New online platform for association participation

Environmental and nature conservation associations that are recognized in accordance with Section 3 of the UmwRG or corresponding regulations at state level and which, according to their statutes, primarily promote the objectives of nature conservation and land management, have special participation rights in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (Section 63 BNatSchG) and, in some cases, other provisions in the state nature conservation acts. These include the right to “inspect the relevant expert reports” and the right to “opportunity to comment”. Environmental and nature conservation associations face major challenges when drafting statements: There are a variety of different procedures, the deadlines for submitting a statement are often very short, high quality requirements are placed on a statement, which require in-depth knowledge of nature conservation and comprehensive legal knowledge. The associations have to manage all of this with sometimes limited financial and personnel capacities. In addition, most of the work in the area of association participation is carried out on a voluntary basis. The landscape of environmental and nature conservation associations in Germany is diverse and yet they are all united by the same goal: to achieve the best possible protection of our nature and environment. Networking and cooperation between different environmental and nature conservation associations, an exchange of relevant specialist information across association boundaries and learning from each other helps to draw up powerful statements more quickly and effectively. The Association Participation 4.0 project, which was funded by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and carried out by the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU), aimed to facilitate the important work of association participation by means of digital tools. Based on several workshops, individual discussions with representatives of environmental and nature conservation associations, an online survey and the conference “Strengthening association participation through digital networking” in June 2019, a new online platform for environmental and nature conservation associations has now been created. We would like to thank everyone who took part in our survey and our events and contributed their ideas, wishes and suggestions! You have made an important contribution to the development of the new online platform. The aim of the Environmental Participation Database created as part of the project is to support environmental and nature conservation associations in gaining easier access to relevant specialist information and exchanging information with each other. It contains relevant resources that are helpful for work in the field of association participation. This includes specialist articles, expert opinions, working aids and guidelines from the categories of nature conservation and environmental protection, legal matters, public participation, federal states and regions, and miscellaneous. All members of environmental and nature conservation associations recognized in Germany can register free of charge on the Environmental Participation Database. This creates a protected area that is only available to recognized associations. Once registered, they can access all the resources available to support their work.

The Environmental Participation Database lives and grows through its users. Every registered user can actively participate and contribute their expertise by sharing relevant resources with other users. Supporting recognized environmental and nature conservation associations in their participation work has been an important concern for UfU for many years. Further information on environmental information law and your rights of participation and legal action can also be found at: www.umwelt-beteiligung.de. Direct access to the Environmental Participation Database can be found at this link: https://datenbank.umwelt-beteiligung.de/ You can download an information flyer on the Environmental Participation Database here.