperatives, which refers to May and November. Our preliminary study provided only a snapshot of the whole Croatian wine market and branding and will serve as a platform for further researches in the future.

Figure 1. Wine brand architecture of Vina Croatia as the unique "alphabet" of design elements which directly and subliminally communicate Croatia wine region values and personality through compelling imagery and design style.

(Source: Marketing department of the Wine Cooperative of Croatia)

Contact information:

Berislav Andrlić, PhD

Polytechnic in Pozega, Croatia

e-mail: bandrlic@vup.hr

Đuro Horvat, PhD

The University College Effectus Zagreb, Croatia

e-mail: horvat@edukator.hr

Authors: Berislav Andrlić, Đuro Horvat

Source:http://www.google.hr/trends/ explore#q=%2Fm%2F01pj7%2C%20%2Fm%2F081qc%2C%20brand&cmpt=q&tz=, 20.01.2015

Project Uncorking rural heritage: indigenous production of fermented beverages for local cultural and environmental sustainability

Figure 2. Wine consumer behavior on Internet

Holistic Radicalisation Prevention Initiative committed to building a European learning hub on radicalisation

Such learning hub (network) will comprise training and research organisations, academies, prison and probation administrations and community organisations from several countries, which can intervene in radicalisation prevention.

Moreover, the organisations that will integrate the network to build under the auspices of the HOPE project will be necessary to disengagement strategies and action. The network also comprises entities that can intervene to improve the transition process - from prison or probation back into the communityfor those at risk of radicalisation or who have already been radicalised.

The HOPE project will achieve this result by promoting a holistic radicalisation prevention approach focusing on offenders, prison and probation frontline staff and community organisations.

The project is now working on screening and identifying the relevant national and regional stakeholders to join the network. We will then implement a knowledge base among network members in an electronic platform, on HOPE’s project website, for knowledge sharing on the radicalisation field.

A crucial output of the HOPE project in the short term is creating a network around the phenomenon of radicalisation and violent extremism.

This network is intended at supporting continuous training and knowledge sharing in the Balkans, Southern and Eastern European countries. In this way, the project’s consortium is making concerted efforts towards realising a European learning hub on radicalisation.

A network engaged in radicalisation prevention:

A regional focus but an overarching importance

This network is invested with great importance because it will be excellent support for all stakeholders that will be part of it.

Given the current lack of tools and learning solutions around radicalisation, deradicalisation, and disengagement, a network of this nature is sorely needed. This scarcity will certainly motivate government agencies (namely prison and probation systems) and NGOs to use the HOPE tools and materials, even after the end of the project.

Furthermore, the list of partners implementing the project includes countries from various cardinal points in Europe. This feature enables the consortium to contrast different regional approaches and ensure the transferability of project results to the broader European context.

A core expected result of the HOPE project is creating a learning hub focusing on the Balkan, Southern and Eastern European countries but we aspire to go beyond that as this initiative aims to contribute to solutions that are being discussed and advanced in the broader European spectrum.

Through the project partners, the European learning hub on radicalisation built under the HOPE project will continue to animate a network for the ongoing sharing of information and experiences on radicalisation.

Moreover, the involvement of public services in the network will facilitate the integration of project results into national policies and contribute to the broader European discussion and efforts around the issue.

Regional cooperation and innovation go hand in hand

The innovative character of the HOPE project is linked to the regionalspecific approach proposed and to active and collaborative methods. The project uses such methods to collect and discuss needs, learnings and best practices and develop and implement training in the field of radicalisation awareness, prevention and disengagement/deradicalisation.

Thus, we add value to the European thematic discussion while focusing on the regional specificities of the Balkan, Southern and Eastern European jurisdictions.

Additionally, establishing a European learning hub on radicalisation is a project outcome in line with enhancing cooperation and improving mutual knowledge and understanding between the donor and beneficiary states, a broader goal of the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

Project HOPE – HOlistic radicalisation Prevention initiativE

The long-term effects of an efficient transition to a Circular Economy

In a Circular Economy, waste is considered a valuable resource. The concept is based on expanding the life cycle of products through reuse, recycling, repair and renovation so that the materials products are made of, or the products themselves, play a part in the economy for as long as possible. More than just being an environmental issue, a circular economy takes maximum advantage of resources especially scarce ones by avoiding waste. Initiatives around the world offer glimpses of the impact that adopting such practices would make if applied on a global scale. This year’s Tokyo Olympics offered a prime example: by recycling 79,000 tonnes of smart phones and other electronic items the 5,000 medals were made.

To understand the impact of recovering metals from electronic appliances, it is worth to note that there is 100 times more gold in a ton of discarded mobile phones than there is in a ton of gold ore. Research shows that creating a circular economy brings $4.5 trillion in economic opportunities by creating business growth and employment opportunities through avoiding waste. Doing so requires a multi-tiered approach where everyone is involved from citizens to governments. Reducing consumption is one of the main motivations behind creating a circular economy. During the 20th century, the world’s use of raw materials grew twice as much as the population with the richest countries consuming 10 times as much as the poorest. In business models the main principle is based on selling as much as possible. In this respect behaviour change to influence consumer demand and innovation in business backed up by policies are key.

Consuming better is another factor. Awareness and taking into consideration the environmental impact making a product has, helps choosing products produced in sustainable ways while avoiding those that are created through environmentally harmful methods. The same goes knowing that a product chosen is easy to recycle or reuse. Awareness of sustainability is on the rise

among consumers. Better consumption puts pressure by consumers and is crucial to encourage businesses to shift to environmentally friendly practices, while offering opportunities for innovation especially if backed up by incentives.

Incentives and policies are a strong factor that can help create systemic change. Placing taxes for example on products that use only new materials and offering incentives for using circular models in production and the lifecycle of products would contribute significantly to creating a circular economy. Some companies already use circular models where for example specialised equipment are taken back and repaired, refurbished or have their materials repurposed. Scaling this model to a broader range of consumer products would bring us closer to a circular economy. Appropriate infrastructure so recycling is as accessible as possible, and awareness of which materials are recyclable for proper sorting of waste are also key elements of a circular economy. Waste sorting at the source make the processing of recyclables much easier and more cost-efficient as it offers easy access to clean materials.

In the EU, the European Green Deal which includes the Circular Economy Action Plan sets out the policies for adopting a circular economy. Shifting to a Circular Economy will help break the association of economic growth to environmental destruction and shows that the former is possible while preserving the environment. In business, it offers the possibilities for new opportunities as well as new employment opportunities. For consumers, this means higher quality and safe products paired with a new range of services.

Project Circular-based waste management

The 1st press event of the project SUPMed, organised by Cyprus Hotel Association, has been successfully implemented

of €1,279,405.00. The six project partners participating in the project are Aspon Consulting Ltd as the Lead Partner (CY), Heraklion Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GR), Anelixis Development Consultants S.A. (GR), Cellock Ltd (CY), AIS Environment (MT) and the Cyprus Hotel Association (CY).

On Wednesday 7 July 2021, the 1st press event of the project titled “Reducing the Consumption and Disposal of Single-use Plastics in the Tourism Industry in Cyprus, Greece and Malta”, also known as “SUPMed”, was held by Cyprus Hotel Association. The event was held via Zoom due to the COVID-19 restriction measures. Several stakeholders of the project based in Cyprus were invited, such as representatives of tourist establishments, suppliers and SMEs, representatives from local and national public authorities etc.

During the 1st press event, the attendees had the chance to familiarise themselves with what this project aims to achieve, the methodology to be used by the project partners, the progress made so far, what tourist establishments are participating in each country’s pilot and the contribution of EEA and Norway Grants about the conept of circular economy and how this project will assist tourist establishments in adopting circular economy practices with a focus on the replacement of Single-Use Plastic (SUP) products.

The SUPMed project runs until June 2023 with a total budget

The project consortium aims to reduce the consumption, disposal and impacts of SUP in the tourism sector in these three regions, in line with EU Directive 2019/904 on the reduction of the impacts of plastic products. Through this project, the partners will support samples of coastal tourist establishments in Cyprus, Malta and Greece (Crete) via pilots to move to sustainable resource-efficient business models. The establishments will identify and replace commonly-used SUP with environmentally friendlier, readily available and affordable alternatives. The pilot samples will be supported in phasing out and replacing SUP via a bespoke free web- based decision-support tool (DST) that will be developed. The DST will present viable and available alternatives to the most commonly used SUP, taking into consideration the cost and environmental impacts of each alternative across its life-cycle.

Following the completion of the pilot in each of the three regions, best practise guides will be developed that will present the findings of the pilots, the impacts of plastic waste on human health and the environment, how to reduce SUP in the tourism and other sectors and what envirionmentally friendlier and affordable alternatives are available. These guides will be disseminated to SMEs, NGOs, tourist establishments and other relevant stakeholders in the three regions and across Europe, as an additional support tool in replacing SUPs.

Project Reducing the Consumption and Disposal of Single-use Plastics in the Tourism Industry in Cyprus, Greece and Malta

Contributors & Credits

From the Fund Operators

Małgorzata Nowak

Mateusz Wiśniewski

Francesca Bombarda

Sara Barbi

External Contributors

Thomas Mc Grath

From the Projects

Inga Retike

Ierotheos Zacharias

Diamanto Giannara

Erika Zuodar

Kata Pátka-Szitter

Silvia Bernardo

Maritsa Kissamitaki

Monica Tautul

Zoltán Kiss Director

Gian Luca Bombarda

Cover Image: Coop Sociale Il PONTE

The contents of the Magazine are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Donors.

born with the intention of sharing the results and updates of the projects participating to the Fund to showcase the main achievements of implemented activities.

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