News & Events

Successful Completion of the UNEP/MAP–MEPIELAN Online Training School on Sustainable Marine Governance

Marking a fruitful collaboration between the MEPIELAN Center, UNEP/MAP, and the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), the MEPIELAN Center is pleased to announce the successful completion of the five-week UNEP/MAP –MEPIELAN online Τraining School on sustainable maritime governance in the Mediterranean, which took place from October 13 to November 13, 2025.

Academically led by the MEPIELAN Centre under the direction of Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos, the Training School brought together distinguished academics and senior experts from leading universities and international organizations, including UNEP/MAP, the Aarhus Convention Secretariat, the European Environment Agency, and the OSCE. Over five weeks, participants engaged in eighteen high-quality lectures addressing key legal, policy, and governance challenges related to marine protection and sustainability in the Mediterranean and beyond.

The Training School fostered a dynamic and interdisciplinary learning environment, encouraging meaningful exchange between academics, practitioners, and participants from across the Mediterranean region. Its successful delivery marks an important milestone in the ongoing UNEP/MAP–MEPIELAN–EPLO cooperation and represents a key step toward the establishment of a future joint international Master’s programme in sustainable maritime governance.

For more information on the completion of the Training School, see: Activities – Training Schools

Launch of the UNEP/MAP–MEPIELAN Online Training School on Sustainable Marine Governance in the Mediterranean

The UNEP/MAP–MEPIELAN Online Training School on Sustainable Marine Governance in the Mediterranean officially launched on 13 October 2025. The initiative is a collaborative effort between the UNEP/MAP–Barcelona Convention, the MEPIELAN Centre—which led the design of the Training School’s objectives and thematic framework and coordinated its network of lecturers—and the EPLO European Public Law Organization.

Running from 13 October to 13 November 2025 in a modular online format, the Training School brings together professionals, researchers, and postgraduate students from across the Mediterranean region. Through an intensive and interdisciplinary programme, it promotes participatory democracy and sustainable environmental governance, using the Mediterranean as both a regional case study and a model of global relevance.

For more information on the launching of the Training School, see: Activities – Training Schools

Join us for the upcoming UNEP/MAP –MEPIELAN Training School course, a unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge and skills in Sustainable Marine Governance in the Mediterranean.

This week-long online Training School designed and developed by UNEP/MAP – MEPIELAN Centre and organized in cooperation with the EPLO, provides unique integrated platform for knowledge exchange, discussion and capacity building in the field of sustainable environmental governance within the framework of the Barcelona Convention system and its evolving inter-linkages with relevant international treaty regimes and processes, focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities in the Mediterranean region.

The Training School will be held from 13 Oct to 13 Nov 2025

The UNEP/MAP Training School is an advanced educational implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) and the UNEP/MAP Medium Term Strategy 2022 – 2027, guided by distinguished academics and international experts in the field and providing interactive workshops and networking opportunities.

It contains In-depth sessions on:

The Barcelona Convention system for the protection of the marine environment and coastal areas of the Mediterranean

Specific Legal and Governance Issues for Environmental Protection and Sustainability in the Mediterranean Region

Public Participation and Sustainability Governance in the Mediterranean Region

Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Mediterranean

For more information and to register, please visit: https://med-ecogov.education

The 13th edition of MEPIELAN E-Bulletin is now posted online and can be accessed at

https://ebulletin.mepielan.gr

MEPIELAN Center presents its Proposal and Action for the Establishment of an Aarhus Centre in Greece at the first Regional Training for the promotion of the Aarhus Convention across the Mediterranean organized by WES and the UNECE Aarhus Convention Secretariat (Αthens, 14-15 November 2023)

For more details see MEPIELAN e-Bulletin – MEPIELAN Activities Forum

MEPIELAN Centre participates as an Observer in the 2023 Annual Meeting of Aarhus Centre held in Dushanbe Tajikistan, and virtually on 17 and 18 October 2023

For more details see MEPIELAN e-Bulletin – MEPIELAN Activities Forum

The 12th edition of MEPIELAN E-Bulletin is now posted online and can be accessed at

MEPIELAN e-Bulletin 12th edition

The 1st on Line Meeting of Peers and Experts on Promotion of the Aarhus Convention in the Whole Mediterranean was held on 8 and 9 March 2023.

The event took place within the framework of the EU funded project “Water and Environment Support (WES) in the ENI Neighbourhood South Region” and was organized by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean; the Energy, Environment and Water Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM); the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD); and the Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation (MEPIELAN Centre), in cooperation with the Secretariat of the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention Secretariat and the Secretariat of the UNECE Aarhus Convention. The Meeting was facilitated by the WES Team Leader Prof. Michael Scoullos and 37 Peers from Ministries of the Environment, Foreign Affairs, Justice and key NGOs participated in the Meeting.
Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos, Director of MEPIELAN Centre, WES Expert, and FDD Scientific Coordinator presented, on 8 March 2023, an Overview and Recommendations of the “Foundation Discussion Document (FDD)  for the Mediterranean Accession Agenda to the Aarhus Convention”, the product of  the research component of the Aarhus Project prepared by MEPIELAN Centre.

For more details, press Activities – Conferences & Meetings

The MEPIELAN CENTRE/INGO, represented by its Director Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos, and the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), represented by its Director, Professor Spyridon Flogaitis, signed an MoU of collaboration to promote their organization’s shared goals and objectives in regard to environmental law, sustainability governance, energy transition, environmental trust democracy and international negotiation process.

For more details, press INGO – MEPIELAN–EPLO MoU

The 9th Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference – – Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainable Tourism, Education for Sustainable Development was held from 5 to 7 October  2022 in Nicosia, Cyprus, organized by the Republic of Cyprus with the support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos, President of MEPIELAN Centre was invited by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of the Cyprus Republic, to participate as a key expert speaker in the Side Event “Environmental Governance for Transforming our Planet – Promoting the Aarhus Convention in the whole of the Mediterranean Region” (7 0ctober 2022) where he presented an Overview of the Foundation Discussion Document for the Mediterranean Accession Agenda to the Aarhus Convention, the product of the research component of the Aarhus Project prepared by MEPIELAN Centre

(see Publications – Foundational Documents

Mepielan Centre was a co-organizer of this Event.

For more details, press Activities – Conferences & Meetings

MEPIELAN Centre completed a Foundation Discussion Document (FDD) for the “Mediterranean Accession Agenda to the Aarhus Convention” Project, supported by the EU LIFE Programme (MIO/ECSDE)

For more details, press Publications – Foundational Documents

MEPIELAN Centre produced an Intermediary Report on “Mainstreaming the Public Trust Approach (PTA) in the UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention system” Project in implementation of a UNEP/MAP Small Scale Funding Agreement (SSFA)

For more details, press Publications – International Reports & Papers

MEPIELAN Centre/Panteion University and and the Mediterranean Information Centre for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO/ECSDE) sign an Agreement Concerning the Provision of Expertise on the basis of the MoU already established between MIO/ECSDE and MEPIELAN/Panteion

For more details, press Activities

The 11th edition of MEPIELAN E-Bulletin is now posted online and can be accessed at

MEPIELAN e-Bulletin 11th Edition

MEPIELAN Centre/Panteion University and and the Mediterranean Information Centre for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO/ECSDE) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) Flagship Initiative to Encourage the Accession to the Aarhus Convention

For more details, press Activities

Τhe Press exalts the new book by Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos “International Negotiation: A Process of Relational Governance for International Common Interest” (Cambridge University Press, 2019)

• HUFFINGTON POST (30/09/2020): International Negotiations, an Innovative View by Evangelos Raftopoulos (Cambridge University Press)
• ΤΟ VIMA (29/09/2020): Evangelos Raftopoulos: An Innovative appproach to international negotiations in his new book
• TA NEA (29/09/2020): Evangelos Raftopoulos: An Innovative approach to international negotiations in his new book
• In.gr (29/09/2020): Evangelos Raftopoulos: An Innovative approach to international negotiations in his new book

MEDIA praise the new website of MEPIELAN Centre, Panteion University of Athens

• ERT S.A. HELLENIC BROADCASTING CORPORATION (3/6/2020): A High Level Digital Hub for the Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Governance

MEDIA praise the new website of MEPIELAN Centre, Panteion University of Athens

• ECOPRESS (28/5/2020): A Scientific Hub for the Environment and Climate Change
• AVGI (28/5/2020): A Scientific Hub for the Environment and Climate Change
• HUFFINGTON POST (27/5/2020): A New, Dynamic Website for the Environmental Sustainability at the Panteion University
• PRESS PUBLICA (26/5/2020): A New, Dynamic Website for the Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Development at the Panteion University

Oxford University Press / Oxford International Environmental Law Collection

makes available a selection of 14 articles from the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law free to be read until 31 May 2020 at: https://opil.ouplaw.com/page/849