The MedPartnership addresses Parliamentarians, journalists and NGOs in Athens

The MedPartnership was showcased to more than a 120 Members of Parliament, journalists and NGOs from 22 Mediterranean countries who gathered in Athens, Greece on 22 and 23 October 2012. The workshop entitled "How Members of Parliament can better contribute to the effective De-pollution of the Mediterranean" was organized within the framework of the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/ Mediterranean Environment Programme and constituted the first international meeting of Mediterranean MPs after the events of the Arab Spring. 

The Workshop was opened by Prof. Stefan Schennach, Chairman of the Committee on Energy, Environment and Water of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA – UfM) and was chaired by Prof. Michael Scoullos, H2020 Team Leader. The Coordinator of UNEP/ Mediterranean Action Plan, Ms. Maria Luisa Silva Mejias addressed the meeting highlighting that “In the current context of combined political and economic crises throughout the Mediterranean, the leadership of members of Parliament is essential to achieve our objectives. The main difference between the current downturn and previous ones is that it occurs in a context of increased fragility of our natural capital.  Parliamentarians will be key actors in ensuring that the development strategies that will lift us from the current situation are not at the expense of our already depleted resources”.

The MedPartnership featured during the two days of the workshop at multiple occasions. On the first day, Ms. Virginie Hart, UNEP/MAP Coastal and Marine expert, gave a thorough presentation of the project, which being in its third year of implementation already has visible results. Mr. Vangelis Constantianos, GWP-Med Executive Secretary followed suit to present the newly added Climate Variability Component of the MedPartnership. Furthermore, the recently completed MedPartnership documentary was displayed throughout the meeting between the sessions. Finally, on the second day, Ms. Thomais Vlachogianni made a detailed presentation of the iPad application and also helped participants navigate around.

By the end of the workshop participants increased their understanding of the main challenges and urgencies to be addressed in the Mediterranean and the regional frameworks, initiatives and cooperation opportunities such as Horizon 2020, the MedPartnership and SWIM. Also in an effort to address the need for policy based on sound scientific information, participants gained knowledge on the available resources and the ways these can be used throughout the process of the development and implementation of policies. In addition, they were informed of regional platforms for dialogues between Parliamentarians such as COMPSUD (Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development), which also held its 9th Meeting on the afternoon of the 23rd of October at the University of Athens.

Participating countries included: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Jordan, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, occupied Palestinian territory, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.