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The implementation of the Project PACKSENSOR, dedicated to sustainable food packaging and monitoring in South Serbia, officially started with a kick-off meeting in Leskovac on 14-15 January 2015.

The project, fully titled PACKSENSOR - The impact of the controlled atmosphere on quality and safety of the close-seal-packaged food applied in the SMEs of South Serbia, aims to provide solutions for monitoring the influence of packaging on food safety, currently not practiced by local firms due to the lack of trained personnel and proper equipment.

Tiha K. Gudac, born in Zagreb in 1982, was awarded for the documentary film Goli (Naked Island) which, as underlined by the jury, denounces how a nation’s past can haunt its present”. The CEI Award (3.000 EUR) was presented by Alternate Secretary General, Amb. Margit Waestfelt, on the occasion of the awarding ceremony in Trieste on 22 January.

The representatives of the International Visegrad Fund (IVF) visited the CEI Secretariat in Trieste on Wednesday, 21 January, to exchange views on possibilities of cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. 
 
The CEI is one of the sponsors of the Trieste Film Festival, the Italian leading appointment with Central and Eastern European cinema taking place in Trieste from 16 to 22 January 2014.

Endorsed and co-funded by the European Commission under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, DESIGN-MTS – Defining Social responsibility Interventions for a Grounded Networking in Machine Tool Sector is ending on 31 December 2014. The project was led by the University of Macerata in partnership with CECIMO, CSR-Europe, IRES and the University of Nottingham and the CEI.

Nearly two decades after the end of the conflict in former Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina remains one of the world's most mine contaminated countries with an estimated 2.5% of its territory at risk. The May floods have complicated the situation further, potentially contaminating the already cleared fields.

In order to further strengthen economic and social development in its non-EU members, the CEI is promoting synergies between the EU-funded project ener2i and the KEP AUSTRIA Project Innovation stimulation for Moldovan SMEs in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energies (CEI-ener2i-MD) promoted by the Austrian Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI).
 
Fifteen targeted meetings with representatives of various EU institutions were held on 10 and 11 December in Brussels within the first WIDER EU level Road Show, organised as part of the project's networking activities.

Representatives of the 19 partner insitutions of the Danube-INCO.NET project gathered in Vienna on 11 December for an overall assessment of the work progress, the main results achieved so far and future challenges.

In its capacity of leader of the Work Package on energy efficiency, renewable energy and bioeconomy, the CEI presented the activities carried out in the first project implementation year, as well as the forthcoming tasks and events.
 
Within the KEP AUSTRIA Call 2014, four project proposals were approved by the CEI Committee of National Coordinators in October 2014 with a total CEI grant amounting to 186.000 EUR and a total project cost of 381.309 EUR. These activities - selected among 117 applications which have undergone a two-step evaluation procedure - have recently started their implementation phase:
 
On 8-10 April 2015, the Danube:Future project is organising in Klagenfurt its first International Workshop on “Challenges and potentials for a sustainable development in the Danube Region: Contributing to HORIZON 2020”, with funding provided by the Alpen-Adria-Universität-Klagenfurt and the Central European Initiative (Cooperation Fund 2014).

About 60 participants took part in the ACROSSEE Final Conference on 5 December in Vienna, organised by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, in cooperation with the CEI, Project Lead Partner.

Civil society and media representatives from Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus gathered on 2 December at the Diplomatic Academy in Kyiv, for the seminar on “The role of civil society in the process of democratization”. The event was organised by the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) and the CEI in the framework of the Austrian Presidency.
 
In the framework of the project “Renewable Energy Knowledge and Technology Transfer in Albania and in Bosnia–Herzegovina”, an awareness campaign for communities and municipalities has been launched in Albania, focusing on energy conservation, renewable energy and environmental protection.
 
The CEI Fund at the EBRD, entirely contributed by Italy, has approved nine projects in the framework of the CEI Know-How Exchange Programme (KEP ITALY) to be co-financed with 260.000 EUR, out of 70 submitted proposals. The selected projects support the alignment of the non-EU CEI Member States with European and international standards by transferring high-level know-how and expertise.

The Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union organised, in cooperation with the CEI, a high-level Workshop on Advanced Biofuels on 28 November in Belgrade.

Ambassador of Italy, Giuseppe Manzo, and Milorad Milovančević, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering opened the event at the University of Belgrade.

About 120 lecturers and participants from 10 countries (Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria) attended the 6th CEI South East Europe Health, Wellness and Spa Conference - Regional  Chances and Challenges, on 18 November, 2014 in Belgrade. The Conference was organised by the Health, Wellness and Spa Cluster Serbia (Wellness Cluster) with the support of the CEI and the Serbian Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) convened a Conference on Energy for a Sustainable Development in Geneva on 17-21 November.

High-level representatives from Governments of Member Countries and the European Commission, as well as experts from Industry, Academia, Specialised/Regional and Non-Governmental Organisations and other top independent experts in this field attended this annual event.

On the occasion of today’s CEI Summit in Vienna, under the title 25 years of CEI and Future Vision, the CEI Heads of Government adopted a Declaration on the 25 Years of the CEI, accompanied by a publication on the 25 years of CEI 1989 - 2014.

The gathering witnessed the presence of nine Prime Ministers from Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia; Deputy Prime Ministers; Ministers/Deputy Ministers for Foreign Affairs; State Secretaries and Ambassadors.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension was held in Vienna on 17-19 November 2014 under the CEI Austrian Presidency.

Two main topics were debated upon by the representatives of national parliaments of CEI countries: the 25 anniversary of the CEI, with a focus on achievements and future perspectives, and the CEI Agenda 2014-2016 in relation to a knowledge-based society. Deputy Secretary General, Erik Csernovitz attended the meeting on behalf of the CEI Secretariat.
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