Strengthening non-governmental/civil society organizations to ensure their involvement in decision-making processes at local and national levels

Goal:

The project's goal was to increase public involvement in the decision-making process, specifically in issues related to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), both at the regional and national levels.

Context:

In 2018, an Environmental Assessment Codecame into force, which envisaged active public engagement in line with the requirements of the Association Agreement. The code included screening and scoping procedures that preceded the issuance of permits for infrastructure and other projects.

However, prior to the adoption of the Code, environmental impact assessment was mainly regulated by several normative acts that were not well known to the general public. Accordingly, one of the main starting points of the project was Acting as a mediator between the state and societyby managing awareness-raising campaigns.

Main activities:

• Raising public awareness regarding the environmental impact assessment process.

• Organize and support public hearings to provide the public with hands-on experience in learning about EIA/SEA processes.

• Promoting objective opposition to the state and the business sector.

• Providing information that would help interested parties develop their assessment skills.

Results:

Active community participation was evident during the project:

• The population became more involved in public discussions organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.

• Stakeholders were introduced to the environmental impact assessment process in practice at meetings held within the project.

• Such involvement made it possible to carry out objective opposition to both state structures and the business sector.

Project Duration:

30 month (01.02.2018 – 31.07.2020)

Partner organizations:

The project was implemented by the following non-governmental organizations:

• Georgian Green Movement/Friends of the Earth – Georgia (Project Lead Organization);

• “City Institute Georgia”;

• "Research-Intellectual Club "Dialogue of Generations"";

• "Public Defender".

Financing:

The project was implemented by by the financial support of the European Union.

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