National Peer Review Initiative (NPRI)

On 27 March, the Comissão de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo, I.P. (CCDR-A, I.P.) organized a stakeholder meeting as part of the National Peer Review Initiative (NPRI) carried out by the CCDR-A. Sixteen representatives from the (regional) CCDRs, the Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, I.P. (APA, I.P.) and the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, I.P. (ICNF), participated in the meeting. The meeting was also attended by 11 colleagues from Greece, Slovakia, Kosovo, the Netherlands and Italy, who had held an NPRI project team meeting the day before and now had the opportunity to share their experiences on the topic of the meeting.

Ms. Carmen Carvalheira, Vice President of the CCDR-A, welcomed the participants and explained that this joint meeting was a milestone for the Joint CCDRs. She emphasized that this is the first meeting where they are jointly discussing their surveillance tasks under Natura 2000 with a view to achieving a more coordinated and harmonized way of implementation. She stressed the importance of this as it will further strengthen the efficient and effective implementation of monitoring tasks by the CCDRs and contribute to greater legal equality and a level playing field. 

The meeting discussed the terms of reference and an associated management plan for the implementation of the NPRI. The plans, which received a positive response, will be adopted at a follow-up meeting soon after internal discussion. Exchange of information and cooperation between the organizations involved in Natura 2000 is considered crucial for a high-quality implementation of surveillance by the CCDRs. Therefore, as a follow-up step, a detailed stakeholder analysis will be carried out by the services soon. The results will provide an important basis for the follow-up of the project. The participants concluded that this stakeholder meeting was very valuable and that the NPRI approach facilitates the implementation of the project in an excellent way. There is great confidence on the part of all parties that the project will be successful and that the results will be of benefit to the organizations involved.

For further information please visit the project page.

You can also contact with NPRI Project Managers, SGORBATI GIUSEPPE GIOVANNI, CARELLA FABIO, MAINE MARC DU by info@impel.eu

National Peer Review Meeting in Bologna, IT on 20 and 21 February 2024.

Because of the IMPEL NPRI project, peer review programs are also making progress in Italy. 

Thanks to the proposal from ARPAE Emilia-Romagna (Regional Agency for Environment and Energy), a dedicated National Peer Review Initiative focusing on the management of permitting and inspection activities concerning End of Wastes – Biomasses has been organized and executed. This initiative received methodological support from the NPRI Project Team.

The final review mission took place on February 20th and 21st at the headquarters of ARPAE in Bologna. Twenty-seven individuals from nine Italian Regional Environment Protection Agencies (ARPAs) and the Italian High Institute for Environment Protection and Research (ISPRA) participated in the event. Additionally, two coordinators from the IMPEL NPRI Project attended the meeting and provided support in implementing the NPRI methodology and gathering valuable experience and information to improve NPRI Guidelines.

Prior to the meeting, an intense and thorough preparatory activity was undertaken. This included conducting a Survey to understand the methodology adopted by different regional agencies in managing End of Waste activities, in particular mandatory opinions for permitting, the issues faced, and the best practices adopted. Also, a SWOT analysis has been developed, and a Stakeholder Analysis was conducted to identify the relevant authorities to be involved in implementing the outcomes of the Peer Review. The preparatory works were also in support of establishing the appropriate Assessment Framework used in the NPRI.

During the peer discussions, many proposals have been presented for homogenization activities across Italy, both on permitting and inspection issues regarding End of Waste – Biomasses. Additionally, a list of administrative differences and criticalities has been identified,   as topics to be submitted to the competent Authorities to start with a general improvement of the whole technical and administrative procedure.

The Peer Review allowed, nevertheless, to further strengthen the relationship between the different parts of the National System for Environmental Protection. 

NPRI is already used in Italy in various activities, such as the evaluation of the resources needed to perform typical ARPAs’ activities, as a basis to define, prospectively, their funding.

A comprehensive report is in progress at this moment, to be shared among the Agencies and ISPRA.

The activities carried out with the support of the IMPEL Project team contribute to the capacity building of the Italian System for Environment Protection by using the NPRI as a standard tool for ongoing improvement within the system.

For more information, please visit the project page