European Commission

Best LIFE-Environment Projects 2005-2006

Best of the best

The EU Member States represented on the LIFE Committee, together with the LIFE Unit, have identified the 21 Best LIFE-Environment projects completed during 2005 and early 2006.

Best 21 Projects

Best LIFE-Environment Projects 2005-2006

This, the second Best LIFE-Environment Projects’ exercise, follows on from a lengthy identification and evaluation process based on a set of best practice criteria, developed by EU Member States in collaboration with the European Commission. The projects, from across the EU-25, cover all of LIFE-Environment’s main themes:

An online brochure has been published on the best 21 LIFE-Environment projects. You can either view the entire brochure, or visit the projects’ web summaries, websites and layman’s reports (see menu on right).

Download: Best LIFE-Environment Projects 2005-2006
pdf (~1.72 MB)

The five projects selected as the ‘Best of the Best’ (in no particular order)
  Project acronym  Implemented by 
Award RefinARS  ENI. Spa, Italy  
Award DETECTIVE Krom Stomerijen BV, the NetherlandsKrom Stomerijen BV, the Netherlands
Award OSIS OSIS International, Denmark
Award Dairy, no water DOC Kaas BA Hoogeveen, the Netherlands
Award PAROC-WIM Paroc Group, Finland

The objective of the exercise is to help improve the dissemination of LIFE project results by clearly identifying those projects whose results, if widely applied, could have the most positive impact on the environment.

How were the projects selected?

Scoring of completed LIFE-Environment projects began in the summer of 2004. The system was introduced by the Commission, following an initiative taken by Sweden and the Netherlands. A set of ‘best practice’ criteria was developed in collaboration with the Member States. These criteria included: projects’ contribution to immediate and long-term environmental, economic and social improvements; their degree of innovation and transferability; their relevance to policy and their cost-effectiveness. In view of the importance of these aspects to project success, project beneficiaries are also required to provide an After-LIFE Communication Plan and an Analysis of the long-term benefits of the project with their final report. This information forms an integral part of the evaluation process.

All completed projects were initially technically assessed by the LIFE Unit’s external monitoring team (the Astrale consortium). The monitors ranked all the projects that ended during the reference period (autumn 2005 to spring 2006), to produce a first list. The final selection was undertaken by the Member States.


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