Western Balkans Environment Programe

Bacground

The regional program has been structured and resourced to provide 3 study tours per participating country over the programs 30 month life. The study tours are aimed at increasing environmental management capacity in the Western Balkans through an exposure to best practice and innovative ideas that were used to solve similar environmental problems in other countries.

Concept

Following discussion between the Program Management Unit, UNDP country offices and national project coordinators and considering the diversity of sites in the environmental ‘hotspot’ portfolio the Programme Management Unit (PMU) proposed organizing the regional study tour by identifying three study tour themes and notionally dividing the region into three groups. The proposed three study tour themes were as follows:

1. Mine Site rehabilitation and Management; 
2. Cleaner Production and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC);
3. Contaminated Site Assessment processes.

Rationale

The list was based on the ideas supported by countries during the PMU’s recent visits and with an aim to have a more targeted study tour(s) specifically relevant to the environmental hotspots being worked on in each country. Ideally the site/location visited should be a ‘show case’ on how the application of best practice has changed a site from being an environmental problem to an asset,  and provide transferable approaches, contacts and resources that each project will then be able to take back and apply.

In relation to “Mine Site Rehabilitation and Management” it was considered that a study tour on such a subject would be particularly relevant to the UNATSCR 1244 Kosovo and FYR Macedonia sites given they are facing a number of major mine impacts. The aim is to identify a site that covers all or most of the following: the successful rehabilitation of a major mine site that includes problems with tailings, acid mine drainage, waste rock dumps, water and dust problems, economic benefits/opportunities of cleaner production the use of cap/contain approaches, tailings re-vegetation and the role of monitoring both for QA (quality assurance)/QC (quality control) and environmental/performance monitoring.

In relation to “cleaner production” and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control it was considered this has the potential to have very wide relevance to all sites but particularly to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina given they are: dealing with industrial sites (food production/energy production) and that are moving towards aspects of cleaner production. The aim would be to select a site that has applied a systematic approach of cleaner production and could show how it has conducted such an approach and what were the clear quantifiable economic and environmental benefits including meeting (or moving toward) IPPC permitting requirements. 

In relation to “Contaminated Site Assessment Processes” the aim would be to show how preliminary and detailed site assessments are used to investigate a site, to quantify where and if there is a problem re: air quality, water quality (surface & groundwater), soil waste and chemicals.  The study tour would cover what tools are used both in conducting the assessment, analyzing the site and chemical data and determining the impact to the environment and human health and then process of agreeing/planning the next steps (i.e. a remedial action plan/ongoing monitoring for what and why).  As you can see above our initial thoughts are that such a study tour would be relevant for Albania (which is dealing with such a situation, i.e. history of chemical impacts but no site data) and also to Montenegro were the abandoned Mine at Mojkovac does not appear to have been subject to any investigation or closure plan to ensure it is not causing harm to the environment or human health.

The next steps are to work on the identifying concrete sites, contacting hosts for such sites, firm up logistics, etc with the aim to do study tours in the end of September this year.