CESMED Meeting reinforces vision for future

Project Steering Committee meeting reinforced Human Dynamics vision of how to successfully execute the eighteen-month extension.
05.04.2016

The EU-funded CES-MED project held its 6th Project Steering Committee meeting in Brussels on 8 March 2016. Delegates and focal points from the eight affiliated countries to the project participated in this the first meeting since the European Commission granted an eighteen-month extension for the project.

Ms Liselotte Isaksson, Head of the Sector Energy, Environment, Climate Change (DG NEAR) opened the session by sharing the positive vision of the European Commission for the new extension period for the CESMED project.

In the first panel, the participants were introduced to the progress and milestones of the project during Phase 1 of CES-MED (2013-2015), the role of SEAPs and the funding alternatives for sustainable energy projects in the Southern Mediterranean.

Mr. Naguib Amin, Team Leader of CES-MED, reviewed the activities delivered at national and local levels per country and outlined the lessons learned for project continuity.

‘’The prospects for further advancements of our support and successful collaboration with South Mediterranean cities, to help them build a sustainable future, are highly positive considering the extension granted by the European Commission. Our team has highly appreciated the contributions done by all focal points and the dedicated involvement of all stakeholders on a national and local level,” said Mr. Amin in his remarks on the first phase of the CESMED project.

Ms. Alexandra Papadopoulou, CES-MED Energy Expert, gave a presentation on “Challenges and results when preparing SEAPs’’ and gave an overview of how conducting Baseline Emission Inventories is linked to the INDC. Ms Papadopoulou also briefed the participants on the challenge of having cities doing BEI studies on their own and the assistance the project could provide to municipalities regarding data collection.

A presentation on the prospects for funding a SEAP and the institutional factors for that was given by Mr. Pierre Couté, CES-MED’s Maghreb expert moderated the following discussions on the topic.

Opportunities for funding were also discussed with representatives of financial institutions: Mr Hassan Mouatadid, Local Authorities and Urban development division of the French Development Agency (AFD), Mr. David Morgant, Senior Regional and Urban Specialist at the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Ms Myriam Pinot-Bernard Deputy Coordinator for the UPFI initiative coordinated by the AFD and the EIB.

CES-MED’s communication expert, Ms. Myriam Makdissi introduced the Community Awareness and Promotional Plan (CAPP) guidebook and the Communication Tool Kit and explained how this component has been presented through training and applied later on to the SEAP study. 

“The CAPP component is integral part of the SEAPs, as awareness on a local level is a must for the positive involvement of the citizens towards the efforts of the local authorities,’’ Ms Makdissi said. 

After the lunch break, the participants discussed the future of the CES-MED programme and the planned activities for 2016-2017. Key milestones for Phase 2 of the project will be the consolidation of the NCG, the update of tool-kits, the preparation training materials to conduct trainings with new adherent municipalities. The project will also extend its information and awareness-raising activities through the coming publication of country specific newsletters, the organisation of events and CAPP Training of Trainers.

In the closing remarks of the afternoon session, Ms Liselotte Isaksson, Head of Sector Energy, Environment, Climate Change (DG NEAR) thanked all participants for their commitment to the CES-MED project.