The second round of sub-grantee of ENV.net project for grass -root organization in Albania was closed in 13th of April. 7 NGOs were invited to participate in the restricted call Green Initiatives toward complying with EU environmental standards. From 6 proposals delivered, only two of them were awarded.

The first project was awarded to NGO Eco-Movement “The collection and management of rainwater in the garden” . The projects aims to ensure sustainable water supply, reduce cost of water bill in the kindergarten No. 31 in Tirana, promote green technologies, through this pilot project. The project will monitor water management in kindergarten no.31, the standard water consumption; a green technology project will be designed and implemented in the kindergarten, followed by staff training and promotion of the project.

The second project was awarded to NGO Milieukontakt “Coordinated management of Coastal Waters in Vlora Region”. The project aims, first to establish collaboration between local and central government towards monitoring and protection of coastal waters in terms of quality, and second to support the responsible authorities to set up a coordination mechanism to comply with EU Water Quality Directives. The project will be implemented in Vlora Region and will directly involve representatives of institutions and different stakeholder that deal with coastal management. A research study on Institutional framework on water management, in general and coastal waters in specific will be delivered; a memorandum of understanding between central and local institutions for coastal water management and monitoring will be prepared and signed by target group; an action plan with concrete steps for each institutions to undertake for a better coordinated management of coastal waters will be prepared.

As a part of the ENV.net project, “Environmental Ambassadors for Sustainable Development” organized the training session: “CSO Participation in Accession Process” which was held on April 8, 2016 in Belgrade . The course was attended by over 20 participants. On the subject of strengthening the role of CSOs invited speakers were: Andjelka Mihajlov, representative of the Negotiating Team 27, Jelena Pajovic van Reenen, representative of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, Natasa Djereg, CEKOR, National Convention on the EU, Mirko Popovic, Belgrade Open School: Coalition 27, and Hristina Stevanovic-Carapina, Environmental Ambassadors for Sustainable Development. The main conclusions of the meeting were that the environment is not a priority for the Republic of Serbia and therefore the environmental civil society organizations face a problem of providing funds for their activities, and that stronger civil society can be achieved through more intense sharing of opinions and initiatives ( for example, initiatives related Post-screening document implementation).

Turkish Env.net partner TEMA foundation organised a three day comprehensive training in İstanbul, for 32 local NGO representatives from all around Turkey, on the weekend between 8 and 10 April 2016. The training covered a wide range of topics from fundraising and effective communication to nature conservation principles and legal advocacy. Saturday afternoon of the training was organised by the Env.net team in TEMA foundation and covered the topics on legal advocacy and effective local activism.

As part of the Env.net component of the training, Omer Aykul (the legal advisor of TEMA Foundation and expert in environmental law), talked about the constitutional right to the nature as a human right and how it can be used as a legal advocacy tool in local environmental struggles. He then gave a short presentation on the current EIA legislation and problems related to the current regulations. He emphasised the important points that can help local communities in their struggles, such as important deadlines.

After Omer Aykul, the head of the environmental policy department of TEMA foundation, Ozgul Erdemli Mutlu gave a presentation on the strategies of effective activism. She talked about the non-legal advocacy tools such as how to organise an online campaign, how to mobilise local communities and neighbourhood, how to communicate effectively with local and national press.

The env.net session was concluded by the presentation of  the Env.net project coordinator Cem İskender Aydın, who talked briefly about the Env.net project and the recent works completed within the project. He also presented the new participative mapping tool for the “Map of threats to the water resources in Turkey” and how local communities can directly put their cases on the map.