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Cooperation Fund: Workshop “Building on Virtual WB Regional Centre for Hydrometeorological Services and Climate Change” held in Skopje

The high-level workshop on infrastructure development on “Building on the Virtual WB Regional Centre for Hydrometeorological Services and Climate Change” took place in Skopje, Macedonia on 23 September 2015.

The gathering was attended by representatives of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission and of the Western Balkan Regional Virtual Center on Hydro-meteorological Services and Climate Change. Other relevant stakeholders participated in the gathering, i.e. the University of Trieste, the Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS), government and scientific institutions and NGOs.
 
The Workshop was organised by taking into account the need in the Western Balkans to strengthen capacities in the field of Hydro-meteorological Services and Climate Changes High-Quality Modelling, since it has become progressively distant from state-of-the-art developments in the rest of Europe. Lack of access to advanced computing facilities has also become a major problem.
 
The goal of the event was to identify concrete proposals to transform the existing WB Virtual Regional Center into an effective instrument at the disposal of the respective Governments, supporting them in the role they are expected to play in the framework of the world strategy on Climate Change (including responsibilities for national policies and consequent measures). 
 
At the inauguration of the event, Macedonian Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Nurhan Izairi, underlined that “climate change is a question of which the Government of the Republic of Macedonia pays serious attention through the fulfillment of the obligations of the national, regional and international level”. He also announced that the Ministerial Conference “Towards Climate Summit in Paris 2015, challenges for CEI Member States” was taking place in Skopje in November.
 
On behalf of the CEI, Giorgio Rosso Cicogna, Special Advisor to CEI Secretary General, welcomed the participants via videolink. In his address, he underlined the need for advancement in this field in the WB, as well as the role the CEI Science and Technology Network could play in this regard.
 
This event was co-financed by the CEI Cooperation Fund
  • Programme available here
  • Final Document available here


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