The Greening Regional Development Programmes Network project (GRDP) was part funded by the EU Interreg IIIC programme which aimed to promote co-operation between regional players across the entire EU territory and neighbouring countries.

Approved for EU funding during the third round of Interreg 3C West programme, the GRDP brought together over 35 partners from numerous EU regions to harness and share experiences.

The project was aimed at developing a common European methodology to ensure that the environment is duly considered in EU funding programmes – particularly those programmes aimed at regional development. Specifically, the project looked at the various ways in which the environment can be integrated starting from the point of programming to the point when projects are being implemented.

Led by the Environment Agency for England and Wales, the project had an overall budget of over €1.08 million, of which MEPA’s share was €76,000. Seventy five percent of the allocation for MEPA came from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), while 25% was provided by MEPA as co-financing.

During 2005, all partners including MEPA carried out an audit which sought to determine to what extent environmental issues were being taken into account on a regional basis. In Malta, this audit was carried out for the whole country. A report was subsequently compiled, paving the way for the development of the common European methodology.

Addressing the needs identified in the audit, partners developed guidelines on the application of the Strategic Environmental Assessment tool to “green” Structural Funds programmes, as well as guidelines on the application of partnership principle in the programming process.

Two international seminars were held as part of the project in 2005, where partners shared their experiences with other participants and obtained feedback on the guidance produced. The seminars also resulted in a GRDP Declaration, which outlined fundamental principles on which the partnership is based.

In April 2006 a mission was held in Malta as part of the GRDP activities. A team of international experts attended the mission, including experts from the UK, Czech Republic, Italy and from the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe. As part of the mission, a roundtable discussion was organized to gather the experience and ideas of Maltese applicants, project managers and of the Managing Authority, to guide the development of a European handbook titled ‘Greening Projects for Growth and Jobs’.

In this project, MEPA was responsible for the coordination and management of its participation in GRDP, preparation of regional audit, contribution to 4 thematic workshops, input to the GRDP Charter and declarations and participation in the final conference. In addition, MEPA coordinated the drafting of a component of the methodology that dealt with “greening” at the level of individual projects.

The project was concluded in 2007, at the final conference which was held in Spain.

Within MEPA, the EU & Multilateral Affairs Unit was responsible for participation in the GRDP project.

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