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FINAL ACTIVITY REPORT

Period 1: March 2003 - July 2003

The initial months of my International Policy Fellowship have been used to establish a solid foundation for the project and to compile some of the data and information necessary. The activities have been designed according to the research methodology developed prior to the initiation of the project. Specific activities have been discussed and agreed with my academic mentor.

The main activities of the period included the following:

• Review of literature available at the CEU library and at online resources;

• Discussions with experts including my research mentors Mr. Lajos Kossa and Mr. Aleg Cherp, as well as with Ms Vilma Eri, Director of the Center for Environmental Studies, Budapest;

• Preparation of questions, topics of discussion for field visits and interviews
  

• Field visits and interviews at selected municipalities including the Municipality of Aba, the Municipality of Hatvan, the Municipality of Orosháza, the organic farming community in Somogyvámos, the Office of the Assembly of Pest County;

• Participation at the IPF Training Seminars in March and in June;

• Design, review and updating of the IPF personal web page;
  

• Participation at the Workshop on Introducing Health Impact Assessment in Hungary at the National Government Level - organized by 2002 IPF Fellow Ms Margit Ohr in Budapest;

• Participation at the Conference for Sustainable Development organized in Budapest by the Urbanissimus Club, presentation of a paper on "Sustainable Development Initiatives at the Local Level in Hungary"; 

• Participation at the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment on Impact Assessment & Capacity Building hosted in Marrakech, Morocco by the Moroccan Ministry of Land Use Planning, Water and Environment, presentation of two papers on "Corporate environmental management tools at Hungarian local governments" and on "Linkages between strategic environmental planning and corporate environmental management"
  

• Writing up the first findings of the research.

Period 2: July 2003 - April 2004

• Further visits and interviews at selected municipalities including the Municipality of Aba, the Municipality of Hatvan, the Municipality of Orosháza,  the Office of the Assembly of Pest County;

• Consulations with experts including my research mentors Mr. Lajos Kossa and Mr. Aleg Cherp, as well as with Ms Vilma Eri, Director of the Center for Environmental Studies, Budapest;

• Drafting of the publication entitled "Municipal and micro-regional sustainability programmes in Hungary" to be published by the Center for Environmental Studies, Budapest

• Participation in October 2003 at the International PREPARE Conference on "Voluntary Environmental Instruments and Sustainable Development" held in Bratislava, Slovakia, presentation of a paper on "Corporate environmental management tools at local governments in Hungary and worldwide".

• In February 2004, study trip to Toronto, Canada, consultations at the University of Toronto and at the Canadian Urban Institute, presentation at the University of Toronto "The state of the environment in Central and Eastern Europe on the verge of EU accession"

• In March participation at the workshop on "Environmental assessment of plans and programmes and the lessons of the strategic environmental assessment of the Regional Operational Programme" held at the Regional Environmental Center, Szentendre, Hungary 
  

• In April participation at the international conference on the "Application of Directive 2001/42/EC in Spatial Planning in the Enlarged European Union: Key Challenges and Opportunities" held at the Regional Environmental Center, Szentendre, Hungary presentation of a paper on "SEA and land use planning in Hungary: Current practices and lessons for practical application of the EC SEA Directive" 
  

• Writing up the findings, discussion and conclusions of the Research Paper and drafting the Policy Paper,

• Participation at the IPF Training Seminar in March.