GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Promoting good practices, supporting implementation, organising trainings, educational, academic programmes, etc. to ensure effective compliance assurance, public participation and access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation-related matters amongst the public (including youth and future professionals), NGOs, lawyers, the judiciary, public administrations or other stakeholders with a view to improving knowledge, understanding and application of effective means of public participation and/or access to justice, with a particular focus on protecting nature and biodiversity via the nature, biodiversity, water and environmental liability instruments.

With regard to professional qualifications and training, projects should ensure academic credentials (or certificates) and maximise the potential of information technology through means such as webinars and massive open online courses (MOOCs) to allow distance learning to reach as many practitioners as cost-effectively as possible. Promotion systems and techniques could involve the use of guidance, advisory services, awareness-raising campaigns, partnership agreements, or selfmonitoring systems that assist duty-holders to comply with environmental obligations.

Environmental compliance assurance practitioners can include those working for authorities and bodies with compliance assurance responsibilities such as local, regional, police and customs authorities, agencies and inspectorates, supreme public audit bodies, public prosecutors offices and the judiciary. They can also include nongovernmental organisations, and academics and researchers specialised in one or more aspects of environmental compliance assurance.

Strategies and policies on compliance assurance in general and combating environmental crime in particular are aimed at high-level organization of activities and interventions, especially risk-based ones. Innovative tools could relate to different compliance monitoring systems and techniques, including site inspections, surveillance (including through use of satellites and drones), spot checks, intelligencegathering, industry analysis, police investigation, data analysis and environmental audits.