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Writings 
Environment Aarhaus
ECO-CONSEIL A locally based, globally active non-profit non-governmental organization devoted to Headquarters: 7 rue Goethe, F-67000 Strasbourg,
The capacity-building of human resource for LEAPs in the EU: Regional Environmental Centre
Eco-counselling, a concept originated in Germany in the mid 1980s, was transferred to France starting in 1988 by ECO-Conseil, the European Institute for Eco-Counseling which was specially created for that purpose. The original
concept, which was to train academics with a scientific or engineering background in the basics of environmental protection and then have them work as environmental advisers for consumer organizations or local authorities, was
adapted for elitist France. This meant making the eco-counsellor a high-level specialist, and designing a tough training programme with ongoing evaluation and a final thesis. This was done in co-operation with the National
Engineering School of Arts and Industry of Strasbourg, with funding from the European Social Fund, later DG XI, the Regional Council of Alsace, the Ministry of the Environment, and others. Since then, eco-counsellors in France
have become common in the environmental departments of local authorities, and there is a greater demand for eco-counsellors than the 30 which are trained per year. A majority of the nearly 300 eco-counsellors which have been
trained to date are working for regional or local authorities. These include single cities, inter-communal syndicates (e.g. for solid waste collection, or waste water treatment), as well as all elected levels of government
(Département, Région). A few work for ministries or national government agencies. The general mission of an eco-counsellor working for a RA or an LA is to
1. define environmental problems 2. suggest goals for improvement 3. elaborate and propose for consideration by political decision-maker strategies to reach those goals 4. implement the
strategies which have been chosen by the politicians.
It is easy to see that this is a statement in other guises of the LEAP. Such strategies are bound to include the national priorities set by the Ministry of the Environment, in its own various national strategies, which in
effect a NEAP or elements thereof, though the term is not commonly used. Thus, in practice, without using the terms R/LEAPs or NEAPS, eco-counsellors in France are one of the agents designing EAPs on the regional and local levels,
while taking into account the national priorities. Eco-counsellors are not as involved on the national level in setting NEAPs, or if they are, it would be more by chance, but at the local level, one could reasonably say that
eco-counsellors are one of the main groups of people helping local authorities design and implement their own LEAPs. In France, the terms used are mostly different. They have varied over the years from "Charte
communale de l'Environnement", to Agenda Local 21, which is the most common international denomination and the one introduced by the leading local authority organization working for environmental sustainability: ICLEI.
One of the major concerns of ECO-Conseil in training eco-counsellors is the aspect of mediation and communication. As it has become obvious, public awareness and participation is a key factor in the success of LEAPs, LA21s or
other municipal plans. In addition, it has also become obvious that the behaviour of individuals and of households is a parameter which is as important as technical ones. Examples include turning on or off lights or electric
appliances, the level of heating in private homes, the amount of detergent used, driving behaviour etc. In all these cases, individual behaviour can either reinforce technical / administrative solutions, or on the contrary, can
destroy any environmental advantage from a technical solution. Aware of the interest from other countries for this high-level approach to eco-counselling (because in German speaking countries, the concept is slightly different
and less elitist due to overall greater environmental awareness), 10% of the eco-counsellors trained every year by ECO-Conseil are from other countries. In this respect, France is closer to CEE/NIS countries with a relatively
lower level of awareness. With the increasing decentralization of environmental responsibilities to local authorities, and with the increasing complexity of environmental issues to be resolved, as well as the increasing
inter-relationship between local, national and global issues and agreements, there is a tremendous need for capacity-building in human resources to be able to design and implement LEAPS. A conservative estimate of the need
for trained LEAPs professionals in CEE countries only might be 60,000 today. Obviously, mechanisms will have to be set up to respond to that demand. Other problems for LEAPs include:
- how to do them for small cities? - how to involve businesses within the jurisdiction of the LA - especially smaller ones - to participate? - how to finance the necessary environmental investments of small businesses?
- how to involve farms within the jurisdiction of the LA - especially smaller ones - to participate? - how to finance the necessary environmental investments of small farms?
ECO-Conseil has been trying to deal with these problems for several years now, and we created a department focused on providing appropriate Environmental Management tools for small businesses (SMEs), e.g. sector-specific
Eco-Guides, i.e. for carpenters, garages and painters. Future Eco-Guides will include printers, metal-work shops and heating equipment companies ("chauffagiste"). In doing so, we have also developed with a local
bank (Banque Populaire du Haut-Rhin) an innovative credit scheme (PREVair) to allow small businesses to benefit from a below-market rate loan exclusively for environmental investments. We have avoided the usual problems of
the high transaction costs involved in small loans through a complex mechanism which has at its core technical assistance by an eco-counsellor paid for by the bank (detailed case study available upon request). PREVair is now
supported by a guarantee of the European Investment Bank and has a 7 year track record of lending over 10 M US$, and leveraging about 20 M US$ of environmental investments within over 300 small companies in the process. Together
with the bank, we have recently worked to extend PREVair to include farms, and may consider small cities as well in the future. In addition, we are now exploring how to adapt the Environmental Management tools we have created
for small business to small cities as well.
Institut Européen pour le Conseil en Environnement
European Institute for Environmental Counselling
Europäisches Institut für Umweltberatung
the environmental capacity-building of human resources
tel +33 (0) 3 88 - 60 16 19, fax - 61 07 12
the example of eco-counsellors in France
Preparatory Meeting for the Aarhus Conference
on Local Environmental Action Plans
by the Taskforce on the Environmental Action Plan for Europe
by Troy Davis, Vice-president, International Relations, ECO-Conseil
Szentendre, Hungary
24-25 January 1998
Conclusion
France, as the European
country with the largest number of local authorities, with very diverse environmental awareness, geographical conditions, and levels of per-capita income, may be a good microcosm of the situation in Europe at large. The
French experience based on multi-stakeholder partnership between NGO, local, regional and national authorities, and international institutions, may be useful in meeting the growing needs for trained LEAPs professionals in CEE / NIS
countries. In addition to fulfilling a pressing need, adopting the French eco-counselling approach would help to solve (just a little) a key employment problem in CEE/NIS countries, i.e., that of the employment of scientifically
trained people, who in the present situation have tremendous difficulties finding employment related to their specialties which might enable them a decent standard of living. ECO-Conseil would be happy to use its expertise in
designing sustainable training programmes. As a result of the training dispensed in Strasbourg, a sister ECO-Conseil institute has been created in Belgium and is extremely active in promoting the concept as well, including
internationally. Over the years, eco-counsellors from Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic have been trained, but no full scale training programme of the type in France or Belgium has been set up. For further information on
any of the issues addressed in this short overview, please contact: Troy Davis, Vice-president, International Relations
ECO-Conseil, European Institute for Environmental Counselling
7, rue Goethe, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
tel +33-3-88.60.16.19, fax +33-3-88.61.07.12
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