On 15 March 2016, a seminar on “Legal regulation in the sphere of environmental protection” was organized within IDEA’s “Youth Training Program”.

About 40 people studying or working in the fields of environment, ecology and sustainable development participated in the seminar held at IDEA’s Resource Center located at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The seminar offered comprehensive information on the existing Azerbaijani legislation related to various environmental issues, including protection of ecology, biodiversity conservation, efficient use of natural resources, inviolability of natural landscapes, maintenance of clean internal waters, ecological security, industrial pollution and waste management. Effective legal regulation mechanisms and deficiencies of our national legal system were discussed at the event.

The seminar also featured a discussion on penalties envisaged in the legislation for damaging the environment. It was noted that harsh measures are stipulated in the existing legislation for hunting endangered animals, exercising environmentally harmful practices in industry and construction as well as for other detrimental activities; relevant fines and penalties for such offences are continuously increasing.

Thanks to the interactive format of the event and due to its participants’ special sensitivity to the topic, the seminar took place in a very interesting and stimulating atmosphere.

Considering the insufficient public awareness of penalties and fines currently applied for harming nature, information offered at the seminar was exceptionally useful in terms of participants’ familiarity with laws related to environmental protection.

IDEA regularly organizes trainings, seminars, viewings of films about nature, and other activities for young people that study ecology and sustainable development in order to deepen their knowledge of the environment, help them focus on solving environmental problems and offer them experts’ views on these issues. Such events are held on a monthly basis at IDEA’s Resource Center located at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Announcements of activities are distributed through IDEA’s internet resources (www.facebook.com/ideacampaign and http://instagram.com/idea_public_union).