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Gathered in Vlora (Albania) on 8th October 2015 for a political conference, the members of the European Straits Initiative decided to give a new impulsion to their work with the creation of four thematic commissions to answer the main issues of their territories: transport and mobility; tourism, natural and cultural heritage; environment, biodiversity and climate change; migrations.
In October 2014, the European Straits Initiative’s members renewed their involvement in the network for four years and adopted an action plan, which includes the creation of thematic commissions to deepen the work undertaken so far and underpin their political advocacy.
One year later, gathered in Vlora (Albania) for their political conference, the members of the Initiative enacted the creation of three commissions, which programmes of work have been proposed by their presidents:
Harju County agreed to chair this commission until 2018, based on its experience on the topic and its interest for the fixed links’ issue (see article). Transport is an issue at the heart of the work of the European Straits Initiative, which answered in May 2015 to the consultation on maritime transportation strategy for the European Union (see article); there have been many exchanges on the topic between the partners (see article) and this should be strengthened in the framework of this commission.
In particular, the commission will try to identify the stakes in each strait, to better understand how volumes and existing connections can influence the objectives of transport development in each territory. One of the key questions will be accessibility, especially in link with the economic development of straits’ areas.
Contact: Kaarel Kose, [email protected]
Natural heritage was central in NOSTRA project, which contributed to highlight innovating and cross-border practices in several European straits, particularly in link with protection of the environment and tourism promotion. One challenge of this commission is the issue of designations and labels such as the UNESCO World Heritage status, which has been a subject for work in several straits (see article).
This commission will be chaired by Region Vlora; tourism development is a major stake for this coastal Albanian region, but growth of this activity sector, sometimes uncontrolled, weakens the particularly rich natural and cultural heritage of the region. The political conference, which took place in Vlora, enabled the participants to better apprehend these issues on the ground.
Contact: Mandi Karocieri, [email protected]
During 3 years, NOSTRA project largely enabled partner straits to exchange around the issue of environment protection in their cross-border territories. The project’s baseline study highlighted the role of ecosystems for economic development of these regions and many exemplary practices have been identified.
This commission, chaired by Kent County Council, will undoubtedly enable deeper exchanges on the topic and capitalisation on NOSTRA project’s results, particularly in the long-term perspective of climate change’s impacts for straits’ territories. In Vlora meeting, the partners insisted on links to be made between this commission and the United Nations’ objectives for sustainable development, a few weeks before the COP 21.
Contact: Chris Drake, [email protected]
The issue of migrations was also at the centre of debates of this political meeting; the partners seized the opportunity of this exchange to propose to work on this topic in the framework of a fourth thematic commission, which chairmanship remains to be defined, to propose solutions to practical issues to the European community and implement them.
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