The international forum held in Yerevan is aimed at making cities greener and cleaner. Head of Operation of the EU Delegation to Armenia Frank Hess, Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Gayane Melkom Melkomyan, Deputy Minister of the Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Vache Terteryan, Deputy Minister of Environment Gayane Gabrielyan, other members of the EU Delegation to Armenia, international experts, guests were present at the opening ceremony jointly held by the EU Delegation to Armenia and Yerevan Municipality.
During thematic discussions the representatives of the community and international organizations touched upon the programs of prevention and management of urban wastes and household hazardous wastes, as well as referred to preliminary studies referred to the capital and small educational grants.
With the aim of installation of the system of hazardous waste management Yerevan community has developed cooperation with Warsaw and Tirana. The grant contract of cooperation between the three capitals was signed between Yerevan Municipality and the European Union in 2019, and the memorandum of understanding was signed in 2020. The current forum is one of the results of that cooperation. Within the scope of the project eco clubs are to be established in several schools and youth creativity centres. During the forum the educational establishments were handed the grant contracts.
The EU financed program “On Cooperation between Yerevan, Warsaw and Tirana on Common Challenges in Hazardous Waste Management” covers a number of fields. In particular, the project group cooperating with interested parties set a task to tighten hazardous waste management via more active participation and cooperation between cities. Eventually, hazardous waste management will become a routine activity.