The project aims to help South Eastern European countries and territories to reduce technological and sociological barriers to building their own environmental information systems.  Its main goals are to: ·         Enhance the accessibility of current, high-quality environmental information; ·         Offer a framework for long-term regional cooperation; ·         Facilitate participation in the EIONET network and implement the Aarhus Convention; It will achieve this through the following key activities: ·         Assisting in the drafting of national action plans; ·         Financing information technology equipment and services; ·         Building capacity through training workshops; ·         Facilitating regional and international experience exchange and cooperation; and by, ·         Sharing best practice.   Enhancing the accessibility of current, high-quality environmental information Ensuring greater access to environmental information for citizens and government authorities is the ultimate goal of this project.  It will focus on improving the management and dissemination of environmental information and will begin by undertaking an initial needs assessment that: ·         analyses the current status of national/territorial environmental information systems; ·         reviews the obstacles and challenges to future development; and, ·         identifies future priorities.  Targeted measures that respond to these needs will then be implemented, ranging from local hands-on technical assistance to international training workshops that build expertise, and from financial support for equipment purchase to the facilitation of dialogue with NGOs and other stakeholders.  Sharing of best practice and experience exchange will underpin all of these activities, while the completion of national action plans will provide an overall framework for activities at the national/territorial level.   Providing a framework for regional cooperation Following the period of conflict in the Balkan region, the project seeks to foster international cooperation.  This will be achieved through an international steering committee of project partners and European experts, several regional workshops, close cooperation with related international efforts (e.g. the BERCEN network of Environmental Inspectorates; the Developing Strategies for the Implementation of the Aarhus Convention initiative etc.), and overall through implementation under the auspices of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe.    Facilitating participation in the EIONET Network and implementing the Aarhus Convention SEE countries are in the process of becoming members of the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) EIONET (European Environment Information and Observation Network).  Through the involvement of the EEA in the project’s Steering Committee, and synergies with the EEA managed initiative: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia and Extension to Croatia, the project will facilitate participation in the EIONET network. The project also helps to implement articles 4-8 of the Aarhus Convention, regardless of whether the convention's provisions have been ratified by SEE countries/territories. This is to be achieved by sharing relevant best practices on the use of electronic tools in providing access to information and fostering public participation in decisionmaking. It will therefore link with the work of the Electronic Tools Task Force, established under the Aarhus Convention. Through this goal, the project seeks to promote the development of an environmental information society, the development of greater transparency and online governance.

Contents of this page: Enhancing accessibility of information Framework for regional cooperation Participation in EIONET and the Aarhus Convention