REVISED WORKING GROUP ON GI IMPLEMENTATION AND RESTORATION – WG GIIR 1 ST MEETING BRUSSELS, 24 MARCH 2014 ROOM C - AVENUE DE BEAULIEU 5, 1160 BRUSSELS Date: 24 March 2014 from 10.00 to 17.00, Brussels Agenda: see document uploaded on CIRCABC Chair: Laure Ledoux, Deputy Head of Unit ENV B2 Participants: 45 participants, representing a broad range of interests, including from Member States ministries and institutions, NGOs, industry and stakeholders associations, European Commission services. Resources: All participants of the Working Group have access to a restricted CIRCABC site (which is only accessible for WG members) with the documents shared and the presentations held on https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/bcfe88e7-b29b-4303-a6b0-0fd17e2e393d. The wider public will be informed on the outcomes of the WG through a publically accessible CIRCABC site on https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/76df6314-a37c-4cc9-9fc6-2d9c9d6889fe. Policy and background information on GI is accessible via http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/index_en.htm. I. Introduction François Wakenhut, Head of Unit ENV B2, welcomed the Working Group members to the first meeting of the Working Group and welcomed the level of participation and the good representativity of different stakeholder groups. He highlighted that active contribution of all Working Group members is essential for GI development and to maintain restoration as one of the priorities among biodiversity targets. He clarified that this WG has no defined closing date. Members were asked whether they felt that relevant stakeholders were missing; the Commission agreed to explore the added value of water engineering experts in this WG (compared with existing WG on PoM related to the WFD). The Commission will seek to increase the participation from MS in forthcoming WG meetings. Presentations started with a description by Marco Fritz from ENV Unit B2 (MF) of how the work of the group will be managed. The objective of the Revised WG on GI Implementation and Restoration is to support the implementation of actions of the GI Strategy as set out in the Commission Communication, to provide a platform for sharing best practices on GI deployment, and to address the linkages between the restoration of degraded ecosystems and the deployment of GI. Participants introduced themselves and their involvement in Green Infrastructure during a tour the table. The meeting was divided in two sessions: the first part was focused on the exchange of information, whilst the second part was devoted to discussion on the tasks of the WG. All the
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REVISED WORKING GROUP ON GI IMPLEMENTATION AND RESTORATION – WG GIIR
1ST MEETING
BRUSSELS, 24 MARCH 2014
ROOM C - AVENUE DE BEAULIEU 5, 1160 BRUSSELS
Date: 24 March 2014 from 10.00 to 17.00, Brussels
Agenda: see document uploaded on CIRCABC
Chair: Laure Ledoux, Deputy Head of Unit ENV B2
Participants: 45 participants, representing a broad range of interests, including from Member States
ministries and institutions, NGOs, industry and stakeholders associations, European Commission
services.
Resources: All participants of the Working Group have access to a restricted CIRCABC site (which is
only accessible for WG members) with the documents shared and the presentations held on
https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/bcfe88e7-b29b-4303-a6b0-0fd17e2e393d. The wider public will be
informed on the outcomes of the WG through a publically accessible CIRCABC site on
https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/76df6314-a37c-4cc9-9fc6-2d9c9d6889fe. Policy and background
information on GI is accessible via http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/index_en.htm.
I. Introduction
François Wakenhut, Head of Unit ENV B2, welcomed the Working Group members to the first
meeting of the Working Group and welcomed the level of participation and the good
representativity of different stakeholder groups. He highlighted that active contribution of all
Working Group members is essential for GI development and to maintain restoration as one of the
priorities among biodiversity targets. He clarified that this WG has no defined closing date.
Members were asked whether they felt that relevant stakeholders were missing; the Commission
agreed to explore the added value of water engineering experts in this WG (compared with existing
WG on PoM related to the WFD). The Commission will seek to increase the participation from MS in
forthcoming WG meetings.
Presentations started with a description by Marco Fritz from ENV Unit B2 (MF) of how the work of
the group will be managed. The objective of the Revised WG on GI Implementation and Restoration
is to support the implementation of actions of the GI Strategy as set out in the Commission
Communication, to provide a platform for sharing best practices on GI deployment, and to address
the linkages between the restoration of degraded ecosystems and the deployment of GI.
Participants introduced themselves and their involvement in Green Infrastructure during a tour the
table. The meeting was divided in two sessions: the first part was focused on the exchange of
information, whilst the second part was devoted to discussion on the tasks of the WG. All the
Link to GI website http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/index_en.htm, including recommendations of first WG and with brochure on GI for the wider public: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/docs/green_infrastructure_broc.pdf Two reports on methodologies regarding the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their serviceshttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/knowledge/ecosystem_assessment/index_en.htm which might help with the definition issues:
• Natural water retention measures (link to adaptation) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/adaptation/ecosystemstorage.htm
• Integration of biodiversity and climate change into SEA and EIA http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/pdf/EIA%20Guidance.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/pdf/SEA%20Guidance.pdf
• Connecting Smart and Sustainable Growth through Smart Specialisation http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/presenta/green_growth/greengrowth.pdf
• Smart guide to multi-benefit investments http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/studies/pdf/guide_multi_benefit_nature.pdf
Next upcoming guidance: • Agriculture/Climate adaptation
Links of Green Infrastructure to the European Semester process are uploaded on the EC GI website, background section. The ENEA paper on funding possibilities for nature and biodiversity (including GI) is on http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/pdf/ENEA%20BiodivFINAL%2002042013.pdf.