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

Fri Nov 22 21:04:19 UTC 2013

Am I the only person to think it ironic to promote a UN convention which
gives a right to request information without any fee – for one particular
sector

and also to promote active engagement with a governance structure which is
actively denying that same right for other sectors?

If a feeless request based FoI is good enough for one sector, surely there
should be very active promotion of the same rights-based approach for all
other sectors?

OGP may be about more than FoI.

If so, I hope it is about real checks and balance to limit the scope for
excess by the powerful and influential insiders.

I say that as someone who used the AIE regulations SI 133/1993 (implementing
European Council Directive 90/313/EEC before the 1997 FoI was implemented in
this Republic.

Donal Ó Brolcáin

From: open-government-ireland at googlegroups.com
[mailto:open-government-ireland at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nat O'Connor
Sent: 22 November 2013 10:07
To: open-government-ireland at googlegroups.com; admin at ogpireland.ie;
communications at ogpireland.ie; okfn-irl at lists.okfn.org;
open-data-ireland at googlegroups.com; roadshow at ien.ie
Subject: Aarhus Roadshow meetings - open government on the environment

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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