Copenhagen

The city council in Copenhagen (Borgerrepræsentationen) has some years ago decided that all proposals from the departments to the politicians in the city council should be assessed for its environmental impacts. The types of
proposals or recommendations typically include plans or strategies, projects, new or changed operation conditions, new collaboration agreements, and financial grants.
The Copenhagen EPA has had the responsibility of implementing this procedure. A first version of the procedure was developed by the Forum for Environmental Assessment in the municipality, which includes representatives from each of
the Departments in Copenhagen municipality (Economy, Education and Youth, Health, Family- and Labor, Culture and Leisure, Building and Technique, Environment and Supply).
This procedure was used from 2001 to 2002. In 2002 it was evaluated by external consultants, focusing on the different departments’ experiences with the procedure. From this evaluation, the procedure has been revised, and is now in the process of politically approval and implementation. In 2006 it will be evaluated again, this time focusing on the politicians’ views on the procedure.

assessment
good governance
sustainable development

The general purpose of the assessment procedure is:
1. to ensure that an environmental impact assessment is made for all relevant proposals to the City Council
2. that the politicians will be aware about the environmental impacts of the proposals, and how it relates to the environmental goals that they have defined earlier
3. that this will make politicians raise questions to the departments that forwards the projects and proposals, so that the environmental performance will become better

municipality of Copenhagen

municipality of Copenhagen

The checklist to support the assessment operates with 13 environmental themes: Water/sewage, energy, waste, soil, noise, air pollution, transport, Agenda 21, embedding of environmental policy, operation of Municipal institutions, enterprises, buildings, and infrastructure provision. For each theme, the environmental goals defined in previously accepted plans and policies are summarized, with references to the documents where the goals are defined.
The process started in 2001, and is expected to become permanently integrated in the municipal administration

Mrs. Susanne Boisen Pedersen, Copenhagen EPA

PETUS project
www.petus.eu.com (Accessed July, 29, 2009)