Contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity can be achieved by:

• raising awareness of the benefits of nature conservation,
• supporting nature and biodiversity policy and legislation compliance assurance, and/or
• supporting access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation-related matters.

Behavioural change and awareness-raising initiatives should:

• promote awareness raising on nature and biodiversity conservation matters, including generating public and stakeholder support of Union policy-making; and/or;
• support communication, management, and dissemination of information in the field of the nature and biodiversity conservation, and to facilitate knowledge sharing on successful solutions and practice, including by developing cooperation platforms among stakeholders and training; and/or;
• promote better environmental governance in the field of nature and biodiversity conservation by broadening stakeholder involvement, including NGOs, in consultation on and implementation of policy.

Priority is given to proposals improving awareness of the benefits of nature conservation, and in particular on the Natura 2000 network of protected sites established under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.

Proposals that focus on compliance assurance, as well as public participation and access to justice (Aarhus Convention), must support the implementation of the governance aspects of the EU nature and biodiversity legislation by:

• promoting effective public participation and access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation-related matters amongst the public, NGOs, lawyers, the judiciary, public administrations; and/or − establishing new or, where in place, enhancing existing cross-border, national or regional networks of compliance assurance practitioners or experts; and/or;
• establishing or, where in place, improving professional qualifications and training to improve public participation, access to justice and compliance with binding EU legal instruments on nature and biodiversity, through promoting, checking and enforcing compliance; and/or;
• developing and implementing strategies and policies and/or developing and using innovative tools and actions to promote, monitor and enforce compliance with binding EU instruments on nature and biodiversity, including use of administrative law, criminal law and environmental liability; and/or;
• improving relevant information systems operated by public authorities; and/or
• engaging with citizens and others to promote and monitor compliance, and; ensure application of environmental liability in relation to EU nature and biodiversity legislation.

Raising awareness on nature and conservation issues, EU nature policies, tools and/or legislation among the relevant target audiences, aiming to change their perceptions and fostering the adoption of supporting behaviours and practices, and/or direct citizen’s engagement. Applicants need to provide substantial evidence that a change of awareness levels in the field addressed by the project is a crucial factor supporting correct implementation and/or future development of EU nature and biodiversity conservation policies tools and/or legislation. The awareness-raising activities should have the widest coverage relevant for the specific issue targeted.

Promoting good practices, supporting implementation, organising trainings, educational, academic programmes, etc. to ensure effective compliance assurance, as well as public participation and access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation related matters amongst the public (including youth and future professionals), NGOs, lawyers, the judiciary, public administrations or other stakeholders with a view to improving knowledge, understanding and application of effective means of public participation and/or access to justice, with a particular focus on protecting nature and biodiversity via the nature, biodiversity, water and environmental liability instruments.

With regard to professional qualifications and training, projects should ensure academic credentials (or certificates) and maximise the potential of information technology through means such as webinars and massive open online courses (MOOCs) to allow distance learning to reach as many practitioners as cost-effectively as possible. Promotion systems and techniques could involve the use of guidance, advisory services, awareness-raising campaigns, partnership agreements, or selfmonitoring systems that assist duty-holders to comply with environmental obligations.

Environmental compliance assurance practitioners can include those working for authorities and bodies with compliance assurance responsibilities such as local, regional, police and customs authorities, agencies and inspectorates, supreme public audit bodies, public prosecutors offices and the judiciary. They can also include nongovernmental organisations, and academics and researchers specialised in one or more aspects of environmental compliance assurance.

Strategies and policies on compliance assurance in general and combating environmental crime in particular are aimed at high-level organisation of activities and interventions, especially risk-based ones. Innovative tools could relate to different compliance monitoring systems and techniques, including site inspections, surveillance (including through use of satellites and drones), spot checks, intelligencegathering, industry analysis, police investigation, data analysis and environmental audits. Follow-up and enforcement techniques can have a similarly wide coverage.

Electronic complaint-handling systems, hot lines, citizen observatories and other citizen science platforms can all facilitate citizen engagement. Citizen science platforms may, amongst other things, allow competent national, regional and local authorities to engage citizens in state-of-the-environment and other forms of monitoring, while also generating more harmonized and useable data.

Promoting good practices, preparing guidance documents, organising trainings to ensure using an appropriate mix of administrative law, criminal law and environmental liability for a more effective implementation and enforcement of relevant Union environmental law, as well as to ensure more effective public participation and access to justice on environmental matters.

Projects should draw on existing modules and know-how in the area of environmental law training developed by the Commission and the Commission Notice on access to justice in environmental matters and related materials.