Open dialogue procedure of Municipality of Kozani, regarding Environmental Impact of activities
About this good practice
According to National Law 4014/2011, activities, future/existing, are assessed for its environmental and socio-economic impact; a decision containing specific environmental regulations is issued. Responsible body: Regional Council-Announces the initiation of procedure and makes available all relevant documents-uploaded in an Electronic Environmental Registry.
In order to involve more actively the local community in decision making processes, Municipality of Kozani developed an open dialogue procedure. Responsible Body: Municipal Directory of Environment. After a thorough overview of documents & environmental impact studies, a comprehensive summary of the activity was prepared, emphasizing environmental & social impacts and necessary measures or alterations for protecting environment and local community. The summary presents all the information in a simplified way, understandable by everyone, with or without the basic scientific background.
The Head of local council is informed and organizes an open meeting with residents of the area so as to reach a decision. Also a broader open meeting with participation of Municipal and Local Council, involved companies, NGOs, EJOs, CSOs, scientists, professional organisations, and citizens who wish to attend and participate in process, is implemented. The meeting is video-recorded and accessible to public. The decision, positive or negative, contains improvement suggestions & is submitted to the Registry where is accessible to everyone.
Resources needed
Electronic platform Registry and human resources. Registry: a simple platform easily used and accessible to everyone after official application. Employees: Environmental experts with good communication skills, support and political willingness from local elected representatives are needed.
Evidence of success
Through this process, residents, negatively predisposed regarding a specific project planned in their broader area (e.g. a photovoltaic park near to their residential area), expressed their opposition and as a result the final design of the activity was modified, and relocated at a further distance. A settlement between local community and investors was achieved. There are many other similar successful examples in the Municipality of Kozani.
Potential for learning or transfer
The good practice has high learning and transferability potential. It can be adopted by every Municipality, as its outcomes are positive. The residents are informed in detail from experts about the activities scheduled for implementation in their area, understand the positive & negative impacts of the existing and future activities. Thus, they are given the opportunity to express their concerns and even their opposition to activities. The needed steps are recorded and documented. If it is necessary to communicate with the investors, transparent procedures are used to have a fruitful dialogue under equal conditions. Of course, in order to construct the trust between the parties, political willingness and support from the elected local administrators should exist, which in the case of Kozani is achieved. The major challenge faced in Kozani is the limited time to reach a decision and report it to the Environmental Registry, as there is lack of personnel, and the activities are multiple.
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.