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EMAS - Performance, Credibility, Transparency

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Public administration (NACE code 75.)

14/10/05

Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM - Alicante, Spain) is planning to implement EMAS

The facilities management service of the European Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM - Alicante, Spain) has started planning towards the implementation of EMAS. Miguel Villarroya, Head of the Facilities Management Service, expects the procedures necessary for implementation to start in 2005.

Expertise from other EU bodies such as the European Environmental Agency, registered in April 2005, will be sought in order to collect the essential “know-how” to start the implementation as soon as possible.

The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) has to register Community Trade Marks and Community Designs. The Community Trade Mark and the Community Design both grant their proprietors a uniform right, valid in all Member States of the European Union, by means of one procedural system. The facilities management service of OHIM plays a key role in green public procurement both in procuring from providers with eco-friendly products and by promoting the importance of eco-friendly product information for experts on procurement.

More information about the activities of Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market can be read on the web site of OHIM.

14/10/05

City of Albertslund registers sixth department

As early as May 1999, the Danish city of Albertslund registered its Environment and Planning Department, which made Albertslund the first local authority in Scandinavia to manage a part of its activities under EMAS.

In 2005, the library, the sports ground and hall, the dentist’s service, the building yard and central administration have joined and are able to promote continual improvement throughout the whole public administration of Albertslund. Therefore the entire Social and Cultural administration of the municipality are now registered. A total of 500 employees are now applying the principles of EMAS in the city’s daily work.

For more information about EMAS in Albertslund contact Mette Liljendahl or visit the website of Albertslund.

13/09/05

Belgium sets an example: All federal services are set to implement EMAS by 2007.

In July, the Belgian Federal Council of Ministers approved the measure to implement a systematic environmental management system in every public federal service. This follows a decision of the federal government dating from 2000. The federal state can now fully play its role as a leading example for Belgian organisations and other public authorities in Europe.

Every service should systematically and coherently care for and respect the environment. Thus, every public service will be registered with EMAS by 2007. The Secretary of State for Sustainable Development and Social Economy, Mrs Els Van Weert, deems this step very important for the credibility of public decisions in the field of sustainable development. Public authorities themselves will set an example through minimising the environmental and social impact of their actions. This credibility is further enhanced through an environmental management subject to external control and the European standard EMAS.

Taking into account that several services already monitor their impact on the environment voluntarily, the EMAS registration will be implemented in three steps. A first group comprising the chancellery of the Prime Minister, the public service of sustainable development, the federal planning office, and the federal service for scientific policy and technical cooperation is seeking external verification and hopes to complete its registration at the beginning of 2006. The second group, involving other departments such as the Ministries of transport, economy, and public health, will follow later in 2006. The third group encompassing the larger administrative services such as the public services of Finance and Interior will be given more time to prepare. They aim to receive EMAS registration in 2007.

Read the official press release (in French) here.

13/09/05

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council completes first phase of EMAS registration

"Everyone has a role to play in reducing environmental problems" Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council says having completed EMAS registration for four of its services: Economic and Development Services, Chief Executive's Department, Eric Manns Building and Netherfield Court. The process will continue with EMS being implemented across the Council in 2006-2007.

Rotherham Council, as a community leader, supports a range of environmental initiatives, which include a household waste recycling rate of 21%, reduction of CO2 emissions by 10% in Council buildings and a 10% reduction in landfill waste.

The Local Transport Plan for South Yorkshire and the Council’s Travel Plan are expected to support reducing the need to travel and the choice of transport facilities, for example by promoting a car share database to 2,800 council staff.

EMAS related measures also include awareness-raising for some 10,000 people and participation of 95% of Council staff involved in the Environmental Management System in environmental training by 2005.

More information about EMAS in Rotherham Council is available from David Rhodes. Read more at www.rotherham.gov.uk or check the leaflet.

13/09/05

EMAS - Peer Review for Cities project

The EMAS Peer Review for Cities project has produced two Guidebooks in ten languages, the EMAS Implementation Guidebook and the EMAS Peer Review Guidebook.

The project aimed to encourage and extend the use of EMAS in European local authorities and to develop a step-by-step tool in the form of guidebooks for cities. It especially emphasised introducing EMAS in local authorities in the former accession countries. The peer review was used as an innovative method to encourage cities to work together and to critically review each other's developments in setting up an environmental management system. This has promoted close co-operation between the cities. Training sessions have been conducted to introduce the EMAS and Peer Review to city participants. All partner cities were assisted by the team members and by fellow city experts. In accession countries local consultants provided additional guidance.

The final report is available to download here. Explore the experience of the project, read newsletters or download the guidebooks at www.emascities.org.

17/05/05

UK Environment Agency registered with EMAS

The Bristol based Environment Agency of England and Wales (EAEW) has undergone EMAS implementation and will now seek to improve its activities according to environmental targets. Activities include the provision of guidance, advice, regulation and development of policies and strategies to protect and improve the environment. These activities also make a contribution towards the delivery of sustainable development through the integrated management of air, land and water in England and Wales.

The EAEW follows the environment agencies in Berlin (DE), Copenhagen (DK), Jambes (BE) and Vienna (AT), which have already included EMAS in their management system. The EAEW has also issued a powerful statement regarding EMS’s and their role in improving the corporate business environment:
“Business must take responsibility for the environmental impacts of its activities. Delivering consistent and continuing management of environmental impacts requires a business to take a structured approach. Environmental Management Systems (EMS’s) provide a way for businesses to do this. The EAEW considers legal compliance and good environmental performance to be fundamental. The Agency formally recognises EMS’s in its risk-based approach to regulation via the OPRA (Operator and Pollution Risk Appraisal) schemes. ”

More information is available from the Environment Agency.

17/05/05

The European Environment Agency becomes the first EU-body to achieve EMAS registration

The European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen has now received a certificate of EMAS registration after a development phase and implementation process of less than two years. The EEA is the first EU body to achieve EMAS registration.

The process started in 2002, and led to the hand over of the certificate to the executive director by the Danish ministry on 4 April 2005.

For more information on EEA please visit the website or send an e-mail to Tarja Porkka.

17/05/05

A large step for the Province of Parma, an important step for EMAS

The Province of Parma indicates in its Environmental Statement that although its EMAS registration is the most important step towards EMS in the province, it is only the first step, with many more activities to follow.

“We are very satisfied that we have won the fruits for a work which took many years,”said Vincenzo Bernazzoli, the president of the province.

Parma is the first provincial authority in Europe to receive EMAS registration, and it is expected that EMAS will create a commitment to provide a reliable assessment of environmental performance. In the beginning of EMAS implementation, the most beneficial outcome will be the increased transparency of activities set by the province.

Among these activities are financial incentives that the provincial government has set aside for companies and agricultural co-operatives to stimulate environmental management uptake. Some 30 co-operatives have already registered and 15 local authorities are on their way to doing the same.

More information can be found here and on the website of the Province of Parma: www.ente.provincia.parma.it

15/04/05

Greening the Rushcliffe Borough Council, UK

The EMAS registration of Rushcliffe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire covers waste collection and recycling, highways maintenance, vehicle management, environmental health, property and design, Borough development, leisure services and grounds maintenance.

One of the most important items under EMAS for Rushcliffe Borough Council is to show its commitment to environmental improvement beyond requirements of legislation.

By putting in place energy efficient technologies and reviewing the Council’s management procedures, Rushcliffe Borrow Council has already reduced CO2 emissions from leisure centres and from the Civic Centre.

The creation of a Green Education Centre at Rushcliffe Country Park has set a landmark for energy management in Council buildings through woodchip heating, solar panels and two wind turbines. Activities include:

  • Installation of Fuel stretcher boiler control system to Rushcliffe leisure centres
  • Purchase of electricity through green tariffs
  • EMAS validation and International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001 certification
  • Introduction of the recycling2go recycling scheme
  • Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) powered vehicles

More information is available from www.rushcliffe.gov.uk and from the Environmental Statement.

14/03/05

Austrian EMAS Competent Body undergoes EMAS implementation

The Federal Environment Agency in Vienna, Austria, has completed the procedures necessary to implement the EMAS management scheme at its three sites, consisting of offices for 370 employees, and laboratories.

Apart from routine improvements in office buildings, the Agency will attempt to evaluate how its studies, recommendations for environmental legislation and monitoring activities will affect the quality of the environment. In addition, Occupational Safety and Health will be particularly important for the Agency and an integrated part of EMAS.

Unlike the German Federal Environment Agency, the Austrian equivalent also acts as the EMAS registering body (Competent Body) itself. By having itself executed the processes necessary for making EMAS a strong working tool for both management and staff, the Agency expects higher respect and visibility for EMAS in Austria. In addition to the Austrian Competent Body, the Danish and Wallonian Competent Bodies have undergone EMAS implementation before. This gives them a good insight into the EMAS implementation process, which they have to monitor on behalf of the EMAS Regulation EC No 761/2001.

For more information the environmental statement will be soon available from http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/umwelt/uvpsupemas/umweltmanagement/ (in German).

14/03/05

City of Waidhofen on Ybbs has started new trend for EMAS in local authorities in Austria

Whereas few Austrian local authorities have experience of EMAS, the historic town of Waidhofen on Ybbs in Lower Austria is notable for registering its environmental management activities under EMAS. The city council has decided to start with all the most relevant sites in one first step: the town hall, the primary school, central water supply, building yard and nature park centre. The management expects to implement EMAS in other departments and schools in 2006.

More information on the environmental activities at Waidhofen on Ybbs is available from www.waidhofen.at

Other Municipalities registered in February 2005 include: Rushcliffe Borough Council (UK), Calonge (ES), Nakskov Council (DK), Landratsamt Starnberg (DE).

13/01/05

Danish town Vejle to complete EMAS by 2005

The administration of Vejle, located in the southeast of Jutland, has declared detailed steps on how to progress to EMAS in its 10 units having the highest environmental impact. This is even more demanding as there is no previous expertise with EMAS in such a big organisation like Vejby Amt with its 12000 employees in 100 units.

Environmental aspects have been included in daily administrational activities long before the decision to head for EMAS verification, for instance in public procurement, road maintenance and land use planning. The Green Network, member of Denmark’s EMS network Key2Green organisation, has been taken up as a partner for the trip along the road to EMAS.

The procurement unit aimed at providing 16 goods with ecological criteria until the end of 2006: Milk, flower and potatoes have been procured from ecological criteria starting in 2004.

Also located in the region of Vejle, the Fredericia Hospital has been EMAS registered in 2002 - as the first hospital i Denmark.

More information is available from the website of Vejby Amt.

13/01/05

European EMAS municipalities act as mentors for newcomer municipalities

The EU COMPASS Project, directed at EMAS registered municipalities willing to share their know-how on implementation of the Scheme with neighbouring local authorities, has reached the invitation stage.
In each of the seven Member States that have registered municipalities (Belgium has registered regional institutions so far, not municipalities) three municipalities are being invited to act as EMAS mentors to other municipalities, who are considering establishing a verified EMS. In early 2005, candidate municipalities will be trained in strategic EMAS introduction, enabling them to continue implementation of EMAS in the future with the assistance of consultants. The mentor municipalities are expected to dedicate resources to the candidate municipalities and follow their progress.

More detailed information on the schedule is available here.

17/02/05

142 public authorities registered for EMAS

Another 10 new public authorities have joined EMAS in the last quarter of 2004, the latest two coming from Sweden, which had started EMAS implementation in local authorities as early as 1999 (in the south western city of Malmö).

Jämtland County Council, a region in Sweden’s north east with the capital Östersund, has registered its health care and its planning department. As the county is very scarcely populated and the county hospital is located in Östersund, delivery of timely and professional healthcare involves covering long distances. Throughout the county there are healthcare centres, district nurse clinics and dental clinics. The great distances are also bridged by modern telemedicine, an excellent healthcare information hotline and extensive ambulance and emergency helicopter services. No other employer in the county has such an extensive decentralised field of activity. Altogether, nearly 4,000 employees work for the Jämtland County Council.

Contact Gunnar Fackel for more information on EMAS activities in Jämtland County Council.

The city of Uddevalla, 80 km north of Göteborg in the west of Sweden, has registered all departments as a decisive step towards moving the Agenda 21 forward. Administrating the 49,700 inhabitants of the hometown of Volvo car manufacturer covers five departments: child care and schools, social welfare, environment and construction, leisure (including culture) and technical assistance. Uddevalla has explicitly included its large leisure activities like the Fjordfestival, the Motocross World Championships and the O-Ringen, the world’s largest orienteering event attracting 25,000 athletes every year.

For more information contact Bengt Åkesson and visit http://www.uddevalla.se.

The EU COMPASS Project, directed at EMAS registered municipalities willing to share their know-how on implementation with neighbouring local authorities, has now started. More detailed information on the COMPASS project’s schedule is available here.

17/02/05

NEST - Networking with EMAS for sustainable development

The project, running until October 2007, aims at EMAS verification for services of 3 Polish, 4 Hungarian and 3 Greek under funded municipalities in Member States with low EMAS participation. The project will develop common procedures, activate commitment of politicians and civil servants and target shared verification.

The activities comprise more simple documentation, establishment of a network sharing experiences, in which each municipality focuses on one task (environmental aspect). This approach will lead to international benchmarking and simplified knowledge sharing, thus facilitating shared verification. Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council will focus on the financial savings benchmark; The outcomes comprise a guidebook on case studies and verification, a report on how EMAS uptake is facilitated and a dissemination strategy.

For more information visit http://www.globaltolocal.com/uploads/g2lnewsletterdec2004s.pdf

13/12/04

EU COMPASS PROJECT: A coaching project to expand EMAS to a hundred new municipalities

The European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment recently launched the Compass Project with the aim of guiding around 100 municipalities towards an EMAS application.

The project is designed to set up three clusters in each of the Member States with registrations in the public sector - Belgium , France , Sweden , Denmark , Austria , UK , Germany , Italy and Spain . Each cluster will be lead by an EMAS -registered municipality (a mentor) who will be invited to share their EMAS know-how and experience with four neighbouring municipalities (peers) keen to follow their steps in environmental management.

This year-long project will be carried out under the principles of coaching and networking. Each cluster (1 mentor and 4 peers) will work separately; however a workshop organised in each country grouping the three national clusters will provide an opportunity to further share good practices amongst participants. By the end of 2005 an award ceremony will acknowledge the commitment of mentors and peers alike to sustainable development and the recognition of environmental management as their guiding star.

Global to Local Limited (G2L) and the International Council of Local Environmental Initiative (ICLEI), the external consultants working for the Directorate-General, are currently seeking municipalities interested in participating in the project, either as mentors or peers. Municipalities willing t o participate in this project are invited to contact Bruce Cockrean of Global to Local.

13/12/04

Forum of EMAS registered Local Authorities attracted 85 municipalities

A successful launching of the first Forum of EMAS-registered local authorities brought together in Ludwigburg ( Germany ) approximately 85 people from EU municipalities.

The interest of the Forum was to show participants how:

  • EMAS can address municipality-wide issues such as green procurement, land-use planning;
  • a local authority can influence SMEs to take a green(er) approach to business;
  • the Scheme can be of benefit at big scale e.g. Province of Parma (IT) and at small scale e.g. the small town of Donaueschingen (DE); and
  • networking is one of the avenues to be explored by local authorities sharing the same environmental problems and goals.

The European Commission delivered a presentation on environmentally responsible politics putting the accent on the need to use EMAS as the tool to address fundamental issues of concern for the whole municipality such as air quality, waste management, etc. This is in line with what cities and towns will be asked under the forthcoming Thematic Strategy on Urban Strategy. More and more cities and towns will be required to address acute environmental issues that affect the common citizen and show that they take their environmental responsibilities seriously.

Participants highlighted the following issues as relevant for the future of EMAS in local authorities:

  • EMS can no longer walk alone. Nowadays authorities are in need to tackle issues of different nature however linked by a single management system. Environment, quality and social systems are called to be under one system;
  • The revision of the EMAS Regulation needs to redesign the Scheme taking into consideration the profile of public authorities especially when specifying both their direct and indirect aspects;
  • EMAS should be given the highest profile under the Thematic Strategy on Urban Environment;
  • In many cases municipalities cover great extensions of land and house important industrial sectors with important environmental impacts. EMAS should help these municipalities to provide the best conditions whereby the industry could achieve a more responsible management of their daily activities. The City of Heidelberg was shown as a leading example of interaction between the municipality and the industry;

All in all, the Forum was well received by both EMAS-registered local authorities taken as a long awaited acknowledgement from Brussels and (non-registered) local authorities with an interest to join the Scheme as they could network and exchange views with EMAS practitioners.

DG ENV proposed Brussels for the second meeting of the Forum in December 2005 coinciding with the award ceremony ending the compass project which aims at guiding a minimum of 96 local authorities into EMAS.

16/11/04

Committed to the Future! EMAS in the Federal Environmental Agency

In September 2001 the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) had its headquarters in Berlin registered for EMAS, the first federal authority in Germany to do so. Since then the environmental management system has been implemented in all sites - most recently in the outpost in Langen (Hesse).

After the first period of validation lasting from 2001 to 2004 the UBA has decided to continue and extend participation. The main reasons for the decision were those already contributing to the initial decision for participation in EMAS. Apart from improving UBA's own environmental performance the reasons were: improved credibility of practical recommendations through implementation in the Agency, warranty of legal compliance in environmental protection and occupational safety, cost savings on environmental matters and improvement of employee commitment.

In practice EMAS in the UBA has turned out to be a useful instrument contributing to a more efficient organisational and communication structure, also contributing to actual implementation of measures contributing to improving environment performance.

In view of the future site-spanning potentials for optimisations are to be found in an even more stringent consideration of environment aspects when working with scientific and non-scientific service providers, including the non-environment cooperation with other authorities, e.g. building authorities.

The Federal Environmental Agency proves to be a motor for EMAS implementation in the federal administration. This claim, which is among others in line with the implementation of a resolution passed by the Bundestag ( Lower House of German Parliament ) in April 2000, is met by the UBA by consulting and support of other federal administrations in the implementation of environmental management systems.

Outstanding in this effort is the EMAS convoy project for federal administration, initiated together with the Federal Ministry of the Environment, where 10 participating administration units are currently undergoing audits for validation.

For more information contact the Federal Environmental Agency Berlin and visit http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info/emas.htm .

05/09/04

EMAS Local Authorities meet in Ludwigsburg (Germany) on October 15th

The EMAS Local Authorities Forum, scheduled as a one-day event, will be hosted by Ludwigsburg on Oct. 15th. Invitation will be given to all EMAS registered local authorities, ISO 14001 certified municipalities and Agenda 21 participants.

The Forum will address topics like indirect aspects (e.g. land use, procurement) and community issues like air pollution and noise. A flier is available here.

05/09/04

The COMPASS project: Municipalities interested in EMAS will receive help from a mentor

The Commission has issued a call for tender (“compass project”) which targets at least 96 local authorities to become EMAS-registered. The project seeks to identify mentors for EMASregistered local authorities addressing Community-wide issues. Each mentor will guide four neighboring local authorities into EMAS through knowledge sharing. The project will end with an award ceremony in Brussels which will acknowledge mentor and participant municipalities.

More information will be available from the Helpdesk soon.

05/09/04

Land-use planning for local authorities

Lake Constance Foundation has presented the results of the ECOLUP LIFE project on EMAS application for sustainable land use. Environmental teams of four municipalities (Constance, Überlingen (both GER), Wolfurt and Dornbirn (both AUT)) have been founded to assess and establish sustainable planning in landuse planning. This covered land-use, sealing, traffic, involvement of municipalities, integration in Agenda 21, and more.

The results showed that land-use was not a key aspect in previous EMAS implementation in municipalities, thereby showing that energy and transport will have to be assessed in a more integrated way in the future. Key data were gathered for the first time, comparison and statistical evaluation enabled. The results made it easier to set up and evaluate environmental programmes. It was shown that municipalities are open to management know-how, and stakeholders’ involvement could lead to more demanding goals. Monitoring schemes may be a consequence. The conclusion of ECOLUP showed the need for improved skills in municipalities, by verifiers and Competent Bodies to assess indirect aspects.

Mrs. Marion Hammerl – Resch, Managing Director of the Lake Constance Foundation can be contacted on the results.

15/07/04

EMAS Local Authorities Forum hosted in Ludwigsburg

The 1° EMAS Local Authorities Forum, an initiative from the Environmental Directorate-General, will be hosted by Ludwigsburg on 15th October 2004. Invitations will be addressed to all EMAS registered local authorities, ISO 14001 certified municipalities and Agenda 21 participants. The Forum will address topics such as indirect aspects e.g. land–use planning, green public procurement and Community-wide issues such as waste, air pollution and noise. A programme will be available shortly.

The Commission has issued a call for tender (“Compass project”) which targets at least 96 local authorities to become EMAS-registered. The project is based on identifying ‘mentors’ from EMAS-registered local authorities addressing Community-wide issues. Each mentor will guide four neighbouring local authorities into EMAS through knowledge sharing. The project will end with an award ceremony in Brussels which will acknowledge mentor and participant municipalities.

More than 60 municipalities have sent representatives to EMAS local authorities’ seminars in: Finland, Italy, Malta and Slovenia. For more information on the Maltese event read the article below.

EMAS will also be receiving more attention in the Communication of the Commission on the future Thematic Strategy on Urban Environment. See the Local Authority Corner for more details.

15/07/04

Local Councils and Authorities Attended EMAS Seminar in Malta

Local Councils and Authorities attended an EMAS Seminar organised by the European Commission and the Malta Standards Authority June 22nd/23rd. The seminar was aimed at enhancing environmental performance and awareness among local authorities.

Censu Galea, Minister for Competitiveness and Communications delivered the opening address.

15/07/04

Introduce customer care in local authorities

The Minister underlined that the importance of standards within public and private organisations had increased in significance throughout the years. With the growing importance of customer care, performance certification and the restructuring of operations to meet today’s required standards.

Minister Galea also made reference to the importance of a sustainable development. He said that the Governments around Europe view the concept as one of their priorities. He added that the introduction of environmental management systems within Local Councils and Authorities helped them achieve improved environmental performance by providing a framework. It also allowed integration of the aims of sustainable development into their policies and actions.

17/09/03

New LA-EMAS Campaign event scheduled

A conference on EMAS in Local Authorities will be arranged by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, which is the Competent Body in Denmark, the National Association of Local Authorities, the Dogme 2000 Municipalities (see article below) and the European Commission. The event will take place on September 23rd 2003 in Copenhagen. More information will be published soon on the Public Administrations page.

17/09/03

EMAS - Peer Review for Cities project

The EMAS - Peer Review for Cities project aims to start and extend the use of EMAS in European local authorities and to develop a step-by-step tool in form of a guiding workbook for cities. A special emphasis is put on introducing EMAS in the accession countries' local authorities.

The peer review as an innovative method will be used to encourage cities to work together and critically review each other's developments in setting up an environmental management system. In doing so, it is hoped to promote co-operation between the cities and lower the threshold for cities to start the process towards EMAS registration.

The project will study also more closely the links between the EU 6th Environmental Action Program (6EAP) and EMAS in order to help cities to contribute to and to achieve the goals of the 6EAP.

Partner cities will be supported by the workbook, which is developed and tested during the project. This workbook was further developed, based on experiences from the Euro-EMAS and UBC Municipal Environmental Audit (MEA) projects. In addition, two training sessions will be conducted to introduce the EMAS and Peer Review to the city participants. All partner cities are assisted by the team members and by the fellow city experts. In accession countries local consultants provide an additional guidance.

The project, co-ordinated by the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) Commission on Environment Secretariat, is a joint initiative of the UBC, Eurocities, University of West England and City of Newcastle. The project is co-funded by the European Commission DG Environment under the European Community framework for co-operation to promote sustainable development.

The project partner cities are the following: Athens, Barcelona, Bristol, Düsseldorf, Gdansk, Göteborg, Jelgava, Leeds, Liepaja, Newcastle, Palermo, Panevezys, Porto, Siauliai, Sopot, Tallinn and Viljandi. All these cities contribute an important share of their resources to start and further develop the use of EMAS during and beyond the project.

The EMAS experiences of the project cities will be demonstrated and shared via a project web-site (www.emascities.org) and by publishing five newsletters. The first newsletter can be downloaded from the project web site.

17/09/03

Outcome of the LA-Campaign seminar in Finland and Belgium available for download

On 30th of January 2003 a workshop on EMAS in local authorities was organised in Helsinki, Finland as part of the EU-wide LA-EMAS Campaign. The Finnish EMAS seminar was organised by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) together with local partners and the Finnish Ministry of Environment.

The Belgian EMAS seminar was organised on the 11th of February 2003 in Brussels by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in cooperation with several local partners and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and the Environment.

The seminar reports summarising the presentations can now be downloaded from the Public Administrations page.

14/07/03

Torshälla Municipality – EMAS from cradle to elderly care

As Swedish Local Authorities start embracing EMAS, Torshälla district follows Malmö’s Husie district and made the Eskilstuna Municipality the second ever Local Authority to be validated according to the scheme in Sweden.

“ After two years of work in April 2003 finally the time had come for the audit of the administration. Many employees have done a great job for a long time, and we look forward to the revision with anticipation,” Chairwoman Aino Blomgren said.

Torshälla being a district of high environmental awareness, Eskilstuna had found a perfect pilot site for the Swedish LA EMAS project: From nursery schools to elderly care, from family assistance to museum, public baths and roads the management system covers every environmental aspect of modern municipalities.

Moreover, on Oct. 24th the Environmental Policy of Torshälla was signed by the major of Eskilstuna, giving way to a rapid enlargement of EMAS to the rest of Eskilstuna, in order to follow the city’s ambitious “Policy for a sustainable Development”.

Various tasks have been tackled: Nursery schools, Mälarbaden camping site and most of the district work environment have been provided waste separation bins. Infants are taught how to separate and save energy in “Energijakten” in a pursuit of energy consumption.

The 8500 inhabitants find themselves in a pilot project, and it constitutes living quality by municipal environmental management.

For more information contact the Environmental Coordinator Martin Eklund (martin.eklund@eskilstuna.se) or visit www.eskilstuna.se/torshalla-stads-namnd/

03/06/03

Danish Competent Body is now EMAS registered

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, which is also the EMAS Competent Body in Denmark, has become the first Danish national government body to be registered under EMAS.

" EMAS is an investment in the operations and management of the organisation, and it streamlines the organisation and makes it more efficient throughout. We expect that EMAS will raise quality and provide both environmental and financial benefits. I hope that other state bodies will go the same way, and we will gladly help with our experience," said Steen Gade, General Director of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Since 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency has reduced its consumption of electricity, water, heat and paper, and this has led to annual savings of more than DKK 200,000 (€ 27,000). EMAS will lead to further environmental improvements.

The Environmental Report, Environmental Action Plan, and handbook on quality and environmental management are available in Danish at www.mst.dk/mst/08020000.htm.

For further information on the EPA's EMAS registration contact Søren Jensen, Chief Adviser, Ministry of the Environment (sj@mst.dk). You can read an interview with Søren Jensen in the latest issue of the EMAS Newsletter.

03/06/03

Danish Municipalities committed to innovative environmental management

Five Danish municipalities jointly commit themselves to an innovative environmental management system with tough environmental goals and extensive involvement of the citizens. The project is titled "Dogme 2000 for municipalities and the environment", and it is an excellent example of a successful combination between tangible and determined management and political will and craftsmanship.

The project is unique in the sense that it uses the principles of environmental management with precise and well-defined targets, and applies them to a whole city. Thus, the focus is not on the municipality as a business unit, but as a geographic area with industry and citizens. The project is therefore founded on citizen's involvement. Furthermore, the goals achieved are measured by the well-known certifier and auditor Det Norske Veritas Danmark A/S. So far the following five Danish municipalities have joined "Dogme 2000": Herning, Ballerup, Fredericia, Albertslund and Copenhagen.

According to Hjalte Aaberg, Director of The Environmental Protection Agency of City of Copenhagen, persuading municipalities to commit to action rather than words is the key success of this project: "Although municipalities share ideas through an informal structure it is usually just talk. Co-operating within a more formal system ensures that the talk becomes action; it also means that ideas and experience can be shared and strengthened due to the extra support one gets through the network. Finally, we wanted to create a platform, a forum of municipalities, that were serious about environmental improvements".

Dogme 2000 for municipalities and the environment" is based on three strong Dogme-principles that members are obliged to work towards: 1. Human impacts on the environment must be monitored and measured; 2. An Agenda 21 plan must be developed to improve the local environment; 3. Environmental effort must be integrated and rooted locally.

The third dogme-principle involves the decision that the municipalities' own administration and institutions over time must be environmentally certified. As a result of this City of Albertslund has decided that the whole municipality must be EMAS-registered by 2008. And several institutions have already been EMAS-registered - among others the environmental administration, the library and the public dental care. City of Copenhagen has one EMAS-registered institution by now and several others working on it.

30/04/03

Outcome of the LA-Campaign seminar in Ireland available for download

On 6th of March 2003 a workshop on EMAS in local authorities was organised in Dublin, Ireland as part of the EU-wide LA-EMAS Campaign. The seminar was organised by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) together with the Institute of Public Administration and EMAS pilot authority, the South Tipperary County Council. The event was opened by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Martin Cullen, who used the occasion to officially launch the “Environmental management systems training programme”.

The seminar reports summarising the presentations can now be downloaded from the Public Administrations page.

04/02/03

European Environmental Agency goes for EMAS

After the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions together with the Economic and Social Committee and the European Parliament, it is now the European Environment Agency based in Copenhagen, Denmark that has decided to implement an environmental management system according to EMAS. A call for tender was published in autumn 2002 seeking to contract out the design of an overall structure for the "European Environment Agency - EMAS Registration Project". The EEA is in the process of evaluating the tenders received and hopes to award the contract and get working on the project in spring 2003.

04/02/03

Environmental budgeting in local authoritie

In the framework of the project "European ecoBUDGET" - funded by the EU LIFE Programme - seven European local authorities from Sweden, Italy, the UK, and Greece aim to demonstrate the suitability of environmental budgeting as an integrative, sustainability-related approach for environmental management at the local level. The project partners will manage their natural resources sustainably on the basis of an integrated resource management approach according to self-binding targets conceived by ICLEI (The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) and already adopted by four German local authorities. The project will last until August 2004 and is coordinated by the Municipality of Vaexjoe. For information contact the Project Manager (sarah.nilsson@kommun.vaxjo.se) or visit ICLEI's ecoBUDGET homepage at: www.iclei.org/europe/ecobudget/index.htm

04/02/03

European Parliament to implement EMAS

On 6 August 2002, the European Parliament published a call for tender for a feasibility study and action plan for the implementation of EMAS within this institution. In a first step, an environmental review should analyse the Parliament's existing organisation, activities and procedures and their strength and weaknesses. In a second step, recommendations for a coherent EMS should be identified together with their costs and benefits and an action plan setting out the administrative structure and responsibilities and education/training needs should be drawn up. If after these first 6 months the European Parliament decides to continue the project, the contractor may be asked to implement EMAS and publish an environmental statement in order to achieve full Parliament's EMAS registration.

10/01/03

Agenda for the LA-Campaign seminar in Ireland available for download

The agenda for the LA Campaign seminar in Dublin, Ireland to be held on 6th of March is now available in the section on public administrations.

At the event, The Minister for Environment and Local Government, Mr Martin Cullen, T.D., will launch the national training programme for local authorities on Environmental Management Systems. The development of the training programme was supported by a committee chaired by South Tipperary County Council, with representation from the DoELG, FÁS, EPA, Cork County Council and SIPTU. The training programme which comprises 4 modules, was jointly developed by Patel Tonra Ltd and Global to Local Ltd. Further Information can be obtained from Louise O'Donnell (Email: info@pateltonra.com).

10/01/03

LA-EMAS campaign: new dates for 2003

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) will organise with the help of its national associations and the support of the European Commission a series of EMAS seminars in three member states: Belgium, Finland and Ireland. The seminars are organized within the framework of the EU wide EMAS information campaign for public administrations. They are designed to raise awareness and to promote the implementation of EMAS with a focus on local and regional authorities. To reflect good governance and cooperation between different levels of government, the seminar programmes are built around presentations from national administrations, the European Commission and local as well as regional authorities.

Schedule of the events:

30th of January 2003 Helsinki, Finland
The Finnish EMAS seminar will be organised together with the Association of Finnish local and regional authorities (AFLRA), EFEKTIA (consulting and research company owned by the AFLRA), the Finnish Environment Institute and the Finnish Ministry of Environment.

11th of February 2003 Brussels, Belgium
The Belgian EMAS seminar will be organised together with the Union of Belgian Cities and Municipalities, Associations of Dutch cities and municipalities, Association of the City of Brussels and the Municipalities of the Region of Brussels-Capital, IBGEBIM (Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment) and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and the Environment.

5th of March 2003 Dublin, Ireland
The Irish EMAS seminar will be organised together with the Institute of Public Administration and EMAS pilot authority, the South Tipperary County Council.

More information will be provided soon in this news section and on the local authorities’ page of this website.

10/01/03

Further info on the next the LA Campaign seminars

Please note a change of date for the Irish seminar: The EMAS workshop for local authorities in Dublin will take place on 6th of March instead of the 5th.

Electronic invitations for the LA Campaign seminars in Brussels and Helsinki are now available in the section on public administrations.

10/01/03

EMAS LA campaign event in France

'European Union, Local Authorities and Environment: implementing the eco-management and audit scheme - (EMAS)' is the title of a conference to be held in Amiens, France on 20 November. This event takes place within the general framework of the 2002-03 EMAS promotion campaign led by the European Commission. The aim of the campaign is to present to local authorities the potential advantages and benefits that can be derived from an EMAS application

Organized by the Info-Point Europe Amiens Picardie - European Union Relay, the event will take place under the patronage of the EU Committee of the Regions and the French Ministry for Ecology and Sustainable Development. It will provide participants with a platform for exchanging their experiences and discovering available tools by means of a "Meeting Village" managed by public and private operators (EMAS accreditation and competent bodies, banks, insurance companies...). The sessions will include experience reports from EMAS registered local authorities and public service companies in the UK and Belgium and will provide information on available assistance (financial and technical). For more information visit the conference website.

17/07/02

Website News
EMAS Local Authorities Campaign

New dates are available for the EMAS Local Authorities Campaign: the next seminar is scheduled for November 20 (Amiens, France). Further workshops are planned for the second half of 2002 and will be held in Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Finland and the UK. The seminars of the campaign all follow the same model: organised by a Member State and with the participation of the European Commission, a series of case studies will be presented and discussed in order to foster exchange of experience and identify challenges and opportunities of EMAS in local authorities. Participants of the seminars will include representatives of central government, municipalities with EMAS experience and public organisations considering EMAS organisation. Another series of 7 seminars in the remaining Member States is planned for 2003.

17/07/02

LA-EMAS Campaign in Greece

After Italy, Greece is the second Member State to host the EMAS Local Authorities Campaign. The aim of the seminar held in Athens on June 14 2002 was to promote EMAS within different organisations (amongst them Agii Anargiri, Athens's municipality and EMAS pioneer in Greece), the Greek Ministry of Environment and environmental consultants while gauging EMAS knowledge levels and participation interest. Over 60 participants attended the seminar. A number of municipalities in Greece are committed to the development of Local Agenda 21 strategies but implementation of the scheme has been difficult. EMAS is seen as the tool to convert ad hoc initiatives into long-term and sustainable actions.

In this context, it is interesting to mention that the EU Programme LIFE is currently funding several projects aimed at implementing EMAS in or with local authorities in Greece: One of them looks at ways to use EMAS as a tool to improve the environmental profile of major sporting events (with the summer Olympic games 2004 as a pilot case. Another one called "Greening cultural events in archeological areas" will analyse the possibility of local authorities to green purchasing and waste management activities linked to cultural sites and events. More info in the LIFE project database.

07/05/02

Communication campaign on EMAS in local authorities

The Commission is preparing a campaign to raise awareness of EMAS in local authorities. The campaign will focus on the capacity of local authorities to act as an exemplary driving force in their own community by working towards a better environmental management of their resources and processes. This leading example of the local authority should result in an important EMAS uptake in other public and private organizations established in the Member States. The first seminar of this campaign will take place in May 2002 in Rome. It is organized by the Italian Union of Provinces (UPI), the EMAS Competent Body, the ENEA, the Provinces of Viterbo and Potenza. Participation is open to all.

Seminar on EMAS and local authorities
"Strumenti volontari di gestione ambientale per il territorio".
Rome, 7-8 May 2002
Aula Adrianea, P.zza Sallustio 21
For more information please contact
Giovanni Furgiuele(ENEA) Tel. +39.06.30484384 or
Luisa Gottardi (UPI) Tel +39.06.68403432.

09/08/02

Seminar report: LA EMAS campaign in Italy

You can now download the outcome of the first seminar of the LA EMAS campaign which took place in May 2002 in Rome. It was organised by the Italian Union of Provinces (UPI), the EMAS Competent Body, the ENEA, the Provinces of Viterbo and Potenza. The report (PDF, 101Kb) is only available in Italian.

19/04/01

WORKSHOP: IMPLEMENTING EMAS IN LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES
Brussels, 27 APRIL 2001 - 8.45 AM TO 11 AM

In February 2001, the new Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Regulation was formally adopted by the Council and the European Parliament, after the successful completion of the conciliation procedure. As a result, the scope of the EMAS environmental norm will extend significantly to include all sectors of economic and social life. Services and public authorities will for the first time be able to apply officially for EMAS.

Building on the interest created by the Green Week, the EMAS Helpdesk is organising a workshop on behalf of the European Commission. This event is targeted at regional and local authorities in the EU and will provide insight into how EMAS could be applied to them in the future. Some Member States have already started registering local and regional authorities on a pilot basis and this experience has provided useful information which local and regional authorities should share.

The workshop will present key elements for local and regional authorities to reflect upon when considering EMAS registration and will provide some initial tools for the implementation of EMAS in public authorities.

The EMAS Helpdesk has invited the Brussels representatives of European Regional and Local Authorities. Presentations held at this workshop will be gathered in a Workshop Kit and published on this website very soon.