The Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South Eastern Europe (NALAS), supported by the Open Regional Fund for South East Europe (ORF), has initiated a project with a focus on landfill management. At present, many of the landfills in the project region are not operated satisfactorily and cause negative impact on human health and environment. Thus, the project analyzed the current status of waste disposal in the region, and based on the findings developed recommendations for future improvements.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste and Water Management met in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the 15-16th September 2011. The meeting was devoted to the TF SW strategic planning based on the changes that occurred in the financing terms of the group’s projects, and the recent projects implemented by the group. The SWIS project dissemination event also took place in the frame of the meeting.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste and Water Management Meeting (TF SW&WM) took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on the 16-17th June 2011. It was organized together with the SWIS Project meeting for reviewing the SWIS Model and the Manual. The meeting was with the logistical support by the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia. This meeting was about the project activities that are being implemented by NALAS TF SW&WM. The TF SW&WM meeting gathered in total 21 participants. Central points of the discussions were the new project application and implementation framework of ORF/GIZ, and the current status of NALAS projects Development of a Manual for Efficient Sanitary Landfill Management (ESLM) and Development of a Cost and Financing Model in Solid Waste Management (C&M), and the ongoing project Development of a Model/Methodology for the Establishment of an Integrated Information System on Solid Waste Management in SEE (SWIS).

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste Management Meeting took place in Zagreb, Croatia on the 30th November – 1st December 2010. It was organized together with the SWIS Project meeting for reviewing the First Draft of the Baseline Report. The meeting was hosted by the Association of Municipalities of the Republic of Croatia. Central points of the discussions were the approved for financing NALAS project proposals Development of a Manual for Efficient Sanitary Landfill Management (ESLM) and Development of a Cost and Financing Model in Solid Waste Management (C&M), and the ongoing project Development of a Model/Methodology for the Establishment of an Integrated Information System on Solid Waste Management in SEE (SWIS). Short term TF SW activity planning was done with a view to the soonest upcoming events.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste Management Meeting took place in Istanbul, Turkey on the 8-9th of July 2010. This meeting was about the project activities that are being implemented by NALAS TF SW. Central points of the discussions were the approved NALAS Project Development of a Model/Methodology for the Establishment of an Integrated Information System on Solid Waste Management in SEE. It was approved for financing by GTZ ORF-MS and is going to be managed by SCTM. Project proposals Development of a Manual for Efficient Sanitary Landfill Management (ESLM) and Development of a Cost and Financing Model in Solid Waste Management (C&M) were discussed, improved and deposited for approval to GTZ - ORF. Statistics from the TF SW activities evaluation were presented to the participants. Based on the TF SW evaluation, activities and preparation processes will be tuned accordingly so better added value of the meetings is achieved.

The Meeting of the Water Management Working Group was held on 4-5 February in Belgrade, Serbia. Representatives of 11 member associations participated at the meeting. In total, 19 participants were present the meeting, including NALAS and GTZ representatives. The main goal of the meeting was to exchange the experiences and identify common problems and holdbacks. Based on the identified problem, several project ideas were developed, to be proposed to GTZ ORF for funding: Municipal networking in water and waste water treatment sector in South East Europe, Reduction of Water Losses in Municipalities of South East Europe, as well as Public Private Partnership in water sector. Since the last topic was already identified as priority by other Task Forces, the proposal was made to organise a joint workshop with Waste Management Working Group and Fiscal Decentralisation Task Force, with guests from EU.

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. WED is hosted every year by a different city and commemorated with an international exposition through the week of June 5. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), also created in 1972, uses WED to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action. The host for World Environment Day 2008 was New Zealand, with the main international celebrations scheduled for Wellington. The slogan for 2008 was "CO2, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy." New Zealand was one of the first countries to pledge to achieve carbon neutrality, and will also focus on forest management as a tool for reducing greenhouse gases.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste Management met in Sarajevo, on April 10-11 2008. The meeting was hosted by the Bosnian Association of Towns and Municipalities and its purpose was to review current results of the task force and to develop new project proposals. Based on the Action Plan and list of problems, the task force members agreed on the priorities to be discussed in the following period, developed project ideas and agreed to form teams of 3-4 experts per topic to develop full project proposals.

The fourth NALAS Solid Waste Management Task Force meeting took place in Belgrade on 5 March 2007. Mr. Kelmend Zajazi, the newly elected NALAS executive director, stressed out the importance of having technical experts in any task force, since task forces are seen as a crucial corner stone of the NALAS Action Plan. Mr. Siegfried Brenke, GTZ project “Modernization of Municipal Services” said that this TF is a pilot NALAS TF, and the experience of SWMTF work, both good and bad, should be used as a basis for structuring future NALAS task forces to be established in 2007. Ms. Anđelka Mihalov SWMTF Coordinating Expert has started first session of the meeting presenting activities, results and problems that TF was facing during its work in 2006.

The third meeting of the NALAS Solid Waste Management Task Force was organized in Bonn. It was agreed, among other things, that all participating experts (both legislative and recycling) are to make an action proposal based on their presentations so far, and on their ideas for further work as prioritized by their respective associations.