OVER the next few years, Cyprus could achieve international recognition, as well as boost its rural economy, if plans to set up an EU-funded Environment Centre go ahead, UK experts said yesterday.
The ATLAS (Alternative Technology, Life And Sustainability) Project, as the non-profit centre will be called, is designed to benefit Cyprus and to create an EU Centre for education, research and consultancy in a large number of environment-orientated subject areas. It will also have a Green Market, selling environmentally friendly products such as organic food and household consumables, and act as an eco-friendly tourist spot for holidaymakers. The scheme is part of a greater environmental project funded by the EU and accessible to all European members.
Karen Hayday and Andrew Whitehead run Leeds Environment Centre, which has vast experience in similar fields and European projects. They are also experts on environment, conservation and horticulture.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Whitehead said the ATLAS project would act as a “knowledge hub” with a broad subject area ranging from environmental management, horticultural and agricultural practices, environmental practices, environmental conservation, sustainable technology and renewable energy sources.
In a nutshell, it’s aimed at helping people become more environmentally aware and to teach them ways of making a difference, however small. With that in mind, it will act as a public information base that people can contact and find out how to do their share on a personal level and a commercial basis. Recycling and waste management are but a few examples, said Hayday.
Although the ATLAS Project is designed to educate and research, with various courses available to people in Cyprus and from other EU member states, it plans to put into practice what it preaches. “It isn’t only centred on academia,” Hayday said. “It also plans to show people how to work together for the good of the environment. Like vocational courses.”
But, “the ATLAS project also operates on the principles of sustainable development, incorporating (Cyprus’) heritage, culture, social equity and local action,” said Whitehead. In other words, encouraging and promoting existing aspects of tourism in Cyprus, such as local delicacies, lace and pottery making, and traditional methods of building, he added.
The products will then be available to buy at the Green Market or through an internet mail order catalogue, which in turn would help stimulate the rural economy that had suffered greatly due to the free market.
The pair is currently in the process of finding land to build the centre, which will probably be about half an hour from Nicosia towards the mountains. They are also still looking for sponsors and investors to get the project off the ground. In order to receive funding for this sort of project, which will be available from now until 2006, the money has to be matched by Cyprus, and partnerships have to be formed between the government, municipalities, local authorities, politicians, non-governmental organisations and commercial sectors.
People have to learn to work together and not compete, says Hayday. Although the EU funding is there to help, it is only granted if people work together forming partnerships, not trying to go it alone, she added.
She said: “We are dedicated to working for the good of the environment. But, the ATLAS project is specifically designed to benefit Cyprus. It would (also) be great if the research that comes out of it benefits other countries too.”
The pair said they were hoping to use their prior experience to benefit Cyprus with regards to accessing funding and with their skills and experience in environment, convention and horticulture.
Cyprus was chosen as the location for the centre as it is a new member-state with plenty of opportunities and it could be set up properly from the beginning. Its geographic position is also beneficial as it is a stepping-stone to Eastern Europe and the Middle East and no similar resources exist in these regions.
“There are benefits to Cyprus from the ATLAS project,” said Whitehead. “It will provide workable ways to create a more robust economy and a more diverse tourism industry, rather than the one-dimensional aspect of sun, sea and sand which exists in so many other places.”
He said being internationally recognised environmentally would give Cyprus significant standing politically in the region. It would also immediately propel the island forward in the eyes of the EU, as it places great importance on environment issues.
“Cyprus will also be able to take the environment industry into the Middle East. It’s a big market and there is money to be made,” he said.
