Historical archive

Electronic Tools for the Aarhus Convention. Norway 8-9 March

Historical archive

Published under: Stoltenberg's 1st Government

Publisher: Ministry of the Environment

Around 70 representatives from European governments and NGOs will meet in Arendal 8-9 March to learn about and discuss the use of Electronic Tools and the Aarhus Convention. The workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Environment. Program and Participants. (05.03.01)

Electronic Tools for the Aarhus Convention

Task Force Workshop. 8-9 March 2001 in Arendal, Norway

Hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and the Austrian Federal Environment Agency. Co-ordinated by UNEP/GRID-Arendal.

Contact:Karen Folgen, GRID-Arendal, phone: +47 370 35 710, fax: +47 370 35 050

Registerd Participants

Programme

Wednesday 7 March

19.00 Reception hosted by the Mayor of Arendal, Arendal Town Hall

Thursday 8 March

Scandic Hotel Conference Suite

Chair: Norway

09.00 Welcome to Arendal

Svein Tveitdal, Managing Director, GRID-Arendal

09.10 Opening Address

Jo Stein Moen, Political Advisor to the Norwegian Minister of Environment

09.30 Living information

Guest speaker: Marta Prerovska, Senior Advisor, Gazette Communications and Information

10.00 The Articles of the Aarhus Convention related to electronic information

Johannes Mayer, Austrian Federal Environment Agency

10.30Coffee break

11.00 The challenge of unlimited possibilities

Keynote speaker: Professor Jon Bing, Dr. juris, Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law, University of Oslo

11.45 Introduction to case studies and initial results from needs survey

Jerome Simpson, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

Discussion

12.45Lunch

Working groups

14.15 First round of group discussions on major themes:

Access to and dissemination of information (Articles 4 and 5)

Public Participation in decisions, plans/programmes/policies and normative acts (Articles 6 to 8 of the Convention)

Suggested focus of the working groups:

1) Learning from success and failure stories

2) Analyse needs, problems and limitations

16.30Coffee break

Plenary session

Chair: Austria

17.00 Conclusions from working groups

20.00 Dinner

Friday 9 March

Scandic Hotel Conference Suite

Chair: Austria

8.30 Perspectives on Capacity Building:

European Information Society

Eastern Perspective

Working groups

9.15 Second round of group discussions on:

Capacity building for users and producers

10.30Coffee break

Plenary session

11.00 Conclusions from working groups

12.00 Wrap-up and next steps of Task Force work

12.45 Transport to Longum Park

13.00 Lunch at GRID-Arendal

14.00 (optional for participants) GRID-Arendal auditorium

Presentation of UNEP/GRID/Arendal

Activities and role within UNEP

Special session on a key environmental issue