Background:
The "Carpathians Environment Outlook" (KEO) project was
initiated in early 2004 by UNEP's Division of Early Warning and
Assessment (DEWA)/GRID-Geneva and the Regional Office for Europe
(ROE). The KEO report is a sub-regional examination and synthesis
of the environmental situation in the greater Carpathian region,
that includes parts of seven countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, the Slovak Republic and
Ukraine). KEO is being carried out in a "bottom-up", collaborative
and consultative style, similar to its parent products, UNEP's Global
Environment Outlook (GEO) assessments at the global level.
 Download
the final report:
Carpathians Environment Outlook 2007
(KEO)
available in pdf format
 Introductory
sections: Foreword, About this Report, About the KEO Process, Executive
Summary, Table of Contents (7.73Mb)
Chapter
One: Background and Introduction (11.04Mb)
1.1 Main Geographical Features
1.2 Human Influences in the Carpathians
1.3 Modern-day Impacts on Environment and Current Responses
Chapter
Two: Socio-Economic Driving Forces(7.73Mb)
2.1 Macro-Economic and Structural Policy Overview
2.2 Economic Driving Forces and Pressures
2.3 Societal Driving Forces and Pressures
Chapter
Three: State of the Carpathians’ Environment and Policy Measures
(20.91Mb)
3.1 Species, Habitat and Landscape Diversity
3.2 Forest Resources
3.3 Land Resources
3.4 Mineral Resources
3.5 Water Resources
3.6 Atmospheric Processes
3.7 Waste and Hazardous Chemicals
3.8 Environment and Security
3.9 Urban Development and Cultural Heritage
Chapter
Four: Outlook 2020: Three Scenarios for the Carpathian Region’s
Future Development (25.01Mb)
4.1 Methodological Approach
4.2 Driving Forces, Critical Uncertainties, Challenges and Fundamental
Assumptions
4.3 Three Scenarios for the Carpathian Region
Chapter
Five: Conclusions and Options for Action (4.29Mb)
5.1 Overall Conclusions
5.2 Current Policy Approaches
5.3 Future Policy Framework – Options for Action
Annexes
- List of Figures, List of Boxes, List of Tables, List of Maps,
Acronyms & Abbreviations, Acknowledgements (10.41Mb)
Project Objectives:
- Prepare a comprehensive assessment of the state of and trends
in the Carpathians environment, including future outlook and the
unique heritage of the region;
- Assist Carpathian countries in their attempts to promote sustainable
development within the region, facilitate collaboration between
them, improve governmental practices and guide policy priorities,
as well as launch the dialogue between policy-makers and scientists;
- Raise community awareness in areas of natural resource conservation
and environmental protection and increase local/regional adaptation
capacity to emerging environmental problems and threats, especially
of a trans-boundary nature;
- Support and enhance the future implementation of the Framework
Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the
Carpathians, and its related protocols.
Project Activities:
The KEO 'Kick-off' Workshop was held on 3-4 March 2004 in Budapest,
and co-hosted by the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Water
and GRID-Budapest. The major purpose of this event was to explore
the interest and potential in preparing a sub-regional report in
the “GEO style”. Two KEO Steering Group Meetings followed, on 17-18
September 2004 in Warsaw, and on 6-8 July 2005 in Vienna, in order
to discuss and plan practical requirements of the project. The Steering
Group is composed of National Focal Points (incl. Ukraine, Hungary,
Poland, Romania, and Slovakia), representatives of UNEP’s Division
of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA-Europe), Regional Office for
Europe (ROE) staff, and regional NGOs (CERI, DAPHNE, GRID-Warsaw,
WWF).
The first KEO Experts Workshop was held in Zakopane, Poland on
11-13 April hosted by and in collaboration with GRID-Warsaw, in
order to provide an opportunity to convene, discuss and finalise
plans for the content of the KEO report, and define the role of
national representatives and others in the process. Participants
at this "brainstorming" event came from all seven Carpathian
countries, as well as prominent regional NGOs and relevant UNEP
offices. During the meeting, they were able to complete the proposed
contents of the report, analyse possibilities and limitations in
data gathering and processing, select indicators to be used for
each of the themes covered in the KEO, specify national inputs to
the writing process, and define near-future activities and plans.
The first draft of the KEO Report is to be prepared by the end
of 2006, and it is fully anticipated this document will provide
greater knowledge about the unique ecology and related environmental
and human problems of the broad Carpathian region, along with an
operational network of national focal points within and among the
seven Carpathian countries for environmental reporting purposes
and others and, not least, better information for environmental
decision-making in/for this unique region.
The Carpathians Environment Outlook 2007 report was launched at
the fourth European Ministerial Conference on “Environment
for Europe” in Belgrade, on 10 October 2007, during the side
event on "Mountain Partnerships", at the joint EEA-UNEP-UNDP
stand, at the Sava Conference Centre.
Geographical Scope:
Download here map
showing the KEO study area boundary overlaid on the Landsat ETM
Mosaic (cca 2000) of the Carpathian region (TIFFformat, preview
below). The image mosaic is a false-color composite created from
26 Landsat ETM scenes, and using bands 4, 3, and 2 for the red,
green, and blue layers.
KEO
Past Events
The KEO Regional Stakeholders Consultation
(RSC) was held on 18-20 October 2006 in
Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, and represented a major opportunity in
the lifetime of the KEO process to consult with a large and varied
group of persons from (mostly within) the region and seven Carpathian
countries on the draft one version of the KEO report and the broader
KEO process. Up to 60 persons were invited, and over 40 persons
participated in the three-day period of the meeting. The RSC was
organized to allow both for extensive presentation of the overall
process and draft one chapters of the report by CLAs, and then intensive
disc
ussion both via plenary sessions and three break-out
groups (BoGs) covering each KEO Chapter. The full list of issues
covered in the BoGs included identifying major policy messages from,
and emerging issues in, each of the chapters, as well as any gaps
and overlaps in material covered. Additionally, BoG I also focused
on developing a concept for KEO Chapter 4 ‘Outlook 2005 to
2020’. During the last half-day session, a critique of the
KEO process to date was conducted in plenary, along with a proposal
for follow-up actions, “next steps” and near-future
plans, that will lead to publication and launch of the final version
of the KEO report by mid-2007. Among these, a KEO Final Drafting
Meeting will be organised in Romania in March 2007 to allow thorough
content homogenisation and integration.
The third KEO Steering Group (SG) Meeting
was held on 6-7 July 2006 at the office of the
Carpathians Framework Convention Interim Secretariat in Vienna,
and provided an opportunity to examine all aspects of progress made
on the KEO reporting process since the previous SG meeting (7-8
July 2005), and discuss early phases of drafting with the six Chapter
Lead Authors (CLAs). Several aspects relating to the implementation
of the KEO reporting process were reviewed, focusing in particular
on links with the UNEP-led (and ROE managed) Carpathian Framework
Convention (CFC) and its Vienna-based Interim Secretariat, and the
new Carpathian CADSES Project prepared and led by the latter (which
will assist KEO with co-financing), the status of data collection
and integration work by the KEO Lead Data Centre (LDC) UNEP/GRID-Warsaw;
organizational aspects including planning for the KEO Regional Consultation
to be held in October 2006; and other issues relating to the preparation
and launch of the report by mid-2007.
An Orientation Session for KEO Chapter
Lead Authors (CLAs) was organized by DEWA/GRID-Europe and
held on 27 February 2006, at UNEP's International
Environment House in Geneva. The six KEO CLAs were invited for in-depth
discussions on all aspects of the KEO report and its drafting/preparation,
including the formation of Chapter Working Groups, data & indicators,
etc. The meeting was essential to the progress of the project, providing
an opportunity for the newest KEO project members (CLAs) to familiarize
themselves with each other and the UNEP staff leading the process,
as well as with the entire KEO process and its requirements, and
to develop a near-term action plan regarding their immediate responsibilities.
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