First Aarhus Centre Opened in Sarajevo

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Yesterday, May 30, 2012, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the City of Sarajevo, opened the first Aarhus Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Centre, which is located on the premises of the International Youth and Children Centre in Novo Sarajevo.

The Aarhus Centre will promote understanding and implementation of the Aarhus Convention, as well as cooperation between competent authorities, civil society, the judiciary, private sector, media and general public on environmental protection issues.

Burton, Svilanović and Behmen unveil the sign of the Aarhus Centre Sarajevo(Photo klix.ba)

The aim is for the Aarhus Centre to secure quality access to information about the environment, promote public debate and involve as many citizens as possible in the decision making processes on environmental protection issues.

The Mayor of Sarajevo Alija Behmen, the Head of OSCE Mission ambassador Fletcher M. Burton and Goran Svilanović, OSCE Coordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities, opened the Centre, and the unveiling of the Aarhus Centre sign was followed by a tour of the Centre during which they met with the volunteers and the staff of the Centre.

Mayor Behmen and ambassador Burton signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of the Aarhus Centre Sarajevo.

"The signing of this Memorandum means we chose a pro-active approach of the public, which will include public awareness, education and information campaigns, access to all relevant information, direct support to the citizens and CSOs that want to actively implement the instruments for their involvement in decision making processes and access to justice in the area of environmental protection”, Behmen said and invited all interested citizens of Sarajevo and BiH to use the resources offered by the Centre. (Source: Klix.ba)