Naturvårdsverket 2021-2024 Kapacitetsbyggnad för användning av miljödata SEPA 2021-2024 Environmental Capacity Building on Data use - SEPA 2021-2023 Environmental Capacity Building on Data use The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has applied to the Embassy for funding of SEK 9 million for three years (2021-2023) for the contribution Environmental Capacity Building on Data Use. The core of the contribution is capacity building on data management at the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA) with three thematic focus areas: air pollution, climate change and water management. Communication on environmental issues to both decision makers and the wider public is proposed to underpin the thematic areas and be a substantial part of the contribution.

There are four specific objectives of the contribution: 1) Strengthened communication; providing correct and comprehensive environmental data to decision makers and to the general public, 2) Improved environmental information systems; develop management and analysis of environmental data, 3) Capacity development for sustainable water management; support in implementing several of the plans already developed for better water management and 4) Strengthened implementation capacity for environmental quality improvement measures; using analytical tools such as cost benefit analysis and feasibility studies in an integrated manner when developing action plans, especially in the area of air quality and climate change.

The overall objective of the contribution is to strenghten organisational and individual capacity at KEPA to work in line with guidelines from the European Commission and that way support Kosovo towards EU accession.

SEPA will be the sole agreement partner and there are no other donors for the contribution. Naturvårdsverket har inkommit med en ansökan till svenska ambassaden om finansiering på 9 miljoner kronor under tre år (2021-2023) för insatsen Environmental Capacity Building on Data Use. Insatsens kärna är kapacitetsutveckling på Kosovos naturvårdsmyndighet (KEPA) inom framförallt datahantering. Insatsen har tre tematiska fokusområden: luftföroreningar, klimatförändringar och vattenförvaltning. Kommunikation rörande miljöfrågor gentemot både beslutsfattare och en bredare allmänhet kommer att utgöra en väsentlig del av insatsen.

Det finns fyra specifika mål i insatsen 1) stärkt kommunikation; att tillhandahålla korrekt och omfattande miljödata till beslutsfattare och allmänheten, 2) förbättrade miljöinformationssystem; utveckla hantering och analys av miljödata, 3) kapacitetsutveckling för hållbar vattenhantering; stöd för att implementera flera av de planer som redan utvecklats för bättre vattenhantering och 4) stärkt kapacitet för miljöförbättringsåtgärder; utveckla användningen av analytiska verktyg som kostnadsnyttoanalyser och genomförbarhetsstudier på ett integrerat sätt när handlingsplaner, särskilt inom luftkvalitet och klimatförändringar, utvecklas.

Det övergripande målet med insatsen är att stärka den organisatoriska och individuella kapaciteten vid KEPA för att kunna arbeta i linje med riktlinjer från EU och på så sätt stödja Kosovo i arbetet för ett EU-närmande.

SEPA kommer att vara den enda avtalspartnern och det finns inga andra givare kopplade till insatsen. The objective of the contribution is to support the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Economy and Environment to build capacity in analyzing and making data available through the Environmental Information System (EIS) according to guidelines from the European Commission. This will prepare Kosovo to satisfy the requirements of Chapter 27 of the EU acquis, which is one prerequisite for EU accession.
There are four specific objectives of the contribution: 1) Strengthened communication; providing correct and comprehensive environmental data to decision makers and to the general public, 2) Improved environmental information systems; develop management and analysis of environmental data, 3) Capacity development for sustainable water management; support in implementing several of the plans already developed for better water management and 4) Strengthened implementation capacity for environmental quality improvement measures; using analytical tools such as cost benefit analysis and feasibility studies in an integrated manner when developing action plans, especially in the area of air quality and climate change.
The contribution will touch upon implementation of several of the EU directives connected to chapter 27, but especially the following ones: the Directive on Public Access to Environmental Information; the Directive on Establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information; the Water Framework Directive; the Groundwater Directive; and the Directive on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air. Implementing an EU directive is normally an arduous process and involves several agencies and ministries. In other words, the contribution will not manage to implement specific directives per se, but rather ensure that KEPA is in a good position to play their part in the overall work needed to be carried out for implementation.
The activities will center around several assessments of the current situation in the different areas and be followed up by workshops and trainings to improve individual and organisational competence at KEPA according to recommendations of the assessments. These assessments will be carried out by procured experts, either local, regional or Swedish depending on the nature of the issue. ToR will be developed by SEPA with input from KEPA. The current work plan is easy to follow, but does not provide a lot of detail. More specific baselines and targets for the activities will be presented in the inception report due in May 2021.