The second online workshop of the project “Engaging the public in public hearings in environmental procedures under pandemic conditions” was held on Oct 9, 2020. The consultation team of the project led by representatives of the BIOM Association (project leader) and the Croatian Association of Experts in Environmental and Nature Protection (project partner) expressed the need for a fundamental change in the way the public participates in environmental procedures, with the majority agreeing that a change in the legislative framework in public information and involvement is necessary not only in environmental procedures but also in the adoption of spatial plans.

The necessity that representatives of bodies and organisations that are stakeholders in this project as well as participants in environmental assessment/strategic assessment/Natura 2000 appropriate assessment procedures, continue to work systematically together on the necessary changes precisely in order to understand the different roles in the system and to agree on opinions.

In the final stage of the project which ends November 2020, the focus will be on discussion and application of guidelines for public hearings that can be implemented financially, legally and organisationally in the short term under pandemic conditions.

The project is co-financed by the Active Citizenship Fund in Croatia as part of the European Economic Area and the Norwegian Financial Mechanisms in 2014. – 2021. financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The main objective of the Programme at European Union level is to “strengthen civil society and active citizenship and empower vulnerable groups.”