Building Environmental Citizenship to Support Transboundary Pollution Reduction in the Danube: A Pilot Project in Hungary and Slovenia created by Magda Tóth Nagy, Program Head, REC presented by Jozef Skultety, ED Office Head, REC

Introduction Goal To present the results of a recent successful project Why? Relevant topic for all stakeholders To share experiences and expertise To disseminate results

Content of presentation Purpose of the project Project components Tangible achievements Intangible achievements Next steps

Our charge to action: Effective Public Participation Requires Reliable Access to Environmental Information About Discharges to the Danube

Project Purpose  Develop practical institutions and practices for institutionalization of Aarhus and Danube public participation goals  Particular emphasis on information dissemination that will support Danube pollution reduction efforts  Empower ordinary citizens and NGOs to request, and receive, environmental information from their governments

Project Components Examined existing situation in each country Identified options from countries with mature information access systems Capacity building and on-going technical assistance/joint learning Study tour Developed implementation tools for each country

“Tangible” Achievements  Evaluations and case examples  Practices Manual  Two Models Handbooks and Guides  Hungarian Handbook: guidance for government employees  Hungarian Citizen’s Guide  Slovenian Guidelines for legal implementation

“Tangible” Achievements, continued  Extensive materials provided to Study Tour participants  Analytic materials including Option Paper  On-going technical assistance  Final Report with analysis and recommendations  Project web site

“Intangible” Achievements Better understanding of using information access tools Increased capacity for managing information access Commitment to make information available Country teams/country ownership

Wide Dissemination of Project Products All final products on REC Project web site: PublicParticipation/DanubeInformation/ Product disseminated to stakeholders Project has electronically networked with other Aarhus-related projects

Project is finished…. Good results…. WHAT NEXT????

Next steps Transferable experience Committed expert team Initial connections with surrounding Danube countries Moving from Pilot to Full Project Looking for donors

If funding available….