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Description
The COVID-19 outbreak that struck the global community made it clear that the planet’s health is strictly interwoven with humans’ health. The effective protection of the environment, which is an issue of vital importance for citizens’ wellbeing, lies on environmental democracy. The latter presupposes and promotes citizens’ active participation in public matters. In particular, it provides for citizens’ access to environmental information, participation to decision-making & access to justice in environmental matters. In Greece, serious obstacles are reported on the effective exercise of these rights. Citizens are unaware either of their rights, or of how to effectively exercise them. The disperse processes of public participation, the usually short deadlines provided & the technical character of environmental matters, make it difficult for citizens to search, be informed & participate in a sufficiently documented manner. The project aims at reinforcing the participation of local environmental organizations/groups & active citizens in decision-making in environmental matters, through providing a wide & user-friendly toolkit for public participation. The project will shed light on the rights & the available processes of public participation through a series of virtual and physical labs. Moreover, the tools that will be created will enable citizens to participate in a documented and more efficient way. In the meantime, an open public consultation will enable civil society groups to jointly draft a policy proposal for the substantive improvement of the public participation processes. An endorsement of this proposal by the public administration would facilitate citizens’ participation. WWF will undertake the preparation of the project, the content of the tools and labs, communication & the coordination of the project. While GFOSS will undertake the design and development of the online tools. Jointly they will produce the 1st draft and formulate the final policy proposal.
Summary of project results
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the strong connection between planetary and human health. European citizens recognize the importance of environmental protection, which relies on environmental democracy and active citizen participation. Although Greece has ratified the Aarhus Convention, significant obstacles hindered its implementation, resulting in low citizen participation in environmental decision-making despite high public interest. The project “Citizens for the environment: Education as a tool for effective public participation and decision-making”, implemented by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Greece in collaboration with Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS), aimed to address these issues by developing tools and educational programs to enhance citizen involvement and improve public participation processes, with the goal of facilitating broader and more effective engagement in environmental matters.
The project “Citizens for the Environment: Education as a Tool for Effective Public Participation and Decision-Making” was implemented from April 2021 to April 2024 by WWF Greece in collaboration with the Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS). It resulted in strengthening the voice of citizens and local groups, enhancing their ability to participate in decision-making processes related to environmental matters in Greece. Effective environmental protection, a vital issue for citizens’ well-being, is rooted in environmental democracy. This concept presupposes and promotes active citizen participation in public affairs, ensuring access to environmental information, involvement in decision-making, and access to justice on environmental issues. However, in Greece, significant obstacles hinder the effective exercise of these rights. Many citizens are either unaware of their rights or unsure how to exercise them effectively. The fragmented nature of public participation processes, typically short deadlines, and the technical complexity of environmental issues make it difficult for citizens to seek information, stay informed, and participate in a well-documented manner.
Within the framework of this project, a wide-ranging, user-friendly, open-source, and up-to-date toolkit on public participation in environmental decision-making was developed. Additionally, through a series of virtual and in-person workshops on rights and available participation processes held in Athens, Thessaloniki, Kozani, Mytilene, and Heraklion, Crete, 645 citizens were educated and empowered to participate in a more informed and efficient way. Meanwhile, through an open, multi-stage public consultation hosted on WWF Greece’s dedicated Ecodialogues platform, a comprehensive legislative proposal was developed to enhance and extend public participation in environmental decision-making. This proposal was endorsed by 12 civil society organizations and submitted to government officials and members of the Hellenic Parliament. Finally, the Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS) developed the specialized platform Connect Citizens for the Environment, which is currently being finalized, to enhance the networking of local environmental and citizens'' groups.
The project titled "Citizens for the Environment: Education as a Tool for Effective Public Participation and Decision-Making" aimed to empower citizen groups engaged in environmental issues in Greece, particularly in the realm of environmental decision-making. Through a combination of educational seminars and asynchronous learning tools, the project trained at least 645 individuals from environmental and informal citizen groups focused on environmental protection. Of these beneficiaries, the majority were women (411) compared to 234 men.
Overall, the project made a significant contribution to enhancing citizen participation in public affairs in Greece. This was accomplished by producing user-friendly, freely accessible educational tools and conducting a series of online and in-person workshops centered on rights and opportunities for public involvement in environmental decision-making. Additionally, an open, multi-stage public consultation process led to the development of a comprehensive legislative proposal designed to strengthen and expand public participation.