More information
Description
The climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution are among the most pressing issues of our times and their mitigation is vital for the transitioning of our society and economy into a more sustainable future. According to scientific evidence, the decade leading to 2030 will play a crucial role for this transition. In 2019, the European Commission published the European Green Deal, which sets targets to mitigate climate change and environmental degradation, along with a roadmap of actions that describes all the necessary steps, policies, and initiatives that need to take place in order to achieve said targets. These targets remain and, in fact, are enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Green Deal, indicates that it is essential not only to set mitigation measures but also to effectively implement them. It also notes that public participation is highly important to ensure that policies aiming to bring meaningful environmental reforms will be accepted by the public. To date, such measures have not been at the forefront of the public discourse in Greece. To promote public participation, citizens need to become aware of environmental issues, educated on their obligations and rights regarding environmental politics, understand the value of volunteering, and be informed on how to correctly use the variety of available media as sources of valid information. The goal of this project is to strengthen the participation of specific groups of citizens in the public dialogue and to inform and educate them in the variety of means they can employ to actively participate in decision making related to urgent environmental matters. iSea, as the project leader, and the Green Tank, as a project partner, will cooperate and utilize their individual experience and know-how to enhance citizen participation in the public discourse relevant to environmental issues, with the aim to empower citizens to take part in the shaping of a more sustainable future.
Summary of project results
The main objective of the project was to promote, strengthen and shield the participation of citizens in processes related to environmental policy-making in Greece with an emphasis on climate crisis, biodiversity loss and marine plastic pollution, as well as on public consultation as a participatory policy-making process.
To achieve the goals of the project, a series of actions were carried out: -28 online and live seminars in 7 cities across Greece, with the aim of informing active citizens and young people about the latest scientific data and political developments around the topics of the project, the available tools of information and the means of citizen participation – and especially advocacy–, as well as the power of volunteerism. A total number of 1376 people participated in these seminars. Specifically: -two (2) rounds of introductory webinars aimed at presenting the latest scientific data on the three (3) topics of the project: climate crisis, biodiversity loss and marine plastic pollution. A total of 6 online introductory seminars were attended by 410 people, the vast majority of them young, and mainly university students. The webinars were based on the interaction between the speakers and the participants by enhancing the discussion and questions from the participants using tools of the webinar platform. -two (2) rounds of training seminars in collaboration with the university professors who participated in the project and the faculties of the Universities they represent, as well as volunteer groups that participated in the project, or other bodies (e.g. Municipality of Thessaloniki) that contributed to the project. The following seven (7) live seminars were held in Thessaloniki, Patras, Zakynthos, Heraklion Crete, Volos, Mytilini and Athens and one (1) was held online.In the 9 10 seminars, the latest political developments for each of the three topics of the project (climate crisis, biodiversity loss and marine plastic pollution) were presented in an interactive way, as well as the means of ciitizens’ participation and advocacy to strengthen their participation in environmental policy-making. During the additional actions of the project, these seminars were repeated, one for each topic, online, so that interested citizens who were not able to attend them live, had the opportunity to participate online. -two (2) rounds of training webinars on volunteerism and the Mass Media. The first ones aimed at promoting volunteering, assessing the footprint of volunteering and encouraging participants to take voluntary initiatives. A total of two such online webinars were held and 100 people participated. The webinars on Mass Media aimed to promote the use of media both as means of information and advocacy. A total of 105 people participated in these two webinars. Upon completion of the seminars and webinars, the participants received reading material consisting of valid and reliable sources for their further information, as well as a certificate of participation. -On the occasion of the European elections of June 2024, an online debate was implemented on the topic "European elections 2024: 5 years of the European Green Deal & the critical environmental challenges for the next term" on the 8th of June 2024, with the aim to inform young and active citizens regarding political developments around the environment and promote their participation in the forthcoming elections. The event was attended by representatives of the Delegation of the European Commission in Greece who contributed with their positions to the review in relation to the developments of the European Green Deal and the presentation of the situation that will likely determine the targets and the challenges that will be faced by the upcoming term. Before the online meeting, interested participants had the opportunity to send their own questions to be answered by the Delegation. A total of 55 people participated and its completion was followed by its upload publicly on youtube from where it was watched by 55 additional people, accompanied by a summary of the assessment carried out and the answers given. -One of the key outputs of the project was the publication of the report ''12 years of environmental public consultation through OpenGov: Citizen participation and young people''s opinion'', which presents the analysis and evaluation of available data on environmental consultation that were carried out during the 12-year operation of OpenGov and the findings of a targeted survey on the participation of young people (17-34 years old) in them, in collaboration with the qed social and market research company. The report includes proposals for improving consultation processes through the opengov.gr platform and the facilitation for the increased participation, of mainly young people, in the consultation processes and thus in environmental policy-making. The report together with its proposals were shared with the relevant national and regional authorities, presented at the project’s closing event and released to the press. -In order to continuously inform the interested parties about the three topics of the project, as well as the political developments in relation to them, a corresponding Facebook group was created, which numbers 1625 members. Publications related to the project''s topics are systematically posted there, as well as the resources created in the context of the project. In order to promote the active participation of citizens, and especially young people, in public consultations, an animated video was also created which highlights and simply explains the consultation processes via opengov.gr, also providing simple tips for citizens'' participation in them.
The project was designed to empower citizens to actively participate in environmental governance, recognising that the lack of knowledge about both the environmental issues themselves and the policy developments in relation to them, as well as the available means and tools for citizen participation and advocacy, is a deterrent to participation in the co-design of environmental policies and decision-making. Focusing on three (3) key environmental challenges: the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and loss of biodiversity, loss of biodiversity and plastic pollution, the project sought to increase knowledge both about policy developments in relation to these issues and the means to address them. intervention and advocacy tools available to citizens to participate in policy-making. In particular, the following were implemented: web and face-to-face seminars and information material were produced, targeting two main groups. On the one hand, students of environmental studies, such as biology, or disciplines that include environmental issues, such as polytechnics, as this group will be called upon to use their specific knowledge combined with the current institutional framework on environmental issues in their subsequent professional careers. On the other hand, people who are already active in voluntary groups and actions, but refrain from participating in policy-making, precisely because of their lack of knowledge about how to get involved.
In addition, the project has contributed to increasing citizens'' participation in public life by emphasising public consultation processes as the as the most efficient and accessible way of participation. In particular, an analysis and evaluation of public consultations on environmental issues focusing on the 12 years of operation of the OpenGov.gr platform was carried out, and on the other hand, an opinion survey of young people aged 17-34 years to quantify young people''s participation in consultations and to qualitatively outline the incentives that would lead to an increase in their participation in public consultation processes. The conclusions drawn on the basis of these results resulted in proposals for improving consultation procedures, which were communicated to the relevant ministries.