EASY-ECO Training on Strategic Environmental Assessment in Trento, Italy

8-12 March 2010
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Trento, Italy

This EASY-ECO Series Event is sponsored by:

The fourth training in the EASY-ECO 2008-2010 series of trainings and conferences will take place in the city of Trento, a small city with a very rich history lying in northern Italy. The training provides a possibility for young researchers to enhance their knowledge and competences in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), one of the major fields of evaluation of sustainable development. The training is sponsored by the European Union‘s Marie Curie Actions, offering a grant covering all costs of participation to almost all participants. Deadline for applications has been extended to 6 December 2009.

For further information on this training opportunity, please see the Trento Training leaflet (PDF, 365 kB)

Training phases: e-learning and on-site training

EASY-ECO Trainings explore key elements in evaluation of sustainable development such as roles  of evaluation in the policy cycle, aproaches to evaluation, stages of evaluation, methods and techniques to conduct evaluation, and evaluation markets. After attending one of the trainings, participants will be able to conduct actual evaluation projects as full-fledged members of an evaluation team. In addition, the trainees will be embedded in a thematic network of leading scientists and practitioners.

The online phase of the training, hosted by Research Institute for Managing Sustainability of the Vienna University of Economics and Business, will be held online from December 2009 to February 2010.

The on-site phase of the training, hosted by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering  of the University of Trento, will be held on 8 – 12 March, 2010, in Trento, Italy.

The training is intended for young researchers and practitioners active in evaluation research or sustainable development. The cost of the training fee for the online phase is EUR 200 and for the on-site training EUR 250 (excluding travel and subsistence). EU-Grants are available for young researchers (with less than ten years research experience) to cover all costs (travel expenses, training fees, accommodation and living allowance).

Trainers and case studies

Both the online and on-site phase will be supported by leading evaluation thinkers and experienced trainers. The participants of the online phase can expect to interact with experts such as Frans Leeuw, Thomas Widmer, Clive George, Wolfgang Meyer, André Martinuzzi. The participants of the on-site phase will participate at one of the following case studies:

Case 1

This case study deals with a SEA for a town in southern Italy, characterized by the presence of a large urban centre and surrounded by areas designated for nature conservation. The commissioning agency was the Municipality, and the study included a dialogue with a number of stakeholders through various participatory processes such as public forums. The design of the SEA involved: 1) environmental analysis; 2) coherence analysis with respect to other plans and programmes; 3) qualitative and quantitative assessment; 4) monitoring. Emphasis was given on the use of innovative techniques to help develop a ‘vision’ for the plan, as well as developing cognitive maps of complex issues in contexts characterised by uncertainty.

The trainer, Dr. Pasquale De Toro, is a researcher at the Faculty of Architecture of the ‘Federico II’ University of Naples and a professor of methods and techniques for plans and projects assessment. 

Case 2

This case study presents a SEA for a regional-level spatial plan in Italy, in a very complex area in terms of both environmental and socio-economic aspects. Emphasis was given to the identification of the main environmental areas of concern and to the search for suitable criteria and indicators, able to capture the whole range of issues related to environmental sustainability. Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques will be presented and discussed, as they played a key role in structuring the evaluation problem, understanding the spatial performance of the plan, and suggesting revisions and mitigations.

The trainer, Dr. Alberto Pistocchi, is an environmental engineer and land planner and holds a Ph.D. in georesources and geotechnologies from the University of Bologna. He has been working as a researcher, consultant and project manager in the field of environmental impact assessment, water resources management and environmental modelling.

Case 3

This case study deals with a SEA of a land-use plan at a municipal-level for an area characterised by environmental degradation and the presence of major infrastructures. Emphasis was given on the issue of data collection and data processing and on the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and environmental modelling to support the evaluation. The use of land-use scenarios will also be presented, as the construction and comparison of different future scenarios played a key role in supporting the analysis.

The trainer, Dr. Stefano Bagli, is Senior Engineer at GECOsistema srl and an expert in environmental and human health risk assessment and spatial modelling. He has been a postdoctoral researcher at the DG Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Ispra, Italy.

Further information and application

• For more information on the content and organisation of the trainings see the Training Info webpage and the EASY-ECO Training Preview (PDF, 1.4 MB)
• For further information on this training opportunity, please see theTrento Training leaflet (PDF, 365 kB)
• For more information on EU-Grants and eligibility see the EU-Grants webpage.

Current Deadlines & Open Applications
	There are no open applications - the EASY-ECO series of conferences and trainings has ended!
31 October 2010	Deadline for registration for the EASY-ECO Conference "Sustainable Development Evaluations in Europe: From a Decade of Practices, Politics and Science to Emerging Demands" which will be held on 17-19 November 2010 in Brussels, Belgium.
30 June 2010 12 July 2010	Extended deadline for application for the EASY-ECO Training on Evaluation of Sustainability of Development Assistance Projects and Programs in Prague, Czech Republic (27 Sept - 1 Oct 2010). For further details on the application procedure, please click here!