Introductory Note
XXIII
an increase in the degree to which these trends are shaping the negotiat-
ing climate in the region.
A cardinal aim of the papers in this Study, the work of international
scholars and practitioners drawn from a range of disciplines, is to pro-
voke questions, debate and reflection among participants drawn from
many backgrounds. They are presented in this Study along with a descrip-
tion of the exercises that complemented the lecture to provide a chance to
explore the validity of the ideas presented in them. These exercises pro-
vided an opportunity for sharing of ideas among participants drawn from
a number of government agencies and also served the skills and compe-
tency development objectives of the MEPIELAN seminars. The full suite
of materials used in the exercises has not been included, except by refer-
ence, for every exercise but is indicated in the instructions and text of the
exercise description.
This collection is divided into three Parts. Part I begins with the pres-
entation and elaboration of a holistic approach to international environ-
mental negotiations developed by Dr. Evangelos Raftopoulos, Associate
Professor of International Law, Director of MEPIELAN and a long time
legal advisor to the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). By projecting this approach, he analy-
ses international environmental negotiations as a distinct process of gov-
ernance technique aimed at preparing, establishing and revising a con-
ventional environmental regime of international common interest. Such
a conceptualisation of negotiation as a governance technique is presented
as operating at three interrelated levels: pre-negotiation, constitutive ne-
gotiation and renegotiation. The difference between the effectiveness of
institutions and the effectiveness of international environmental agree-
ments is explored by international relations/political scientist Dr. Gabri-
ela Kütting, at the time of the Seminar based at the University of Aber-
deen, Scotland, now with the Department of Political Science and Center
for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers (Newark) University.
Part II presents specific contemporary issues and trends that are af-
fecting both the negotiation process and the substance of environmen-
tal agreements. The first presentation, prepared by Dr. Moira L. McCon-
