For the third year in a row, STELLA Consulting, on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with MWH and the EU Member States, has organised the series of 28 annual Information Sessions aimed at informing potential applicants about the LIFE+ Programme.  As required by the Commission, the Information Sessions presented to potential applicants the requirements for submitting a proposal.  In particular, they helped potential applicants decide whether to submit a LIFE+ proposal, and highlighted some key issues to help avoid common problems when submitting a proposal. 

The Information Sessions were held shortly after the publication on 5th May 2010 of the fourth Call for Proposals under the LIFE+ Programme, with up to €240 million available for co-financing projects under three components: nature and biodiversity; environment policy and governance; and information and communication.

STELLA organised an Information Session in each EU Member State, with two Information Sessions in Belgium.  In the last three years, the Information Sessions have reached annually between 1,700 and 2,000 potential LIFE+ applicants, and the high quality LIFE+ PowerPoint Presentation and other materials reached an even wider audience via the European Commission LIFE website. 

STELLA Consulting identified participants from a wide range of organisations, from national Ministries and municipalities, through SMEs, environmental NGOs and consultancies, to universities and research organisations.  In 2010, STELLA increased the number of participants in most of the Information sessions and successfully identified new audiences who previously had no knowledge of the LIFE+ Programme, but are potentially eligible for co-financing under the Programme. 

For more information about the LIFE+ Programme, please visit the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/index.htm where the LIFE+ PowerPoint Presentations in the national language of each country (except Malta and Ireland, where the sessions were in English) will be available for download very soon.

STELLA Consulting is continuing to assist Romania’s Government in its implementation of its Environment Sectoral Operational Programme (SOP ENV).  In this new €1.16 million project, STELLA works in a consortium led by Interdevelopment and in charge of assisting Romania’s Intermediate Bodies (IB) in evaluating the proposals submitted by various institutions in response to the calls for proposals under SOP ENV’s Priority Axis 4 (PA4 on nature and biodiversity).  We will summarise the results of this assistance in technical reports on the selection of projects under PA 4. 

STELLA is also organising a large number of training sessions on project cycle management, cost-benefit analysis, nature conservation and management of Natura 2000 sites and protected areas, legislation, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  These sessions use interactive-oriented training methods (e.g., questions and answers and discussions) and engage the trainees to work on practical exercises.  The training sessions include five four-day and five three-day sessions with 30 participants per session and 24 one-day sessions with 40 participants per session.  Finally, STELLA is organising 16 “ad-hoc” training sessions.  The topics of these sessions will be decided jointly with the IB depending on their needs; we will schedule these sessions quickly in order to provide the IB with the support they need. 

STELLA is currently implementing the LIFE III project "IWPM Integrated Wastewater Purification Management". The project aims to demonstrate how wastewater management and treatment technologies can be improved through an innovative IWPM-System, increasing the quality of effluent and reducing costs, in support of EU-Directives on Wastewater, on Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM; EU-Directive 2000/60/EC), and on Flora, Fauna, Habitat (FFH).

For more information on the project, please visit the project website.
www.eu-life-iwpm.de/english/index-eng.html

STELLA Consulting has started a three-year $7.2 million project financed by the USAID to assist the Government of Kosovo in implementing national policy reforms in the water supply and sanitation sector.  STELLA works in a consortium led by PA Consulting and in charge of supporting and strengthening the long-term financial and technical sustainability of Kosovo's Regional Water Companies (RWCs).  STELLA provides the Regional Technical Coordinator, responsible for liaising with RWC counterparts on all issues related to technical assistance and infrastructure construction implementation and interaction with senior government officials, donors, and other key stakeholders in Kosovo's water supply and sanitation sector.