Emeritus second consortium meeting and external event
EMERITUS held its second consortium meeting in Porto back-to-back with an external event on the second day to trace new synergies and strengthen already existing ones.
EMERITUS Internal Consortium Meeting – Day #1
It has been a little more than one year since the start of the project, last September 2022, and the second Consortium Meeting in Porto at INESC-TEC premises has been the occasion to analyse the work done so far and plan the next activities for the coming months.
Among the key results shared during the first day of the gathering were:
- The presentation of the updated version of the EMERITUS protocol by C&T. Although the protocol will be redefined several times along the project, this version integrates foreseen services by the platform (as a result of WP3 works) within the guidelines for waste investigation.
- GEOVIL’s presentation of the alpha version of the portal that is still in the development phase.
- Fondazione SAFE discussed the semi-controlled tests that have taken place in the military base Calvarina. The objective is to test a complete user journey over an extended period, collect feedback from users and make adjustments and/or improvements. The results will be published soon on the EMERITUS website.
- Finally, INESC informed about another relevant result: the presentation of the paper “Data science for fighting environmental crime”, submitted to SoGood 2023.
EMERITUS External event – Day #2
The second day saw the participation of the different relevant stakeholders and initiatives collaborating with the project.
The first was the International Business College Mitrovica (IBC-M), an institution of excellence closely collaborating with the Kosovo Police. IBC-M deliver education on topics such as environmental-related crimes, sustainability and environment-related issues within the Balkans region.
Kosovo is, in fact, a laboratory for environmental crimes in terms of gamut and scope due to the long-term consequences of the conflict, mine and timber resources available in the country and the presence of organised crimes. EMERITUS project constitutes an opportunity to expand further the scope of the training already available on environmental crimes to the Kosovo Police and other Kosovo institutions.
The second was IMPEL, the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law, an international non-profit organisation of environmental authorities founded in 1992 and composed of 59 members of authorities from 38 European countries. Its mission is to build strategic relationships between agencies and authorities across thematic areas to enhance cooperation, improve training for authorities and experts, and pursue engagement with external partners and networks.
Moreover, ISPRA, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, presented a new IMPEL cross-cutting expert team project aligned with EMERITUS called GIEDA, based on geo-intelligence, which aims to contribute to information needs related to illegal activities affecting the environment. The SWEAP project was also presented in the session, an EU-LIFE-funded project coordinated by IMPEL that has been running since 2018 and in which 34 countries are participating.
The second-day session terminated with an open discussion session debating topics such as the current challenges in the investigation of environmental crimes (from both operative and coordination perspective), the needs of different stakeholders of the investigation processes (polices, prosecutors, judges) and the potential of technology to address those needs.
For a more in-depth analysis of these topics, read our article on the EMERITUS & PERIVALLON co-creation session on needs and tools for fighting waste-related environmental crimes.
