Our Projects

Main task of the Regional Centre is to support implementation of the Stockholm Convention as described in the mandate and in line with the SCRC´s objectives.

Since 2007, the Regional Centre provides long-term support to countries of Central and Eastern Europe and serves as a strategic scientific partner for many countries in Africa and Asia. The Regional Centre works as a project partner with UNEP, UNIDO and UNDP to build environmental capacities in developing countries.

Experts of the Centre have been invited to assist with a number of projects identifying the scope of environmental contamination, designing appropriate national framework and laboratory infrastructure, and have been consulted for practical solutions for environmental decontamination and remediation.

A full overwiew of completed projects that SCRC Czech Republic undertook since 2008 is available in individual Activity reports and Work Plans here.

Examples of current projects:
Global Development, Review and Update of National Implementation Plans (NIPs) under the Stockholm Convention (SC) on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) – GEF ID 10875

Participating Countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, but the project covers in total 21 countries globally.

Project Aim
The main objective of this four-year global project launched in 2022 is to facilitate the implementation of the Stockholm Convention in participating countries through the development, review and update of the NIPs and submission to the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention by strengthening national technical capacities and expertise as well as procedures to draw on national resources and data.

The goal of the NIP updating project is to contribute to the efforts of each beneficiary country in implementing the Stockholm Convention and enhance protection of human health and the environment from the risks posed by the unsound use, management, and releases of POPs.

The objective of the NIP update is to comply with Article 7 of the Convention which requires the Parties to review and update its implementation plan periodically and in a manner specified by the decisions of the Conference of the Parties. The project also contributes to the strengthened cooperation among main national stakeholders, and it is expected that each beneficiary country will also take tangible steps towards mainstreaming chemicals management in the country. The second objective of the project is to support compliance with Article 15 of the Convention and to improve the submission rate and quality of national reporting by facilitating the collection of national data including those on the new POPs.

The project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is implemented by UNEP in collaboration with six regional centres. For the Eastern European group, the UNEP collaborates with the SCRC Czech Republic hosted at RECETOX, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic as the regional executing agency.

Project Components
The project is divided into five components, three Global Components 1, 2 and 4 on political support and stakeholder involvement, tools and methodologies development to facilitate NIP process and implementation at the national level and sharing knowledge, information and training and joint platforms. The Component 3 of the project led by Stockholm and Basel Convention Regional Centers is focusing on review and update of NIP and related national activities including trainings and meetings. Finally, the Component 5 focuses on project reporting and monitoring and it is a task for the project executing agency in each region.

Project Activities and Timeline

For more information on the project's outputs, see the Project Implementation Framework Document and other details on the project page of the GEF website.

Review and Update of the National Implementation Plans (NIPs) for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Albania, Armenia and Kazakhstan – GEF ID 10924

Participating Countries: Albania, Armenia, Kazakhstan.

Project Aim
The project complements the Global NIP Update project GEF ID 10785 which aims to facilitate the implementation of the Stockholm Convention in participating countries through the development, review and update of the NIPs and submission to the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention by strengthening national technical capacities and expertise as well as procedures to draw on national resources and data.

The goal of the NIP updating project is to contribute to the efforts of each beneficiary country in implementing the Stockholm Convention and enhance protection of human health and the environment from the risks posed by the unsound use, management, and releases of POPs.

The objective of the NIP update is to comply with Article 7 of the Convention which requires the Parties to review and update its implementation plan periodically and in a manner specified by the decisions of the Conference of the Parties. The project also contributes to the strengthened cooperation among main national stakeholders, and it is expected that each beneficiary country will also take tangible steps towards mainstreaming chemicals management in the country. The second objective of the project is to support compliance with Article 15 of the Convention and to improve the submission rate and quality of national reporting by facilitating the collection of national data including those on the new POPs.

The project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in GEF7 is implemented by UNEP in collaboration the SCRC Czech Republic hosted at RECETOX, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic as the executing agency.

Project Components
The project is divided into five components, three Global Components 1, 2 and 4 on political support and stakeholder involvement, tools and methodologies development to facilitate NIP process and implementation at the national level and sharing knowledge, information and training and joint platforms. The Component 3 of the project led by Stockholm and Basel Convention Regional Centers is focusing on review and update of NIP and related national activities including trainings and meetings. Finally, the Component 5 focuses on project reporting and monitoring and it is a task for the project executing agency.

Project Activities and Timeline

For more information on the project's outputs, see the Project Implementation Framework Document and other details on the project page of the GEF website.

Update of the National Implementation Plan (NIP) of Moldova (GEF ID 10354)
In accordance with Article 7 of the SC, Parties are required to develop a National Implementation Plan (NIP) to demonstrate how the country will implement the obligations under the SC. Parties are required to transmit their NIP to the COP within two years of the date the SC entered into force for that country.

The Republic of Moldova acceded to the SC on 7 April 2004 and the Convention entered into force in July 2004. In compliance to the above, the first NIP has been developed and submitted to the SC secretariat of the Stockholm Convention. The original NIP addressed the twelve (12) POPs initially listed on the SC. As the designated National Focal Point for the SC on POPs in the country, the Waste Management Division under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in the Government of Republic of Moldova served as the Executing Agency for the development of the original NIP with assistance from the Global Environmental Facility and the World Bank (GEF/WB TF051208).

Parties are required to review and update their NIPs as specified by a decision(s) of the COP. The addition of chemicals to the Annexes of the SC is one of the principal factors that leads to the review and update of the NIP for a Party. Thus, Republic of Moldova is now requesting the financial support from the GEF with the UN Environment as the Implementing Agency to undertake the NIP review and update. The NIP update process will enable Republic of Moldova to establish inventories of products and articles containing the newly listed POPs and identify the industrial processes where these POPs are still employed or unintentionally produced. The NIP update will build on existing national coordination mechanisms and capacities established during the original NIP development.

In 2021, several trainings were held. The first meeting was held on 10 February 2021 and the inception workshop on 23 February 2021. In spring, the first drafts of inventory of all listed POPs were prepared on the basis of available data and widely consulted with stakeholders and POPs owners/holders to update the information. It was also decided to hold field visits and hands on trainings to further update the inventories on legacy and new POPs, in particular PCB and pesticides. The first training for environmental inspectors were carried out on 14 and 16 June 2021. The trainings revealed there is a gap in controlling the legal framework compliance, particularly on PCB Regulation. The ProMediu and MARDE suggested to carry out field visits in the summer 2021 to get more insider information at the PCB holders and their facilities and to train inspectors how to carry out an investigation and how to report it, in line with existing legislation and needs for the national reporting under the Stockholm Convention.

Drafting of legislation acts and trainings to implement Stockholm Convention in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNDP)

RECETOX leads the expert team for trainers and legal drafters. The project started in November 2020 and will continue until August 2023. Two trainings on 2nd and 30th June 2021 for 60 and 65 attendees were held online due to covid restrictions on travel. Held on Zoom platform, with translation into Bosnian (from EN to Bosnian). SCRC Staff - prof. Ivan Holoubek and Kateřina Šebková delivered 2 full day trainings. Slides were also translated into Bosnian, but experts spoke English.

A full overwiew of completed projects that SCRC Czech Republic undertook since 2008 is available in individual Activity reports available in Downloads and the same link also leads to a set of Work Plans that showcase activities planned for relevant periods.