The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and the Blue Flag Co-ordination often receive requests about how to implement the Blue Flag Programme in a new country. First of all, FEE and the Blue Flag Coordination should be contacted in case of interest for starting up the Blue Flag Programme in a new country/region.
MEMBERSHIP OF FEE
In order for a new country to start up the Blue Flag Programme, a suitable organisation must be identified to carry out the task as national Blue Flag operator. In order to be suitable, the organisation must be a non-profit, non-governmental, independent organisation and it must have environmental education and protection as important objectives. It is an obvious advantage if the organisation has a history of environmental work related to local authorities and also experiences with national initiatives. If there is no suitable organisation, a new national organisation can be founded.
Once such an organisation is found or founded, it must become a member of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). This in turn means that the organisation must be in accordance with the statutes of FEE, be able to raise the necessary funds to pay the subscription fee, be able to run the Blue Flag Programme and lastly be ready and willing to participate in the other activities of FEE as well. It is the FEE General Assembly that considers and approves applications for membership and it puts a great deal of emphasis on whether the organisation is generally sharing the objectives of FEE.
Please contact the FEE Secretariat in order to be informed about the procedures for applying for FEE membership and in order to receiving the membership application form.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BLUE FLAG PROGRAMME IN A NEW COUNTRY
FEE and the Blue Flag Coordination have good experiences in implementing the Blue Flag Programme in new countries. The Programme started with 10 participating countries in 1987 and today has the Blue Flag Programme implemented in 37 countries.
In order to implement the Blue Flag Programme in a new country, the FEE member organisation must go through the following four steps in the implementation process:
1) Organising a Blue Flag workshop/meeting
2) Establishment of a Blue Flag national committee
3) Carrying out the Blue Flag feasibility phase (production of national and local feasibility report)
4) Running the Blue Flag pilot phase (testing the compliance at pilot sites, filling out the gaps)
Blue Flag • Scandiagade 13 • DK-2450 Copenhagen SV • Denmark
Tel: +45 33 28 04 09 • coordination@blueflag.org
FEE
The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of national member organisations representing 48 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and America.
Link to the FEE website
Blue Flag Coordination
FEE
c/o Danish Outdoor Council
Scandiagade 13
2450 Copenhagen SV
Denmark
Tel +45 33 28 04 11
Fax +45 33 79 01 79
Mail: blueflag@blueflag.org
Blue Flag implementation documents
A good guide for the implementation process in new countries is to read and follow the steps in the "Starting the Blue Flag Programme" document. This document includes the Feasibility Study Questionnaire for the country profile. Also, the document, "Awards for Improving the Coastal Environment: the Example of the Blue Flag" includes excellent information for new countries. Copies in Spanish and French can be found under the Publications page.
Starting the Blue Flag Programme and the Feasibility Study
Awards for Improving the Coastal Environment: the Example of the Blue Flag