Description
Public participation in decision-making related to environmental protection is not effective in Slovakia. There are legislative loopholes, the government does not welcome citizens in decision-making and NGOs with the ability to use the potential of activists to enforce changes at the national level are missing. The project aim is to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and to use public pressure for a legislative change opening access to environmental justice. An online manual on public participation in environmental matters for activists will be prepared and published on the web. Direct legal support will be provided to tens of active citizens. A legislative proposal allowing citizens access to will be suggested and fostered. The main target group of the project are environmental activists, who will benefit from published information, a legislation change and direct legal help. The government and the Slovak Parliament will be involved at enforcing the legislative change.
Summary of project results
Public participation in decision-making related to environmental protection is not effective in Slovakia. There are legislative loopholes, the government does not welcome citizens in decision-making and NGOs with the ability to use the potential of activists to enforce changes at the national level are generally missing. The project involved citizens in environmental decision-making and co-ordinated public pressure for a legislative change opening access to environmental justice. A legislative proposal allowing citizens access to environmental justice was suggested and fostered - 5,918 citizens signed the official petition to support this processes. Direct legal support was provided to 1,614 active citizens. An online manual on public participation in environmental matters for activists was prepared and published on the web, 4,486 people used it during the project period. The main target group of the project were environmental activists, who benefited from the published legislation, the legislative change, the direct legal help, as well as participation at an information seminar. The Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, the government and the Slovak Parliament were involved at enforcing the legislative change.
Summary of bilateral results