Management Services
The experience and skills of the Prospect team are essential to support successful project implementation. Over many years Prospect has developed a number of project management tools and approaches that are applicable in a variety of project scenarios, including project management databases and monitoring and evaluation schemes. Of note is the carbon measurement scheme developed by Prospect to estimate the CO2 emissions caused by its work for the EC’s Life Programme Monitoring, this allows us to accurately measure how much carbon offsetting we should invest in.
In addition to this Prospect’s multi-faceted staff have been involved in delivering communications services, skills training and organisational development support to an increasing number of clients. These Management Services are offered within the context of sectoral projects but can also be offered as stand-alone services:
Selected Project References
Project Management:
Assistance and technical support for the tasks related to actions under the LIFE programme
LIFE (L'Instrument Financier pour l'Environnement) is the main European Commission funding mechanism for improving the state of the environment in the European Union. The contract deals with the various brands of the LIFE Programme: LIFE-Environment, LIFE-Nature, LIFE-Information and LIFE Third Countries. The project management support provided to the Commission comprises:
- Providing technical support to the monitoring of projects co-financed by LIFE
- Assessing the administrative, technical and financial implementation of the projects, Assisting and coaching project beneficiaries.
- Conducting ex-post evaluations
- Preparing monitoring and assessment reports
- Providing support to dissemination activities
Prospect is the main partner in a consortium set-up in a EEIG (Astrale) and deals with the projects in two EU sub-regions: Benelux and South-East MS: Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, as well as in some third countries: Tunisia and Morocco. Prospect hosts the entire coordination team in its Brussels office and provides 4 out of the 6 staff members of this co-ordination team.
Client: European Commission, DG Environment
Location EU Members States, ENP and Russia
Period: 2005-2009 and 2009-2012
Programme of priority environmental projects for accession (PEPA) of the applicant countries
The overall aim of the PEPA progamme was to develop and implement a pipeline of priority environmental projects in each of the accession countries. The project objective was to assist the Commission in identifying a short-list of potentially viable projects in each country and to ensure that they are consistent with the agreed accession strategy.
Client: European Commission
Location: Central and Eastern Europe
Period: 2001
Institutional Development:
Institutional support project to the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries (MAEP) in the framework of the Development Support and Agricultural Sector Promotion Program in Benin
Prospect was contracted to carry out the formulation mission of the Institutional support project to the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries (MAEP). This was in the framework of the Development Support and Agricultural Sector Promotion Programme in Benin. The purpose of this project was to strengthen the MAEP in its facilitation and regulation role for the agricultural sector by building its capacities and learning process.
Client: Belgian Technical Co-operation (BTC)
Location: Benin
Period: 2008
Review of the Regional Environmental Centres – NIS Countries
The project looked to enhance the work of the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Regional Environmental Centres (EECCA RECs) by reviewing their current activities and providing targeted support. The work, carried out by Prospect experts, delivered six main outcomes:
- recommendations on resource allocation between the RECs with regards to their absorption capacities and programme portfolio;
- public awareness in the region of the services and operations of the RECs widened;
- public awareness in the West of the role and activities of the RECs enhanced;
- capabilities of the RECs to meet the need in the region for reliable and easy to access information increased;
- supported increased linkages, networking and convergence of the RECs; and
- a mid-term review of progress conducted.
Client: European Commission, TACIS/EuropeAid
Location: Belgium, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan
Period: 2002-2004
Support to the Phare Candidate Countries in the preparation for the European Environment Agency Membership
The project contributed to ensure that each candidate country would experience a smooth and full integration of into the EEA activities, once the membership was in place. This included:
- The development and strengthening of the Phare expert network with the EEA;
- The further development of the EIONET network, including its telematics hardware and software development;
- The continuation of the information dissemination activities (including data collection and reporting) in relation with the Phare-EEA co-operation; and
- The complete integration of the Phare candidate countries activities with the EEA Work Programme, as part of the process of EEA membership preparation.
The project was implemented with high success and all countries are now members of the EEA.
Client: European Commission
Location: Phare Candidate Countries – Brussels and Copenhagen based co-ordination
Period: 2000-2001
Training and help-desk services for developing and strengthening Project Cycle Management (PCM) methodology in the development co-operation financed on resources of the EC
The technical assistance given by Prospect covered the design of methodology seminars and tools applied for project cycle management. As such the work included: conducting seminars and workshops, the assessment of case-studies, the drawing up of success indicators and performance criteria and support on the implementation of a project monitoring systems.
Client: European Commission
Location: ACP countries and EC
Period: 1999-2002
Communication Support:
Study and recommendations on Air Quality Data Modelling and Exchange
Prospect was contracted by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to carry out a study on Air Quality Data Modelling and Exchange and to formulate recommendations following the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) principles. The primary purpose of the project was to improve the exchange of Air Quality Data from the local level to the EEA level (Airbase).
Client: European Environment Agency (EEA)
Location: Europe
Period: 2008
Greening the ENP
Prospect was contracted to contribute to the Hbf/WWF study and workshop on the Greening of the Black Sea Synergy. The Black Sea Synergy (BSS) was initiated by the EU in 2007 in order to promote a coherent policy approach towards EU’s Eastern European Neighbours and to reinforce regional cooperation involving Member States, candidate and partner countries. This study and workshop had the objective to inform the debate on EU policies and devise forms in which Black Sea co-operation might take place. It aimed to provide arguments to help make the Black Sea sustainable and to promote environmental protection, as well as nature conservation, in the entire region.
Client: Heinrich Böll Foundation/World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Location: Belgium, Ukraine
Period: 2007
Strengthening of environmental monitoring system, Albania
The project – in which Prospect was a partner – had several main objectives of this project. Firstly to establish, consolidate and update an effective environmental monitoring system; that is capable of tracking the status of the environment. And secondly the improvement of data quality, through the development of an up-to-date, cost-effective, sustainable and fully integrated environmental monitoring system. As such the system put in place was based, as a general reference framework, on the environmental norms and directives of the EU.
Client: European Commission Delegation in Tirana/CARDS/OBNOVA
Location: Albania
Period: 2006-2008
Development of a national environment monitoring system in Bosnia Herzegovina
This project, carried out in co-operation with the Austrian Federal Environmental Agency and Finnish Environment Institute, consisted of the provision of long and short-term specialists (national and international) in order to:
- identify the different stakeholders in environmental monitoring (air, water, biodiversity);
- make an inventory of the available environmental information;
- compare this available information with what is required under the existing national legal framework and under international agreement;
- propose a sustainable environmental monitoring system; and
- develop action and business plan for this monitoring system once adopted by the competent authorities.
As a result a nationwide organization for streamlined environmental monitoring and reporting was agreed, standard methodologies for environmental monitoring and reporting were adopted and in use; action plan for disseminating user-friendly environmental information was developed and a concrete and practical monitoring scheme was carried out for selected key environmental indicators.
Client: European Commission Delegation in Sarajevo/CARDS/OBNOVA
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Period: 2003-2005