REC Country Office Slovenia

Contents of this page:
Establishment Staff Budget Achievements Projects Expertise
Donors Contact address

Year of Establishment:
1993

Current Staff:
Milena Marega, Country Office Director
Tatjana Studen, Financial and Project Officer
Mateja Sepec, Project Officer
Darko Fercej, Information Officer / Project Officer

Operational Budget in 2003:
EUR 127,796

Major Achievements:
The first activities of the REC CO in 90's were related to providing environmental NGOs and local communities with training on environmental project management, accounting and with financial support for their environmental activities. Since then through 10 years of operation REC CO expanded its activities to all environmental stakeholders groups and to broader field of environmental protection and sustainable development. The CO significally supported communication and cooperation between all environmental stakeholders. With organizing seminars, workshops and forums, with providing trainings and information flow, with grants giving the REC CO assisted Slovenian environmental NGOs, local communities, local authorities, business and academic sector to become important performers of environmental protection activities and of national development programs.

Knowledge and expertise on environmental protection, on sustainable development issues and on project management enabled the REC CO to get involved in implementation of several national and international projects and programs. Among others REC CO also took over the role of the Secretariat in several Phare Cross-border Programs (1997-2003), Phare Access Program (2002/2003), Technical Assistance to Global Environmental Facility Focal Point (2000/2001) and Technical Assistance for Management of Project Preparation Facility Grant Scheme PPF II (2003), Technical Assisstance for Management of "Cross Border Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development".

Among outstanding recent achievements there are the following:

The REC CO Slovenia is dedicating significant efforts to promote eco-efficiency in small and medium enterprises (SME) and to help building up international eco-efficiency partnerships.
Implementation of three global conventions (UNCBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD) and other environmental directives are supported within the work of REC CO Slovenia.
The REC CO together with NGO representatives was the initiator and coordinator of the Partnership for Environment - the strategy for cooperation between environmental NGOs and the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (MoE). Since 2001 environmental forums and other ways of NGO-MoE dialogue have been supported and implemented by the CO.
Since 2000 the CO Slovenia has been supporting the implementation of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Slovenia. Several expert and public discussions were implemented, recommendations for SEA implementation were published and the pilot SEA was executed.
The CO Slovenia in cooperation with recognized experts prepared recommendations for the implementation of the Aarhus Convention and has been also introducing the guidelines on public participation in SEA.

One of the most important characteristics of the REC CO Slovenia is its neutral, non-advocacy and non partisan role. This enables REC CO to maintain a central position among different stakeholders, and excellent relations and cooperation with all of them. The CO Slovenia is known as organization that often brings together representatives of different stakeholders groups who otherwise have difficulties in communication, and facilitates effective discussions on different environmental and sustainable development topics. Conclusions and recommendations from such events are directly used to introducing new environmental trends in Slovenia or to better implement the policies and programmes.

Projects in Preparation:

Integration of Eco-efficiency as a Mainstream of SMEs Business Strategies;

Towards Regional Sustainability in CEE Countries - Operationalization of Sustainable Development at the Regional Level, with a Special Focus on Integrating Sustainable Spatial Development Principles;

MOBILIS.

Main Current Projects:

Mobility Inititives for Local Integration and Sustainability (CIVITAS - MOBILIS);

Technical Assistance for Managament of Phare Cross Border Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development;

Good Society Project;

Public Involvement in the Decision Making about Low and Medium Level Radioactive Waste Disposal;

Ita-Slo ISDeP: (Italian - Slovenian Industrial Sustainable Development Partnership);

National Self Assessment for Capacity Building Needs related to implementation of 3 Global Conventions (UNCBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD);

Technical Assistance for Management of Phare Project Preparation Facility Grant Scheme PPF II;

COOPERATE ! project;

Danube Regional Project - Regional Grants.

Main Recently Finished Projects:

Technical Assisstance for Management of Phare CBC Small Project Fund Slovenia / Italy 200;

Identification of Municipal Investments and Partnership for EU Accession;

Enforcement of legislation on GMO in Slovenia;

Capacity Building for Participatory Democracy;

Phare ACCESS - Technical Assistance;

Implementation of Partnership for Environment: Strengthening Public Participation in Strategic Environmental Assessment;

Project EBRD-GEF: Public Involvement Strategy;

Facilitation of the Dialogue between Environmental NGOs and the National Agency for Radioactive Waste;

Assessment of Environmental and Health Aspects of the National Development Plan of the R.S. 2001-2006;

Technical Assistance on Strategic Environmental Assessment of RDPs;

Establishment of Regional Development Network Structure in Slovenia.

Country Office Expertise:

Introducing new trends in environmental policy-making such as SEA, implementation of international conventions and environmental legislation;
Multi-stakeholder dialogue, supporting the partnership principle (in Structural Funds programming) and public participation / access to information;
Sustainable development, especially targeting on the industry sector, sustainble spatial planning and on regional development;
Providing secretariat and technical assistance in Phare Access, Phare CBC, etc;
Capacity building of all stakeholder groups, through own expertise and in cooperation with other experts.

Donors for Projects:

European Union;

UNDP;

Slovenian Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy;

National Agency for Regional Development

Italian Ministry for Environment and Territory:

Italian ministry for Productive Activities;

Netherlands Government;

Royal Netherlands Embassy Government

Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation

British Embassy

Contact address:
Slovenska cesta 5
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tel/Fax: (386-1) 425-7065
Tel: (386-1) 425-6860
e-mail: rec-slovenia@guest.arnes.si
Web: www.rec-lj.si/

Home Page of REC
Slovenia

Related information:

Map of Slovenia

UNEP-Infoterra Slovenia: Environmental Information Section

Ministry of Environment

Country Report
(33 pages, 690-KByte MS Word file, general introduction and transport telematics, November 1998)

This page was last updated:
May 2005

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