A Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-making was established on 30 June 2010 at an extraordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).
The new task force will work on improving the implementation of the Convention’s provisions on public participation in environmental decision-making, including through sharing expertise and good practices, developing recommendations, strengthening civil society and building capacity for public authorities and other stakeholders.
The task force will be chaired by Mr. Philip Kearney from Ireland. Mr. Kearney has previously chaired the Expert Group on Public Participation and was elected to the position by consensus. “This new task force will be a great coordinating tool for the Public Participation pillar of the Aarhus Convention. Improving public participation in environmental decision-making will have important and long-lasting benefits for the people of the UNECE region” he declared.
The task force will also identify common problems in implementing the Public Participation pillar of the Convention and make available to interested Parties any possible solutions. 
The new task force will focus part of its work on the organization of workshops, the creation of a clearinghouse website of available documentation, and the commissioning and publication of expert studies.
Parties, Signatories, other interested States, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, research institutes and other stakeholders are invited to participate in the work of the task force.
Note to Editors
As of 2 November 2009, there were 44 Parties to the Convention: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Ref: ECE/ENV/10/P21