Page Updated: 09-Jun-2008
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Building synergies with international organisations

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The NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme is seeking closer cooperation with other NATO and non-NATO bodies, including other International Organisations.

The Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative

In the field of environmental security, the NATO SPS Programme is cooperating with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Regional Environmental Centre (REC) and United Nation Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) under the umbrella of the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC).

ENVSEC was launched in 2003 as an initiative to tackle environmental issues in vulnerable regions. It started it activities in South Caucasus, Balkans, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

ENVSEC works to assess and address environmental problems, which threaten or are perceived to threaten security, societal stability and peace, human health and/or sustainable livelihoods, within and across national borders in conflict prone regions. The ENVSEC Partner Organizations collaborate closely with governments, particularly foreign affairs, defence and environment ministries, national experts and NGOs through extensive regional consultations and multi-stakeholder participation.
Through coordinated programming, the ENVSEC Partner Organizations seek to:

• Identify environment and conflict hotspots by carrying out desk and field assessments,
• Present the results of the assessments in graphically rich maps, reports and a website and draw the attention of decision makers, stakeholders and the broader public to situations and hot spots where risks are high,
• Help societies to deal with priority issues by raising awareness, building capacities and strengthening institutions,
• Support concrete action and catalyse specific solutions for the identified security-relevant environmental problems on the ground.

NATO, as an associated member, contributes to the ENVSEC in capacity building and awareness raising by using its standard mechanisms for co-operative grants under the SPS Programme. NATO coordinates with ENVSEC its environmental activities that are aiming at enhancing the security in vulnerable regions and supports selected ENVSEC projects that are in line with NATO's geographical and thematic priorities.

More information about ENVSEC including the annual Progress Report and a list of NATO projects is available at www.envsec.org. 

The Initiative “Security: Advancing a Framework for Enquiry” (SAFE)

NATO has organised together with the European Science Foundation (ESF) a series of workshops in 2007 and 2008 examining how the humanities and social science can contribute to security research:

• Models of Security (June 2007, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Identity, Loyalty and Security (October 2007, Meknes, Morocco)
• Security and Norms: Law, Ethics and Justice (March 2008 in Oslo, Norway)
• Management of Security: Successes and Failures (21-23 May 2008, Istanbul, Turkey)

The workshops will lead to a final conference to take place in Brussels in 2009. The conference will present the avenues for future security research addressing the necessary contributions of Humanities and Social Sciences research. Strategies for better knowledge transfer from Humanities and Social Sciences centres of excellence into policy making domains will be discussed.
                                                                                                           
Cooperation with NATO’s Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD)

A series of workshops jointly organised between spring 2005 and February 2006 by the former Security through Science Programme and the NATO’s Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD), the senior advisory committee to the North Atlantic Council on armaments issues, aimed to identify avenues for joint projects and exchange current knowledge and experience. “Defence against Terrorism” is both one of the priority research areas of the STS Programme and a major CNAD initiative. These workshops focused on:

• Terrorism and communications
• Data fusion technology for harbour protection
• Detection and disposal of improvised explosives
• Elements of WMD terrorism defence – A NATO country perspective
• Emergency management after a major terror attack: The new challenges for first responders and civil protection

Cooperation with NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA)
The SPS Programme is also cooperating with the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) on the development of a mobile treatment plant for the environment-friendly destruction of mélange, a highly toxic rocket fuel oxidiser formerly used by Warsaw Pact countries. Mélange storage tanks are rapidly deteriorating due to the corrosive properties of this oxidizer. The high risk of leaks represents a serious threat to the environment and public health. A full story is available at www.nato.int/science

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