STELLA assisted the European Commission in monitoring the implementation of projects financed by the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE)-Third Countries. The assignment covered a wide geographical area including 12 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank and Gaza), Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Albania in the Balkans, and St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad in the Baltic region. STELLA managed the monitoring of more than 70 projects focusing on capacity building in the fields of environment and sustainable development, including integrated coastal zone management, water and wastewater management, solid waste management, and legislation and regulatory support. STELLA reviewed and assessed progress made by projects and identified potential administrative, technical, and financial problems encountered on the ground. STELLA also played an important role in strengthening the communication and liaison between the Commission and the LIFE-Third Countries beneficiaries, as well as promoting the dissemination of lessons learned and success stories.

For the European Commission, STELLA coordinated the selection of the best project proposals to receive financial support from the EC Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE) Third Countries (TCY). LIFE TCY aims at contributing to the establishment of capacities and administrative structures needed in the environmental sector and developing environmental policy and action programmes in third countries bordering on the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. In response to a call for proposals for the extension of LIFE III, the EC received about 100 new proposals from 13 eligible countries and territories (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank and Gaza, and the Baltic shoreline of Russia: St Petersburg and Kaliningrad regions) and from international organisations. The objective of the assignment was to select the best project proposals in accordance with the criteria in the LIFE Regulation and to provide technical support and assess the projects considered eligible by the Commission services. STELLA led a team of seven evaluators who assessed eligible proposals according to the following criteria: Technical and financial reliability of the applicants; Conformity with the scope of LIFE TCY, as defined in the LIFE regulation; Coherence and quality: projects should be technically and financially feasible; Institutional/capacity building effect, viability and sustainability; Interest of the project; and Dissemination/visibility.

For the European Commission, STELLA conducted an independent evaluation of RIET, an EC-Singapore initiative facilitating technical, economic, and industrial cooperation between Europe and Asia in the environment sector by promoting best environmental practices. The EU and Singapore used the evaluation report to commit additional financial resources. The STELLA team assessed RIET's services, summarising RIET's activities and performance services in meeting its objectives. The team also analysed RIET's capacity to achieve the goals of Technology Windows, as well as RIET's internal structure, its revenues, organisation, and management. The report concluded that RIET was meeting its stated objectives and was playing a significant role in raising the EU's profile in Southeast Asia, thus justifying additional EU support.

For the European Commission, STELLA conducted an independent evaluation of the Support Programme to the Environment Sector in Cambodia (SPEC). SPEC was a 20 month programme with a budget of 3 MECU financed by the European Commission. SPEC's goal was to strengthen Cambodia's Ministry of Environment (MoE) in three steps: (1) define global strategies and environmental programmes; (2) assist the MoE in water pollution control, solid waste management, conservation of natural resources, and sustainable management of the Great Lake of Tonle Sap; and (3) implement pilot projects in the sectors above. STELLA assessed the coherence of SPEC's work plan with the financing agreement, evaluated the performance of SPEC's various project components after nine months, and recommended a revised action plan enabling the delivery, within the time and budget constraints, of successful pilot projects in line with SPEC's overall objectives. STELLA also recommended a follow-up project on pollution prevention and sustainable development of the Great Lake of Tonle Sap.

For the European Commission, STELLA conducted the mid-term evaluation of the Asia Eco-Best (AEB) programme. Financed by the EC, the five-year AEB programme (€8 million) promoted European environment best practices and business in Asia. AEB sought to (1) promote environmental-friendly economic growth in Asia, (2) increase exposure and access of Asian businesses to environment-related know-how, capacities and standards in the EU, and (3) increase trade and investment flows between the EU and Asia, based on competition that is not detrimental to the environment. The Regional Institute of Environmental Technology (RIET) implemented AEB and provided services to AEB recipients through co-financing, including conferences and seminars, training and information material, Environmental Impact Assessment, and business networks. STELLA led the evaluation team and reviewed how effectively RIET was implementing AEB. STELLA analysed answers to a questionnaire sent to grant recipients and comments from the AEB Advisors. The evaluation team met representatives from AEB and RIET, European partners in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France and Asian partners in Singapore, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and India. STELLA concluded that AEB had a positive impact on European SMEs and was very successful. STELLA also made suggestions to strengthen AEB and RIET.

STELLA participated in the mid-term evaluation of the Municipal Environmental Cooperation Programme (MECP), a programme of environmental cooperation between European and Asian municipalities financed by the European Commission and managed by the Paris-based United Town Development Agency. This three-year programme had a budget of more than 500,000 ECUs and aimed at facilitating the transfer of European know-how and engineering expertise to Asia. Environmental fields in the programme included water distribution, drainage, sewage collection and treatment, solid and hazardous waste collection, treatment and recycling, air and noise pollution abatement, green space planning and energy saving. STELLA assessed MECP's technical, financial, organisational, and managerial effectiveness. STELLA designed and sent a 20-page questionnaire to 66 interested parties (cities and associations of cities, NGOs, international institutions, consultants). In parallel, STELLA staff met officials from four European cities (in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom) and seven Asian cities (in Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). Based on these visits and the responses to the questionnaire, STELLA made specific recommendations to the European Commission regarding MECP's future.

The overall objective of the ACP - EU Water Facility (WF) was to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development through achieving the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation. The Call for Proposals covered three components: (A) Improvement of Water Management and Governance; (B) Civil Society and Decentralised Cooperation Initiatives; and (C) Water and Sanitation Infrastructure. STELLA's team was involved in evaluating and assessing the project proposals under component C. The main applicants were public authorities and private operators active in water/wastewater treatment and water distribution. STELLA analysed the evaluation grids and provided feedback to the WF on the evaluation of the Concept Note and the pre-selected proposals; we also prepared a monitoring system of the evaluation process and the final evaluation report with the list of selected proposals and a reserve list.

STELLA is assisting Romania's Government in its implementation of its Environment Sectoral Operational Programme (SOP ENV). In this new 1.16 million EUR project, STELLA is in the Interdevelopment consortium 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 (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.

For the US Trade and Development Agency, STELLA staff conducted a desk study to evaluate a proposal by Kiber Environmental for a feasibility study of a facility that would process oil sludge waste from vessels in the Port of Limon and Moin. The facility would recycle the sludge by using two new technologies (DCR asphalt technology and Cement-Lock) to make asphalt and concrete. STELLA staff reviewed the technical and financial proposal, contacted key players in the project and conducted interviews on the technology and the current economic and environmental situation in Costa Rica. STELLA staff concluded that, prior to a feasibility study, a market assessment of the availability of sludge waste, tipping fees, and actual demand for the products generated by the facility needed to be undertaken.