CASE STUDY ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ENVIROMENTAL POLICY DECISION – MAKING

Uničevanje okolja postaja vedno večji problem v državah, ki so gospodarsko manj razvite. Manj razvite države, med katere v primerjavi z drugimi evropskimi državami sodi tudi Slovenija, težijo k večjemu gospodarskemu napredku. Zato se odločajo za podpiranje in financiranje težkih gospodarskih projektov, za katere je dokazano, da bodo imeli za okolje več negativnih posledic kot koristi. Diplomsko delo se v teoretičnem delu osredotoča predvsem na okoljsko zakonodajo, ki je bila sprejeta v Evropi, opisuje pa tudi okoljsko zakonodajo, sprejeto v Sloveniji, in kakšne strategije bi bilo treba uporabiti, da bi odpravili pretirano uničevanje okolja, da ne bi bila edina gonilna sila za trajnostni razvoj le težka industrija. Opisani so odnosi med državo, lokalnimi skupnostmi in širšo javnostjo, kako država podaja informacije o odločitvah in kje omogoča sodelovanje nevladnih organizacij in zainteresiranih prebivalcev. V drugem delu je predstavljen primer iz prakse, ki je trenutno eden izmed glavnih projektov, ki bi ga radi izvedli v naslednjih letih. Problem nastopi, ko izvemo, da gre pri tem za spreminjanje in poseganje v območje, ki je zavarovano po zakonu, to so območja reke Mure, zapisana v slovenski Naturi 2000. Vse hipoteze diplomskega dela so potrjene, kar pomeni, da je večina okoljske zakonodaje v Sloveniji kršene, ko gre za projekt, s katerim bi pridobili večjo gospodarsko razvitost.Environmental degradation is an increasing problem in economically less developed countries. The less developed European countries, including Slovenia when compared to other countries, strive for economic development. For this reason, they support and finance difficult economic projects that proved to have more consequences than benefits for the environment. The theoretical part of the thesis mainly focuses on environmental legislation adopted in Europe, but also describes environmental legislation introduced in Slovenia and the strategies that should be implemented in order to reverse excessive environmental degradation and stop relying on heavy industry as the only driving force for sustainable development. The relationships between the country, local communities and general public are described along with the manner in which the country provides information on decisions and how to facilitate the participation of non-governmental organisations and interested citizens. The second part of the thesis analyses a practical example that is also one of the main projects that are supposed to be carried out in the following years. However, a bigger problem occurs when we realize that the project would change the environment and intervene in the area of the Mura River that was protected in the context of Natura 2000 network in Slovenia. The hypotheses were confirmed in the end, which means that the majority of environmental legislation in Slovenia has been infringed when it is stated that a project could boost economic growth