A new cooperation agreement was inked on Wednesday in Tunis between the National Agency for the Promotion of Scientific Research (ANPR) and the European Union in the field of green research to mark the 20th anniversary of the scientific and technological cooperation between Tunisia and the European Union. "Called ARESSE or project to support scientific research and education for the environment sector, this new programme is designed to encourage research, green innovation and technology transfer in the environmental field," said ANPR Director General Chedly Abdelli. Speaking at the opening of the Tunisian-European Science and Innovation Days (TESI 2023), Abdelli indicated that this project is one of the four components of a cooperation agreement signed in April 2022 between Tunisia and the EU on a programme to support environmental action. Funded with pound 11.5 million, ARESSE will run for 48 months and has three specific objectives, he specified, adding that the aim is to improve and support green skills training by setting up an effective training system. The project also seeks to support high-impact collaborative research in the environmental field in order to gear applied research more closely to socio-economic needs and support municipalities, local authorities and businesses in their environmental development initiatives. Abdelli further indicated that a Job Skills reference framework (REMERC) will be set up for the environment sector, based on benchmarking and a mapping of existing training courses. Master's degrees jointly developed with universities on priority environmental themes will also be launched, the Green approach will be integrated into universities, an observatory of jobs and new jobs in the environmental sector will be set up and the creation of start-ups in the environment sector will also be backed. "ANPR will also launch the MOBIDOC-GREEN session (socio-economic partnerships: Mainly municipalities and enterprises) and support MOBIDOC-GREEN project holders in the creation of their start-ups," he pointed out. The TESI Days are held on October 16-20 in Tunis.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse