Zelena Istra Starts Project for Greater Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessments
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As announced yesterday, Zelena Istra (Green Istria), together with other five environmental organizations – Sunce, Eko Pan, Franjo Koscec, Zeleni Osijek and Divina Natura – started a year and a half long project named Mobilization of General Public for Participation in Procedures of Environmental Impact Assessment.
During the project, the general public will be informed about new regulations, opportunities and best practices, through publications, seminars and information centres. The existing Rulebook on Environmental Impact Assessment doesn’t provide for efficient public participation in the process of decision making, which is, in fact, the main weakness of that process. Those who have impact on the environment are far more powerful than those who are hit by those impacts. At this moment, Croatia is involved in the process of approximation of its legislation with EU’s acquis communautaire. The new regulations should bring about more complex and improved instruments for public participation in environmental impact assessment process. However, the mere introduction of new regulations is not, in itself, enough for efficiency. Among the expected results of the project are the improved understanding of the principle of public participation in procedures of environmental impact assessment, increased public participation in local decision-making, greater capacity for action of environmental association in terms of monitoring of regulations’ implementation and more efficient environmental protection. |
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