An Agreement was signed on December 30, 2020, between Panteion University/ MEPIELAN Centre, represented the Vice Rector of Research and Life-Long Learning of the Panteion University Professor Charalampos Economou and by the Director of MEPIELAN Centre Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos and the Mediterranean Information Centre for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO/ECSDE), represented by the President of the MIO/ECSDE Professor Michael Scoullos.

This Agreement is established within the framework of the MoU already signed between the two Parties. It aims to materialize and implement the Research Component of the activity described in the MoU as elaboration of a desk study for the development of a Foundation Discussion Document (FDD) for a “Mediterranean Accession Agenda to the Aarhus Convention”. This activity will promote Environmental Governance in the Mediterranean encouraging the accession to and implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the Mediterranean countries and promote stakeholders engagement. The activity will be carried out under the scientific responsibility of MEPIELAN Centre and is part of the MIO/ECSDE Work Programme supported by the Life Environment Programme (NGOs Operating Grant).

According to the Terms of Reference contained in Annex I of the Agreement, MEPIELAN Centre undertakes the development of the FDD as a detailed, comprehensive document of interdisciplinary research together with a Summary Document envisioning the Mediterranean Accession Agenda to the Aarhus Convention. It will synthesize the results of a number of activities including:

• Interviews with relevant key actors; 
• An evaluative review of the Aarhus Convention regime giving emphasis on the determination of the advantages and positive implications of a Mediterranean country’s accession to the Aarhus Convention; 
• Inclusion of good practices of key actors;
• Insights deduced from the experience of the Aarhus Convention Parties of relevance to this effort, of key stakeholders, as well as from the evidence of the corresponding Escazu Regional Agreement (2018);
• Addressing the needs challenges and obstacles at international and national levels that a country has to deal with in the accession and implementation phase;
• How to negotiate the accession to the Aarhus Convention.

The project, starting upon the signature of the Agreement (30 December 2020), will be developed over a period of 7 months. The drafting of the FDD and the accompanying Summary Document will be carried out under the responsibility of Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos, Director of MEPIELAN Centre, and a small team of MEPIELAN Experts and Researches working under his guidance. The draft version of the FDD will be shared with MIO/ECSDE and the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention Secretariat while the drafting of the final version by MEPIELAN will ingrain inputs from the MAP/MCSD, the Aarhus Convention and UfM Secretariats, and COMPSUD.