Eric E. van Monckhoven

ABOUT

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Werner Brandt

Operations Advisor at Kopernik

I got to know Eric while he was writing a project proposal for waste management in the Tsunami province of Aceh. I was impressed with his thorough preparation and very innovative ideas for changing people's attitudes.

Kirsten Worm

Associate Professor at University of Copenhagen, Department of Political Science

As Coordinator of International Projects in the Danish Ministry of Environment I worked with Eric to etablish a EU financed eco-project in Southern Italy- the first of it kind. In spite of difficult circumstances Eric worked with great diligence and personal devotion. He mastered all aspects of project management from developing the concept, creating local ownership, providing EU funding to dissemination of project results through NGO networks.

Aspasia Kakari
Public Awareness and Events Officer at Medecins Sans Frontieres Greece

A very reliable partner and an experienced project manager, passionate about international cooperation and community development, able to lead a multi-cultural team and to maximize community resources for the benefit of all.

Eric E. van Monckhoven (EVM)is a social, environmental, and development assistance worker who specialized both in grant writing and eco-social project design and start-up.

After his studies in social economy and social communication, he went on to interdisciplinary research in eco-development and irenology.

An active member of the global solidarity and alternative movement of the 20th century, he has for over 25 years assisted grassroots organizations and local authorities in the Euro-Mediterranean region, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Social justice, indigenous people’s rights, food security, sound and sustainable agricultural practices, biodiversity conservation, reforestation, eco-village development, responsible tourism, the setting up of national parks and local agenda 21 are among the fields where he has contributed through advocacy campaigns and concrete field work.

For almost a decade, he also served in Southern Italy as consultant for organizations contrasting the mafia culture and testing new grounds for the social and solidarity economy development.

While currently dedicating himself more clearly towards the cultural sector, he is still offering consulting services to social organizations and enterprises in the field of sustainable development, peace and international solidarity.

His experience makes him a perfect player in all the procedures governing the design, planning and implementation of projects socially and environmentally oriented.

Eric is member of Transcend International and an honorary member of Terre des Jeunes.

1985-1995

In 1985, Eric E. van Monckhoven co-founded Young People's Planet (YPP) together with Riel Huaorani, a young Canadian Metis. They closely collaborated for a decade, promoting environmental youth initiatives in Europe and Africa, organizing tree-planting and public awareness campaigns, creating synergies between grassroots organizations, NGOs, governments and development agencies, and contributing to the preparatory works of the Earth Summit of 1992.

As YPP Program Director Assistant for Africa, EVM helped develop working partnerships to fight desertification and drought in the Sub-Saharian region with international organizations like the United Nations Environmental Program, the Foundation for ACP/EEC Cultural Cooperation, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. He was instrumental in organizing the international conference "Culture and Agriculture" that was held in December 1987 at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam with the scope of strengthening collaborative efforts between ACP and EEC countries in the field of agro-ecological research. He also coordinated field missions in Burkina Faso and Niger for nutrition-sensitive development projects based on traditional knowledge.

In 1990, as a result of their achievements, Riel Huaorani was awarded UNEP's Global 500 Roll of Honor in Mexico City.

1996 - 2004

In 1996, Eric E. van Monckhoven joined CRIC, Centro Regionale d'Intervento per la Cooperazione, a leading Italian development NGO. Attached to the project department, he worked as Environmental and Sustainable Development Policy Officer. He also served on expert groups, including the National Committee Against Desertification (Ministry of Environment, Italy), the Italian Development NGO Platform COCIS, and the Forum of Mediterranean NGOs for Ecology and Sustainable Development. Within the framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, he took part in COP 1 (Rome, 1997) and COP 2 (Dakar, 1998).

In 1998, within the framework of the EU-Urban Program I, he collaborated actively to the planning of Ecolandia, an environmental, educational and technological park located in Reggio Calabria (Southern Italy). He coordinated the design of the agro-ecological theme area.

Those projects brought him to various countries in the region, including Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. In the Balkans, he worked on transboundary water resource governance (the Ohrid, Prespa and Shkoder lakes).

From 1998 to 2004, he wrote several project proposals and coordinated European projects on behalf of CRIC. He started the first Local Agenda 21 of Sicily (EU – LIFE), set-up the Environmental Education Centre of Giostra, campaigned for the promotion of slow food productions, fair trade and local sustainability in the Mediterranean (EU – Europaid) and co-organized Medparks, the First Meeting of the National Parks and Protected Areas of the Mediterranean that was held in 2001 in the Park of Aspromonte (Southern Italy).

2005 -2009

In 2004, Eric E. van Monckhoven decided to take a break from development issues. He moved to Finland, where he worked as Cultural Producer for Vallila International Production Office.

Until 2006, he worked as Artistic Manager in Helsinki, promoting the social integration of immigrants. Then, in 2007, he wrote a proposal for the organization of the XVth edition of the European People’s Festival in Ekenas and coordinated the festival day-to-day operations. 800 young people from 18 European countries took part in the event.

In 2008. Eric went back to Southern Italy and co-founded a social enterprise in Sicily - Babilu Cooperative. The new micro-enterprise coordinated several projects in the field of cross-cultural dialogue and the social integration of immigrant women. Read more (Italian only)

2010 - now

See 'Last Assignments"

In 2011, Eric E. van Monckhoven was invited to join Transcend International, a Peace Development Environment Network founded in 1993 by Johan Galtung and Fumiko Nishimura.