Capacity Building

Since its inception, the Environmental Law Institute has convened environmental professionals for international environmental workshops and conferences around the world. The topics of these sessions span the array of current environmental issues and ideas, bringing ELI’s experience and cutting-edge knowledge to the corners of the world. Our workshops and conferences build capacity in NGOs, citizens, and government officials for environmental protection through training programs, and present innovative ideas and solutions to current environmental issues.

ELI’s international educational efforts take many forms, from large scale conferences to interactive workshops to small group study tours. In 1996 and 1998, ELI co-sponsored the Fourth and Fifth International Conferences on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. Each of these conferences brought together over 250 people from over 100 different countries to discuss and exchange ideas on environmental compliance and enforcement. ELI has arranged study tours to educate professionals in specific aspects of environmental law in the United States. We have held study tours for environmental attorneys and activists from Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, South and Central America, India, and, most recently, Nigeria.

Interactive workshops are an essential component of ELI’s educational activities. We have trained hundreds of judges in Brazil, Hungary, Kiev, and most recently, India, where ELI and our partners trained judges from the High Court of Mumbai. ELI also has trained activist and governmental attorneys in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe. One interactive seven-week course, “Environmental Policy: Development and Implementation,” provided government officials and environmental advocates from developing countries a forum for exchange of ideas and information on policy options for implementation in their home countries.

The Institute has provided law-drafting assistance to lawyers, policymakers, and nongovernmental organizations in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as Ukraine, Russia, and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. ELI has been actively involved in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe process for drafting a new international “Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters” and the “Sofia Initiative” on Environmental Impact Assessment in Central and Eastern Europe. ELI has worked with regional and international NGOs to support these initiatives and provide the tools and information needed to implement them effectively. ELI has provided training for judges and prosecutors in Ukraine and Hungary, and hosted numerous Visiting Scholars from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union at our offices in Washington.

International Conferences, Workshops, and Study Tours

Africa

• Judicial Symposium on Environmental Law, Policy and Access to Justice — Jinja, Uganda (2001)
• Workshop on Alternative Dispute Resolution — Dakar, Senegal (2000)
• Access to Environmental Justice in East Africa Workshop — Jinja, Uganda (2000)
• Study Tour for Nigerian Attorneys: “Environmental Law, Enforcement and the Petroleum Industry” — Washington, DC and New York, NY (2000)

Central and Eastern Europe

• NGO Forum and First Conference of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention — Chisinau, Moldova (1999)
• Workshop on Developing PRTR in Ukraine — Kiev, Ukraine (1999)
• Aarhus Convention Guide Workshop — Budapest, Hungary (1999)
• UNECE Council on Environmental Policy — Geneva, Switzerland (1999)
• Aarhus Convention Guide Steering Committee — Geneva, Switzerland (1999)
• Aarhus Convention Advisory Board — Copenhagen, Denmark (1999)
• Public Interest Environmental Law Study Tour for Central and Eastern European Environmental Lawyers and Activists — Washington, DC & Eugene, OR (1997, 1996, 1995, 1994)
• Hungarian Environmental Law Workshop for Prosecutors — Lake Balaton, Hungary (1997)
• Regional Transportation Workshop — Brno, Czech Republic (1997)
• Ukraine-United States Roundtable on Approaches to Waste Management and Pollution Prevention — Pittsburgh, PA (1997)
• Judicial Training Workshop on Environmental Law (ELI, EMLA, Hungarian Ministry of Justice) — Pilliszentkereszt, Hungary (1996)
• Symposium on Public Interest Law in Eastern Europe and Russian — Oxford, U.K. (1996)
• Workshop on Cooperation between the Polish Ministry on Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry and Non-Governmental Organizations — Warsaw, Poland
• Environmental Law for Ukranian Judges — Kiev, Ukraine (1995)
• Developing and Implementing Effective Environmental Laws Study Tour (for Russian government officials and NGO lawyers) (1994)

Middle East

• Industrial Pollution Prevention Seminar — Aqaba, Jordon (1996)
• Seminar on the Emergency Nature Protection Plan: “Elements of a Legal Regime to Promote Environmental Protection - Palestinian Controlled Areas” — Palestinian West Bank (1996)
• The 6th International Conference of the Israel Society for Environmental Quality: “Preservation of Our World in the Wake of Change” — Jerusalem, Israel (1996)
• Workshop on the Development of Palestinian Environmental Law — Gaza City (1996)
• Roundtable on Marine Park Management — Aquaba, Jordon (1995)

India

• Mumbai Judges Workshop on Environmental Law and Development Issues — Mumbai, India (2000)
• NGO Workshop on Public Participation - New Delhi, India (1999)
• Environmental Technology and Business Conference — New Delhi, India (1999)
• Preliminary Planning Workshop on Challenges to Environmental Justice Delivery — Bangalore, India (1999)
• Public Participation in Environmental Law and Policy Study Tour for Environmental Professionals from India — Washington, DC and Oregon (1999, 1998)

Inter-American

• Environmental Management System Workshop for Mexican Municipalities — Guadalajara, Mexico, (2001)
• U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Environmental Enforcement Workshop — San Diego, CA (2000)
• U.S.-Mexico Workshop on Legal Challenges in Transboundary Environmental Enforcement — San Diego, CA (1998)
• Workshop Addressing Access to Genetic Resources — Paraguay (1998)
• Forestry Law Workshop — Mexico City, Mexico (1997)
• Central American Commission on Environment and Development; Environmental Law Course — Panama City, Panama (1997)
• The Atlantic Forest and Its Legal Protection by the Judiciary — Sao Paulo, Brazil (1997)
• Environmental Law Conference for Federal Judges — Sao Paulo, Brazil (1997)
• Legal Instruments for the Advancement of Dispute Settlement in Environmental Controversies — Mexico (1997)
• Workshop on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes in North America — Toronto, Canada (1997)
• Workshop on Legal Mechanisms for Access to Genetic Resources in the Americas — Toronto, Canada (1997)
• Environmental Regulatory Workshop — Antigua (1997)
• Environmental Pollution Law Workshop — Trinidad & Tobago (1997)
• Environmental Management of the Firm, — Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Guadalajara, Mexico; Jovona, Mexico (1995)
• Environmental Law Course: Federal University of Amazons — Manaus, Brazil (1995)
• Workshop on Brazilian Extractive Reserves — Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil (1995)
• Regulation and Enforcement of Bolivian Environmental Legislation — LaPaz, Bolivia; Santa Cruz, Bolivia (1995)
• Regulations and Enforcement of Environmental Aspects of Mining — LaPaz, Bolivia (1995)
• Inter-American Mining Program — Argentina (1995)
• Honduran Public Prosecutors and Judges Environmental Law Training — Honduras (1995)
• Environmental Assessment Impact Course — Acre, Brazil (1994)
• Comparative Enforcement Theory for SEDESOL — Mexico City, Mexico (1994)
• Public Policy and Environmental Workshop (for Brazilian Environmentalists) — Washington, DC (1994)
• Conference on New Theories of Environmental Law — Bogota, Colombia (1994)
• Environmental Management of the Firm — Monterrey, Mexico; Mexico City, Mexico (1994)
• Judicial Training for Environmental Lawyers — Manaus, Brazil (1994)
• Extractive Reserves Workshop — Manaus, Brazil (1994)
• Environmental Impact Assessment — Belem, Brazil (1994)

Other International

• NGO Forum and First Conference of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention — Chisinau, Moldova (1999)
• Aarhus Convention Guide Workshop — Budapest, Hungary (1999)
• UNECE Council on Environmental Policy — Geneva, Switzerland (1999)
• Aarhus Convention Guide Steering Committee — Geneva, Switzerland (1999)
• Aarhus Convention Advisory Board — Copenhagen, Denmark (1999)
• Workshop on The Relationship Between Indigenous Knowledge, Western Science and Environmental Conservation: Working Together in Collaborative Relationships — Front Royal, VA (1998)
• First International Conference on Addressing Environmental Consequences of War: Legal, Economic, and Scientific Perspectives — Washington, DC (1998)
• Fifth International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement — Monterey, CA (1998)
• Rio Plus Five Conference — Sao Paulo, Brazil (1997)
• Fourth International Conference on Environmental Compliance Enforcement — Chiang Mai, Thailand (1996)
• Environmental Policy: Development & Implementation — Arlington, VA (1993, 1994)