Aarhus Centre Banja Luka

The main goal of the Aarhus Centre Banja Luka is to promote the implementation of the Convention in BiH and liaise between public institutions and the community, especially at the local level.

In June of 2013, the Centre for Environment opened the Aarhus Centre for Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environment Matters, with financial support from the EU and the OSCE Mission to BiH.

The mission of the Aarhus Centre comprises:

• collecting, analysing, processing and exchanging information of relevance to the environment with all interested parties;
• informing the interested parties of the right to a healthy environment;
• encouraging transparency of public administration and active participation of citizens in decision-making in environmental matters;
• providing legal support to civil society in environmental matters.

The Office of the Aarhus Centre is open to citizens, representatives of associations and institutions interested in getting accurate and up-to-date information on environmental matters, as well as adequately preparing for participation in decision-making.

Services provided by the Aarhus Centre encompass:

• enabling citizens, representatives of associations and institutions to access information;
• providing assistance in exercising the right to participation in decision-making in environmental matters;
• providing legal protection of human rights in environmental matters;
• providing support to public administration at all levels in BiH in building capacities needed for implementation of the commitments resulting from ratification of the Aarhus Convention by BiH;
• providing support to public and private companies in the process of public participation in consultation and decision-making on planned projects and interventions which may have an impact on the environment;
• providing technical support to civic initiatives;
• providing professional support in advocating for civic interests in complex environmental matters;
• providing reliable environmental information to the media.

Key to the operation of the Aarhus Centre are the NGOs involved in environmental matters and units of local government which should implement the Aarhus Convention in practice. By building capacities of civil society organisations, their skills will be improved, enabling them to objectively and substantively represent the public in environmental matters. At the moment, the staff of Banja Luka Aarhus Centre consists of the coordinator and the legal officer.