Be the first to comment!Palermo discussion on environmental strategies and sustainable tourism
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The Minister for Gozo Justyne Caruana, was one of the special guests at the sixth international conference organised by Greening-the Islands in Palermo
During the conference the Minister was part of a panel of experts who spoke on environmental strategies and initiatives related to islands in the Mediterranean and the European Union.
Minister Caruana spoke about the various initiatives taken by the Ministry for Gozo and the initiatives that have just been announced in the Budget to implement the Decarbonisation Strategy for Gozo.
Talks were also held to establish a Gozo observatory for Greening the Islands, “and this is why Gozo stands out for initiatives related to environmental sustainability,” said Dr Caruana.
While in Palermo at the 47th CPMR General Assembly, Dr Caruana was part of the panel discussion on Sustainable Tourism and Circular Economy, where she had the opportunity to explain the strategy of the Ministry for Gozo which, the Minister said, is yielding results, with Gozo nominated as one of the top 100 sustainable destinations in the world.
The Gozo Minister was also part of another panel which discussed the future of the Cohesion Policy, when she stressed that islands like Gozo need more flexibility and that “a one-size fits all approach is detrimental to address disparities.”
On the panel with the Minister for Gozo was Marc Lemaitre Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO).
Dr Caruana stressed how important it is that islands like Gozo should have more flexibility, in particular with regard to state aid, as well as for projects and initiatives financed by European funds to overcome disadvantages caused by the geographical realities to Gozo because of double insularity and small size of the island.
The panel also discussed the forthcoming EU budget, as well as the funding programmes which start from 2021.
Minister Justyne Caruana had several bilateral meetings, including with Ms Tajana Huzak, Deputy Minister for regional development and EU funds, Head of the Island Department, Croatia Funds, as well as Greening the Islands to establish an observatory in Gozo.
