Shetland loses KIMO secretariat in the wake of Brexit
Photo: KIMO/Facebook
SHETLAND Islands Council has lost the international secretariat of the coastal environmental group KIMO after more than three decades of hosting it.
The move to the Danish municipality of Aalborg, announced today (Monday), is largely due to Brexit and the difficulty for a UK-based organisation to access EU funding.
The council was a founding member of Kommunernes International Miljøorganisation and hosted the organisation’s secretariat for 34 years.
While the SIC was praised for its dedication in hosting the international secretariat for more than three decades, it was ultimately UK national politics that brought the arrangement to an end.
Chairman of KIMO Netherlands and Belgium, Jacco Knape, told the organisation’s AGM at the weekend that “all good things must come to an end”.
Council chief executive Maggie Sandison confirmed to Shetland News that Brexit was the reason for the move.
“It was felt that the secretariat would be better moving to another member because with Shetland, Scotland and the UK not being part of Europe the ability to access European funding has changed,” she said.
In a Facebook post at the weekend, former KIMO international secretary and policy adviser Rick Nickerson praised the SIC’s “vision and commitment” during the early years of the organisation and described working for KIMO as the “best years” of his career.
“I wish the new municipality that will assume this responsibility all the best in future challenges and successes it most definitely will have in the future.” A
mong many initiatives to promote healthy seas and thriving coastal communities, KIMO is the behind the successful Fishing for Litter initiative – which has removed more than 8,500 tonnes of litter from the North Sea in the 24 years.
The organisation was pledged £300,000 of Scottish Government funding for the continuation of the scheme only last month.
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