Task Force on Electronic Information Tools

Task Force on Electronic Information Tools

The first meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention established a new task force to facilitate the implementation of the Convention by preparing draft recommendations on the more effective use of electronic information tools to provide public access to environmental information (see decision I/6 PDF FRE RUS).
At their second meeting (25–27 May 2005, Almaty), the Parties decided to extend the mandate of the Task Force on Electronic Information Tools. It adopted decision II/3 on Electronic Information Tools and the Clearinghouse Mechanism, which included, as an annex, Recommendations on the more effective use of electronic information tools to provide public access to environmental information (see decision II/3 PDF FRE RUS).
The Parties at their third meeting (11–13 June 2008, Riga) extended in time the mandate of the Task Force and the Clearinghouse (see decision III/2 PDF fre rus). The Parties encourage countries to use the full potential of information and communications technology (ICT) as a means to significantly improve the involvment of the public in in environmental decision-making.
More on the history of the Task Force can be found here.

Current focus

The seventh meeting of the Task Force (11–12 December 2008) reviewed the Task Force's new mandate adopted by the Meeting of the Parties and discuss activities in support of the 2009–2011 work programme. The Task Force featured a Forum on Information Clearinghouses in which managers of national and information nodes of the Aarhus Clearinghouse were invited to debate how their activities could strPDFthen the Convention's clearinghouse mechanism.
The report of the seventh meeting of the Task Force is available in PDF FRE or RUS.
The sixth meeting of the Task Force (13–14 December 2007) featured a mini-conference, "Agenda 21 and the Information Society" on its opening day.

Monitoring implementation of the E-tools recommendations

At its fourth meeting (7–8 November 2005), the Task Force requested the secretariat, in consultation with the Chair, to develop and circulate a questionnaire to national focal points and task force members, seeking to gather information on the implementation of the recommendations in decision II/3 on electronic information tools and the clearing-house mechanism. The information gathered through the questionnaire is intended to inform the Parties of the needs, challPDFes and solutions in the area of e-information, e-participation and e-access to justice by providing a general baseline from which to measure further progress.
The questionnaire was circulated to National Focal Points and Task Force members on 23 October 2006. At its fifth meeting (23–24 November 2006), the Task Force agreed to set a deadline of 20 December 2006 for submitting responses to the questionnaire. However, some Parties later indicated more time would be needed to complete their responses.
A report on the outcome of the 2006 survey was prepared for the seventh meeting of the Working Group of the Parties (2–4 May 2007).
As of 31 January 2007, the secretariat had received 24 responses: 19 from Member States, one from the European Commission on behalf of the European Community and four from NGOs. Of the 20 responses received from Parties, eight were from the subregion of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) and 12 from the European Union (EU). The first sub-regional workshop "Capacity-building for the Aarhus Clearinghouse Mechanism and Electronic Information Tools" was organized by UNECE in partnership with the Regional Environmental Center in Szentendre, Hungary (8–9 March 2007). Participants from countries which did not submit responses to the 2006 Questionnaire were requested to complete a shorter Workshop Questionnaire dealing with national nodes of the Clearinghouse.
An additional three responses to questions 18–24 on the clearinghouse were received from three Governments (2 EU, 1 EECCA) by 28 February 2007.
Following the first sub-regional workshop on capacity-building, two additional responses were received from the United Nations Administered Province of Kosovo.*

A final submission was received from Uzbekistan in December 2008, raising the number of responses from member States to 20: nine from EECCA subregion, 12 from the European Union, including the European Community.
*The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this web page do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

2006 Questionnaire

Questionnaire to assess implementation of the recommendations of the Meeting of the Parties on electronic information tools (decision II/3)		PDF
Informal Russian translation of the Questionnaire to assess implementation of the recommendations of the Meeting of the Parties on electronic information tools (decision II/3)		RUS

Responses to the Questionnaire

Country*
Armenia		PDF
Azerbaijan		PDF
Belarus		PDF
Belgium		PDF
Bulgaria		PDF
Estonia		PDF
European Community		PDF
Finland		PDF
France		PDF
Georgia		PDF
Hungary		PDF
Kyrgyzstan		PDF
Malta		PDF
Moldova		PDF
Netherlands		PDF
Poland		PDF
Spain		PDF
Tajikistan		PDF
Ukraine		PDF
United Kingdom		PDF
Uzbekistan		RUS

Workshop responses

Country
Romania		PDF
Russian Federation		PDF
United Nations Administered Province of Kosovo*		PDF PDF

Nongovernmental organization responses

Country
Bulgaria		PDF
Greece		PDF
Kyrgyzstan		PDF

*The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this web page do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.