Second Training Workshop on the Practical Application of SEA in Regional and Spatial Planning in Azerbaijan

15 October 2021

Baku Azerbaijan

Since 2004, UNECE has been providing technical assistance and capacity-building support related to SEA and transboundary EIA, including in the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. This support is currently being provided under the European Union funded EU4Environment programme (2019-2022) to assist the Eastern Partnership countries, including Azerbaijan, in comprehensive capacity-building and institutional building for SEA and transboundary EIA and in finalizing legal reforms in this area.

The application of SEA in practice however remains rather limited in the country as the overall institutional capacities for SEA require significantly more strengthening to be fully fit for purpose. There is still a need to support environmental, health and sectoral planning authorities through capacity-building and awareness-raising activities addressing, inter alia, relevant procedures and challenges as well as respective roles of different authorities and stakeholders in the implementation of SEA procedures.

This workshop is the second of the two SEA training workshops planned for Azerbaijan. Both focus on the application of SEA in regional and spatial planning, which is a very significant but also specific and challenging domain of the application of SEA. The workshop will be facilitated by SEA consultants to UNECE.

Meeting objectives, expected outputs and outcomes

The main objectives of the workshop are to:

Further enhance capacities for the application of SEA in Azerbaijan in line with the requirements of the UNECE Protocol on SEA, EU SEA Directive and the national legislation on SEA.
Support the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in raising awareness about the SEA, SEA-related regulatory framework and its application;
Facilitate the exchange of experience in SEA for spatial planning from other Eastern Partnership countries;
Facilitate the engagement of key stakeholders and continued exchange of experience on SEA in the national Regional and Spatial planning context.

The workshop is expected to facilitate expert-level discussion on the practical application of SEA for regional and spatial plans in Azerbaijan.

Participants

The workshop will gather up to 40 participants from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, city planning authorities, Architectural Committee, selected line ministries/agencies as well as environmental NGOs active in this area.