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NATO-Ukraine scientific and environmental cooperation

Picture kindly provided by Prof Shcherbakov, National Science Centre of Charkiv

The annual meeting of the Joint NATO-Ukraine Working Group for Scientific and Environmental Cooperation took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 27 May 2005. Organised in the framework of the Annual Target Plan (ATP) for Ukraine, the meeting was co-chaired by Prof A. Gurzhiy, First Deputy Minister for Education and Science in Ukraine, and NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Jean Fournet. Participants included representatives from several Ukrainian ministries, including those for education and science, defence, environment and natural resources, and healthcare.

The meeting kicked off with a briefing on activities that have been initiated in 2004 and 2005 under the Security through Science programme and the Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS). In 2004, 46 NATO-sponsored events took place with financial support of over €1.5 million. In 2005, NATO has already granted support to ten workshops on security-related topics that will take place in different cities throughout Ukraine. So far, Ukraine has received funds for 20 applied research and development “Science for Peace” projects, of which seven have been completed.

Most cooperative activities under the ATP for 2005 are on track, such as the development of the Ukrainian National Research and Educational Network (UNREN), which is providing institutions throughout Ukraine with access to the Internet. The workshop “From Science to Business”, which is being jointly organised by NATO and the Science and Technology Centre in Ukraine, was originally scheduled for May 2005 but has been postponed until 2006 for organisational reasons. During the meeting, the representatives of all the different ministries showed a high degree of interest in activities underway, particularly those addressing environmental security issues. Ukraine – which has already participated in different CCMS activities, such as a study related to the Chernobyl accident – has been invited by NATO to join a new CCMS project dealing with the environmental impact of military activities. Participants also looked forward to the joint NATO-OSCE workshop on melange (rocket fuel) disposal, due to take place in Kyiv from 6 to 8 July 2005.

Ministries welcomed the plan to extend the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) to Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The ENVSEC Initiative, launched by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Development Programme and its Environment Programme, was joined by NATO in 2004. Given Ukraine’s interest in the initiative, NATO will consider participating in the ENVSEC assessment phase, during which governmental representatives, non-governmental organisations and local as well as foreign experts work together to establish a map of environmental “hot spots” that are a threat to security. This will be the basis for the fundraising phase, aimed at initiating projects dealing with the identified environmental security issues. (For further information on ENVSEC, see www.envsec.org and www.nato.int/science/news/2005/n050323a.htm)

The Joint NATO-Ukraine Working Group concluded by developing new ideas for cooperative projects under the ATP for 2006, which will be drafted in the coming months.

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