History of Encore
The first Environmental Conference of Regional Ministers and Political Leaders in the European Union took place in December 1993. The conference was hosted by Wallonia (Belgium), with financial support from the European Commission, and was held in Brussels.
The main outcome from this conference was the Brussels Resolution. This included political declarations on the Treaty on European Union, the Fifth Community Environmental Action Programme, and regional policy and the Community Funds.
The regions represented at the Brussels Conference agreed to meet together every two years, so that they could regularly exchange experience, work towards common objectives and influence the formulation of European environmental policy and law.
The second conference was held in Valencia (Spain) in 1995, with financial support from the European Commission.
The conference adopted the Valencia Resolution covering a number of different aspects of environmental policy.
The conference also agreed on the adoption of the Valencia Charter, which commits the regions themselves to act in an environmentally friendly way and to pursue the aims of sustainable development. The Charter has as of 2003 been signed by more than 90 european regions.
The third conference was held in 1997 in Göteborg (Sweden), with financial support from the European Commission.
Politicians from more than 60 regions endorsed the Göteborg Resolution, which covers three main subjects: the implementation and further development of EU environmental law, Regional Agenda 21 processes, and “greening” of the Structural Funds.
The Conference also confirmed the need to monitor and consolidate the outcomes of ENCORE conferences.
The fourth Conference was held in Wexford (Ireland) on 23 and 24 September 1999, where 164 representatives from 74 regions participated [with financial support from the European Commission]. A resolution was adopted creating a political and technical network of European regions.
The Wexford resolution was adopted consisting of a preamble and four parts :
Nature Protection and the Common Agricultural Policy Contributions of the Regions to Climate Protection Electronic Co-operation Next steps
Monitoring of actions arising from the previous conferences was carried out by means of a questionnaire survey of all regions in the EU. The results of this survey were presented during the Wexford Conference.
The fifth conference was held in Villach, Carinthia (Austria) in 2001. The result of this conference, the Villach Resolution can be seen under ENCORE Resolutions on this website.
ENCORE 2004 (sixth edition) was held in Florence, April 1 - 2, 2004. At this conference an evaluation of the Villach Resolution was presented and the Florence Action Plan (FLAP) was adopted with initiatives from several regions for actions between conferences. As the FLAP itself points out in article 2, ENCORE activities should not be restricted to the biennial conferences, “but include activities during the periods in between Conferences.” It was a strategic decision of Tuscany Region to present an action plan with concrete and measurable commitments, instead of a resolution. The conference also agreed on the adoption of the Valencia Charter, in which the Regions committed themselves to act in an environmentally friendly way and to pursue the aims of sustainable development.
In 2006, the seventh ENCORE Conference adopted the Revised Valencia Charter, adding sustainable development to the central tasks of the Regions and including references to recent international developments in Europe and in the world.
The 8th ENCORE Conference was held in Zaragoza (Spain), 26-27 June 2008, with the theme Water and Climate Change. The Aragon Action Plan (ARAP) was adopted and several (new) regions signed the Valencia Charter. Also, all present regions represented by their political leader signed ENCORE's Contribution to EXPO's Zaragoza Charter.
In 2010 the 9th edition of the ENCORE Conference will be held in Olsztyn (Poland).