The Aarhus Convention ensures the public a voice in environmental issues and links environmental protection with participatory democracy. Within the Visegrad Countries knowledge of the principles of the Aarhus Convention is generally low. To bridge this gap and to solve inconsistencies in implementation, J&E establishes a V4 Aarhus Centre. In the long run it will act as a hub for Aarhus Convention related activities (educational, scientific, etc.) for the V4 Region and other parts of Europe where J&E has presence. In 2014, we create the foundations of the V4 Aarhus Centre via the following activities:
• At the V4 Aarhus Centre Founding Meeting in Brno in April we established the framework for the Centre (working methods, organizational structure, competences, services, etc.) and outline specific activities.
• Based on the meeting, we will create a common web-based Aarhus toolkit, explaining principles and rights of the Aarhus Convention for the public in an easy-to-read manner. The toolkit will be published in English on the project webpage under J&E webpage and in V4 languages on the partners’ webpages.
• We will provide online advice in environmental matters of access to information, public participation and access to justice to citizens of the V4 Region.
• Citizens and NGOs interested in environmental issues relevant for the V4 Region will be kept informed by a new common social media information platform, where information on developments in legislation, case law, best practices, networking activities, scientific or educational news will be shared.
• Activities will be disseminated by press releases on European and V4 level, by newsletters in English and in V4 languages.
