The objectives of the project were to improve the implementation of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters - the Aarhus Convention in Croatia. 

The Aarhus Convention is the most powerful weapon in the hands of environmental NGOs in the fight for the protection of nature and the environment, and in opposition to policies that contribute to their degradation. Considering that public authorities are reluctant to apply the obligations arising from this Convention, by ignoring or misinterpreting its principles to limit access to information, and to reduce public participation in decision-making processes to mere formalism, the project focused on building the capacities of environmental civil society organizations to monitor and implement the Aarhus Convention, with an emphasis on access to justice. 

The concept is that only by strengthening information and knowledge on rights and legal possibilities arising from the third pillar of the convention -- namely, access to justice-- can the implementation of the first two pillars be strengthened. Access to justice is a primary catalyst for a public authority to consider sharing its power in the decision-making process. The pre-condition for civil dialogue or sharing power in the decision-making process is knowledge by CSOs of legal rights contained in administrative and environmental law. The project was implemented from 2013-2014, and funded by the EU / co-funded by the Croatian Government Office for NGOs. (In total, 150.000 EUR.)