The Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea of Italy (IMELS) is proud to announce the Seminar Series: Partnerships for Sustainable Development for civil servants from governments and local authorities in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as for high level business executives.

IMELS has asked the Regional Environmental Center REC), Venice International University (VIU), Istanbul Bilgi University and Agroinnova - University of Turin to cooperate in order to highlight the keys to success in their various courses and seminars on sustainable development offered over the past decade.

With this opportunity, we would like to share with you a brief analysis of our success stories of 2008 and 2009 in Istanbul and Venice. 60 participants from Black Sea Coastal Countries participated in the previous seminar series, ranging from high level government officials to experts in local authorities and business organizations. Over 80 influential instructors and panelists shared their knowledge and experience with the participants. All the participants, instructors and panelists had the unique opportunity to network and exchange ideas during the time spent together both in Istanbul and Venice, as well as enjoying multicultural environments, numerous receptions, luncheons, dinners, side events and site visits.

Please note that this is a preliminary announcement. An official invitation will be sent to you shortly, together with detailed information regarding the programme and the application procedures. There will be opportunities to apply for partial and full scholarships as well in the application forms. Previous program details can be found in the web site of the seminar series (www.sustainabilityseminars.info) and you may kindly apply to sustainabilityseminars@rec.org.tr for further information.

We look forward to seeing you or another representative from your organization in Istanbul in June and in Venice in September.