The regional event was organized on 16 March 2023.
Objectives, expected outputs, and outcomes
The purpose of this event was to disseminate information on the EIP concept and status, present the international experience on EIP implementation, and share the lessons learned from the implementation of the activity in selected Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries.
Based on the EIP Advancement Guideline, the event also proposed a tentative plan on possible further actions that could enhance the possibility to implement EIPs in the EaP countries while focusing on the local status of EIP activities, industrial context, environmental policies etc. The objectives of the event were also to:
- depict EIP case studies from selected EaP countries;
- present the linkage between RECP and Industrial Symbiosis within EIPs;
- present the EIP Advancement Guideline for EaP Countries and collecting the recommendations and conclusions.
Participants
The target group of this workshop were national experts from the six EaP countries, representatives of EaP Governments, the EU, representatives from the business community (including industrial parks and zones) and academia, the national implementing partners of the EU4Environment Action, as well as international organisations and institutions, including UNIDO.
Background
The regional event on Eco-Industrial Parks within the European Union (EU)’s Eastern Partnership countries is planned as an activity part of the “Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) pre-feasibility assessment in selected EaP countries” under the EU4Environment Action funded by the EU.
This part of the program is dedicated to assessing the feasibility of converting existing industrial parks/zones to EIPs and actions required to do so. Initial activites of the project were focused on conducting an analysis of existing IPs/FEZs in selected IPs of the EaP countries, including Moldova, and assessing possible ways to incorporate best practices for upgrading them to EIPs. In Ukraine, the work on EIPs introduction is realised through a Global EIP Program (GEIPP) funded by the Swiss Government. Thus, the work in the region was benefiting from complementarity of two technical assistance programs.
The project also developed a set of recommendations to “green” existing parks in two pilot sites in Moldova, and extrapolated lessons learned during the exercises to the regional EaP level.
The project was executed in selected countries of the EU’s Eastern Partnership region with UNIDO supervising national RECP teams with support of International EIP experts from Sofies/dss+.
Task 1 involved guide identification (in Moldova) and approval of two pilot IPs and/or FEZs, per country to conduct EIP feasibility assessment and Task 2 involved conduct the EIP feasibility assessment in the four selected parks/SEZs with support of the National Implementing Partners/national experts.
The ultimate, 3rd task of the project is focused on drafting an EIPs Advancement Guideline for national stakeholders in the EaP countries using examples from Moldova, and Ukraine. The EIPs Guideline will be presentedat the regional EIPs event for the experts from the EaP region. In Ukraine, the work on introducing EIPs is conducted through a Global EIP Programme (GEIPP), funded by the Swiss Government. Thus, the introduction of the EIP concept in the EaP region greatly benefited from opportunities for complementarity between the two technical assistance programmes.