[Okfn-irl] Aarhus Roadshow meetings - open government on the environment

[Nat O'Connor]

Hi All,
Please see attached notices and details below about two public meetings on
access to information and citizen participation about the environment:
 Galway 30th November
 Dublin 7th December

Regards,
Nat


'As FOI fees are in the news these workshops may be of interest to you. The
Aarhus convention was discussed over the summer and these workshops will
demonstrate how powerful these rights are. Feel free to share them and I
hope to see you in Dublin on Dec 7th or Galway on Nov 30th.



We are hosting two free workshops on our rights to protect our environment
- which covers anything from planning permission to the felling of trees.



Your rights explained - Public workshops on the Aarhus Convention in
Dublin, Galway and surrounding counties.

·  You have a right to information about anything that affects your
environment

·  You have a right to participate in decisions affecting your environment
and

·  You have a right to justice if the first two rights are denied.

These are known as 'access' rights and they are guaranteed by the Aarhus
Convention which Ireland ratified last year.  They are also enshrined in EU
law.



The 'Aarhus Roadshow' is a series of public workshops to inform the public
of these rights and to discuss how they might be better accessed and
implemented. The Roadshow is organised by the Environmental Pillar with
support from the Communicating Europe Initiative.



The next public workshop will be held on Saturday November 30th, from 10.30am
to 4.30pm in the Menlo Park Hotel on the Headford road, Galway.



On December 7th the final workshop will be held in the Radisson Blue Hotel,
Golden Lane, Dublin from 10am to 4pm.



The format will involve inputs from environmental lawyers and activists
with expertise in this area initiating discussion groups on the three
pillars of the Convention - information, participation and justice.



A detailed case study will also be presented and a demonstration given of a
website which enables the ordinary citizen to access information on the
environment.



To book a place or for further information please email roadshow at ien.ie There
is no charge for this event.



The 'Aarhus Roadshow' is supported by the Department of the Taoiseach's
Communicating Europe Initiative as part of the EU Commission's Year of
Citizens.  The roadshow is brought to you by the Environmental Pillar.'
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