Environmental Defenders (Zagovorniki okolja) is a program that enables a network of legal counsels and experts to support NGOs and civil initiatives in the field of environmental protection, nature conservation and spatial planning. It is operated by the Legal-Informational Centre for NGOs – PIC (Pravno informacijski center nevladnih organizacij), which formally has the status of acting in the public interest in environmental protection at the national level.
Practical cases where environmental counselling and legal aid is required are demanding, because normative regulations are extremely large and difficult to manage. Environmental protection is regulated by half of EU legislation, which sets the majority of the content for national legislation in the areas of environmental protection and spatial planning. Therefore, problems cannot be solved without cooperation between the lawyers and the expert professionals (biologists, chemists, physicists, spatial planners etc.). The broad and combined approach will allow us to think and react more efficiently and set a goal to reach long-term structural changes.
IPoP – Institute for spatial policies is part of a program consortium working as professional experts in the field of sustainable spatial development, planning and management. IPoP’s main task was to prepare a manual for sustainable spatial development that will provide interested parties with a detailed understanding of the links between environmental protection and spatial planning. IPoP brought together a focus group of experts in the process of compiling the manual and prepared a Booklet on sustainable spatial planning and management (Berilo za trajnostno urejanje prostora). The booklet explains basic terms about sustainable development, environmental protection and spatial planning, presents the structure of the Slovenian spatial planning and environment protection system at the international and local levels and lists examples of good practice of sustainable spatial development from the fields of housing construction, water management and mobility.
Duration: April 2018 – January 2019
Funding: Eko sklad (Eco Fund, Slovenian Environmental Public Fund) and Ministry of environment and spatial planning – Fund for climate change.
