Why central (country) EIA portals are needed
In order for citizens to participate successfully, a central participation portal is needed that lists all environmental impact assessments (EIAs) regardless of the authority responsible within a country. In reality, the situation in many European countries is very confusing. Instead of being published on a central portal, EIAs are often only published on the websites of the various competent authorities, as different competencies exist depending on the planning procedure. In some countries, for example, EIAs are publicised via government portals without the documents being available. The documents can then often only be found on the websites of the various authorities.
However, a central portal is necessary so that citizens can easily and quickly find out about EIAs (in their region). In addition, a central portal can be better publicised by the authorities and thus educate and inform citizens on the subject of EIAs. If citizens have to click their way through a multitude of authority websites, effective participation is not guaranteed as the majority of the population will be unaware of the opportunities for participation. There are examples of good central participation portals in France, Germany and Canada, as well as a regional portal in Germany (Saxony Participation Portal).
Good practice examples
France
A central EIA portal has been available in France since 2018. The portal provides information on all projects for which an EIA must be carried out. Project developers can also use the platform to submit biodiversity data that must be reported to a competent government agency as part of the EIA. In addition, the responsible prefectures can use the portal to digitally display all documents required for formal public participation as part of the environmental impact assessment. The French portal is particularly noteworthy here, as it combines formal digital public participation and general access to environmental data, specifically biodiversity data, in one central portal. This is an important step towards central, integrated participation portals.
Source: Screenshot UVP-Portal Frankreich
Germany
There is also a clearly structured EIA portal in Germany. The portal lists all EIA procedures at federal level on one website and offers direct access to the state portals of the 16 federal states. However, the portal is still incomplete, as not all projects subject to EIA are uploaded to the portal. If all EIAs were uploaded to the portal, procedures could be found quickly and easily thanks to the standardised structure of the portal. This is a major advantage over the scattered publication on the websites of the authorities.
Source: Screenshot EIA portal Germany.
Canada
The participation portal in Canada (Canadian Impact Assessment registry) is a central and clearly organised portal. The participation procedures within the scope of the environmental impact assessment are listed here and can be filtered according to: province, processing status, project type and type of project (construction project, energy, etc.). There is also an overview map that can be clicked to access the project page and view all documents. The portal is well structured. In addition, a 5-minute video on the homepage explains how to use the portal and what participation options are available. The portal also gives citizens access to webinars and online seminars to learn more about environmental impact assessments.
Source: Participation portal Canada (Canadian Impact Assessment registry)
Source: Participation portal Canada (Canadian Impact Assessment registry).
Germany (region of Saxony)
In addition to the central state EIA portals, in Germany there are also participation platforms at regional level that list both formal and informal participation opportunities. One example of this is the Saxony participation platform. For example, various formats such as dialogues, online surveys, participation in the context of legislative changes and others are offered on a temporary or longer-term basis. The portal is operated by the Free State of Saxony and is orientated towards the needs and requirements of local authorities and administrations. There are no additional licence or operating costs for state or municipal authorities. In addition, the accessibility of the platforms is checked by the BITV test, which is carried out at regular intervals (Pietsch 2023: 56). The federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse have also developed their own participation portal based on the Saxon portal. Since 2022, the three state administrations have also been working on ways to further digitalise participation processes (ibid.: 63).
Source: Participation Portal Saxony
