2017/17/DOC19

Support in the implementation of the REFIT actions for the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) – phase 1

Task 3 –ELD Training and Capacity Building

Questionnaire

This Questionnaire seeks to collect views and experience on the current use of the existing ELD training material, identification of future training needs as well as identification of possible administrative support and capacity building concepts for ELD stakeholders and practitioners.

The Questionnaire is split into four parts, namely:

  • Part 1 on information about the respondent
  • Part 2 on current use of the existing training material
  • Part 3 on identification of future training needs and
  • Part 4 on administrative support and capacity building concepts for ELD stakeholders and practitioners.

Part 3 presents a number of possible training concepts, whereas Part 4 presents a number of administrative support and capacity building concepts. In order to help respondents to answer the asked questions accurately, a detailed description of the presented concepts is provided in AnnexesI and II to the Questionnaire.

Finally, questions for which the response is required are marked with a letter ‘R’, whereas questions for which the response is optional are marked with a letter ‘O’ in the Questionnaire below.

Estimated time needed to complete the Questionnaire: 5 – 10 minutes.

Part 1 –Information about the respondent
1. Are you: Please select one of the provided categories. - R
EU official / Member State official / Private sector representative / NGO sector representative / Other
1.a In case of Member State official, Private sector representative, NGO representative and others, which EU Member State are you most affiliated with? – Rin case of ‘Yes’ to question 1
AT / BE / BG / CZ / CY / DE / DK
EE / EL / ES / FI / FR / HR / HU
IE / IT / LT / LU / LV / NL / MT
PL / PT / RO / SI / SK / SE / UK
2. How would you grade your knowledge of the requirements stemming from the ELD? - R
Poor / Basic / Advanced
Part 2 - Current use of the existing training material
3. Are you aware of the existence of the ELD Training Material available on the Commission’s website[1]? – R
Yes / No
4. Have you ever followed a training session or taken a closer look at the ELD Training Material available on the Commission’s website? – Rin case of ‘Yes’ to question 3
Yes / No
4.a. If yes, how would you grade the effectiveness of the ELD Training Material in building and strengthening the capacity to implement the ELD? (1 – low; 5 – high) – Rin case of ‘Yes’ to question 4
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
4.b. If yes, do you have any suggestions for its possible improvements? - O
Answer:
5. Please indicate any other ELD related training material used at the EU and national level that you may be aware of. - O
Answer:
Part 3 - Identification of future training needs
6. How effective do you consider the following training concepts? (1 – low; 5 – high) (please see the detailed description of potential training concepts in Annex I) - R
-Face to face training including group work, case studies, simulation exercises and problem-solving learning / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Webinars (combining web and seminars) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Training of trainers (ToT) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Joint EU and MS trainings / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Peer 2 Peer trainings / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
7. Do you have examples of other training concepts? –O
Answer:
Part 4 - Administrative support and capacity building concepts for ELD stakeholders and practitioners
8. How effective do you consider the following administrative support and capacity building concepts? (1 – low; 5 – high) (please see the detailed description of administrative support and capacity building concepts for ELD stakeholders and practitioners in Annex II) - R
-ELDWiki / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Helpdesk / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Dissemination of information through established networks / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Environmental damage risk and damage evaluations IT tools / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
-Newsletters / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
9. Do you have examples of other administrative support and capacity building concepts? - O
Answer:
Annex I - Description of potential training methods
Face to face training / It is a real time training in one venue. With the aim of enhancing its overall effectiveness, the face to face training introduces improvements in training preparation, such as:
-sending surveys to participants prior to training to assess their level of knowledge and to tailor the training to their needs and
-including the description of the training, targeted audience and expected results in the invitation to the training.
One of the main aspects of this training includes group work, case studies, simulation exercises and problem-solving learning. The face to face training discusses concrete cases or individual damage incidents (damage assessment, valuation and remediation) through the use of breakout sessions. Each breakout group is provided with facts of the case and is tasked with finding solutions. The groups are presenting their results via a designated rapporteur. At the end, the trainer provides his/her views on the discussed problem and presented solutions. The face to face training is recorded and subsequently uploaded on the Commission’s website.
Webinars / The updated ELD Training Material is presented in a form of a webinar (combining web and seminars). This means that participants can log in and follow the training from various locations. Since the webinar resembles a virtual classroom, the participants can ask questions and share their views with other participants. The trainer is relying on the use of IT to present the training material.
The webinar may rely on available tools such as Cisco WebEx Technology. These webinars can be recorded and uploaded on the website for later use.
Training of trainers
(ToT) / The objective of ToT is to enable national trainers to deliver training on the relevant aspects of the ELD in Member States.
This option uses the existing ELD Training Material as a starting point. If needed, the ELD Training Material is updated with additional information identified during Tasks 1 (e.g. capacity building concerning EU Register) and 2 (common understanding of key ELD concepts methods and approaches). Also, the Training Material should be further adjusted to enable national training authorities and individuals to use these materials to deliver the training.
The trainers must be thought how to use the available information for the training. In addition to the training manuals, the ELD Training Material should be supplemented by additional supporting documents[2]. The trainers should be thought how to apply interactive training methods (case studies, role plays). They must be provided with tools on how to adapt the training material to their needs. This could be done through video tutorials. Such tutorials would explain to the national trainers how to develop their own training using the available material.
The trainers must be given an opportunity to exercise application of what they have learned during a practical exercise. During such exercise, the participants will be given tasks and they will have to prepare a short presentation on a specific topic.
In order to qualify for the training, such national trainers should have basic experience with training tools and presentation techniques. They should also have an advanced knowledge of the ELD and excellent English language skills. Consultancy companies in Member States may be especially motivated to obtain such trainings.
Joint EU and MS trainings / EU and Member State level stakeholders and practitioners could organise joint trainings for Member State level stakeholders and practitioners. Aspects of the face to face training could be included in the implementation of the joint training. This means that specific case studies could be prepared meeting the requirements of both requirements under the EU legislation and other national legislation implementing the ELD.
Peer 2 Peer training / Peer to Peer training is a training provided and received by Member State officials. Trainings can take place through three different forms. Officials of Member States with relevant experience in the implementation of the ELD may be sent to institutions in other Member States that have requested peer advice and exchange of experience. These expert missions can last between two to five days. Also, Member State officials may be sent on a working visit to other EU Member State institutions to learn from peer and exchange good practices. These study visits can also last between two to five days. Finally, officials of one Member State may provide workshops to officials of other Member States. These workshops normally last two days.
Annex II - Description of additional options to provide administrative support and capacity building for ELD stakeholders and practitioners
ELDWiki / The online ELDWiki will collate all relevant available information per identified issue in one place. It can contain a list of most relevant and most frequently asked questions and accompanying answers. It should provide its users with an explanation of the ELD text, relevant case law, guidance documents and publications, including studies, examples of best practices across the EU. It can also include links to the Member State ELD guidance documents, Member State legislation transposing the ELD and a selection of other official documents and references in the context of the ELD. The ELDWiki can also include instructions on reporting to the Register set up under Task 1.
In terms of its technical characteristics, the ELDWiki would be an online searchable repository/database of the relevant topics using existing knowledge management software such as the DokuWiki software[3]. It should be available in official EU languages.
Reliance on existing networks / A 2013 Study[4] showed that EU officials consider networks and committees as the most effective EU compliance promoting tools. According to this study, the Commission officials regard the networks and committees as very effective in facilitating the exchange of best practices and problem solutions since they gather the people engaged in the implementation on the ground work facing the implementation problems.
Due to its cross cutting nature, the dissemination of information concerning ELD could be carried out through other already established specific networks. An example of such network is the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and the Floods Directive network. The network gathers Member States, EU institutions and stakeholders in a platform to exchange information, discuss and decide on critical issues of the Directive’s implementation. It is supported by the Water Framework Directive CIRCA (Communication & Information Resource Centre Administrator) site.
Other networks such as IMPEL could also be interesting. IMPEL (EU Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law)[5] brings together the environmental inspection authorities of the EU Member States, EU candidate countries, EEA (European Economic Area) and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries.
Helpdesks / The ELD Report’s ‘Recommendations and next steps’ identified ‘helpdesk for practitioners, providing information, assistance and assessment support for risk and damage evaluations’ as one of the measures to improve the implementation of the ELD.
A helpdesk may cover a number of different functions. Also the associated costs of such a tool may be relatively high. The costs are closely related to the functions the tool covers.
At the moment, it is uncertain what the expectations of such helpdesk would be. Therefore, it is important to keep the expectations in mind when designing the helpdesk. In an attempt to acquire information on the expectations concerning the helpdesk across the ELD stakeholders and practitioners, the Single ELD Questionnaire will contain a question on this.
A helpdesk may come in different forms. For example, since June 2010, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment has been operating a mailbox for queries from sectors or groups of professional activities listed in ELD’s Annex III wishing to design, or are in the process of developing, sector-specific tools for environmental risk assessments[6].
Also, some functions of a helpdesk may be covered by other tools such as the ELDWiki presented above or the environmental damage risk and evaluation IT tools presented below.
Environmental damage risk and evaluation IT tools / IT tools may be introduced to provide part of the function of the helpdesk in a centralised manner at possibly reduced costs. There are numerous examples of such services provided in Member States. Some of the relevant examples are provided below:
-Mora is a free IT monetisation tool for environmental damage (primary, complementary, compensatory remediation)[7]. It enables determination of the extent of financial guarantees, on the basis of a resource to resource equivalency approach[8]. This application gives both operators and public administrations guidance as to which are the best remedial techniques to apply if environmental damage occurs and the need arises to design a project to remedy it[9]. The application is available to the public since 5 April 2013 on the website of the Spanish Ministry for Agriculture, Food and the Environment[10].
-The University of Montpellier III developed publicly available free-of-charge software called Visual HEA. The software allows calculation of the cost of damages and the benefits from the restoration measures. It thus facilitates the design – in time and space, of the restoration project.
-IDM is an environmental damage index simplifying the process of financial security which allows the estimation of an order of magnitude associated to each risk scenario, based on primary recovery costs of natural resources that can potentially be damaged, and provides the operator with a free software tool for the prioritization of risk minimization measures.
-VANE is a decision making support tool providing guidance on the economic valuation of natural resources and ecosystem services. This tool was developed already prior to the Spanish ELD transposition.
Blended tool – E-Tool / The function of ELDWiki, IT tool, ELD Training Material can be blended in one web based tool. This tool could serve as an interactive, multimedia and location-independent tool supporting dissemination of information.
Such platform could offer various possibilities such as view and download of material including multimedia files and communication forums. The communication forums should also enable participants to share documents and experiences. A friendly interface is crucial considering the amount of information presented therein. It enables the Commission to have the full control over the process, automatic update of the relevant information, users can ask questions and exchange information between them.
Newsletters / A newsletter could include latest developments concerning implementation of ELD, CJEU case law, examples from practice, links to scientific information, expert group meetings, available trainings. All this information could be fed into ELDWiki.
An inspiration could be found in the Natura 2000 newsletter[11]. The newsletter is produced twice a year and is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Polish. The newsletter presents development concerning the main issues of relevance for the Nature Directives

1

[1] Available at:

[2] For examples of manuals and other supporting documents, see: and

[3] Available at:

[4] Ballesteros, M., et al, Tools for ensuring implementation and application of EU law and evaluation of their effectiveness, European Parliament – Policy Department C, Brussels, 2013, 140 pp.

[5]

[6] See Spanish report under Article 18 of the ELD available here:

[7]Section 6.3 of the Commission Staff Working Document, REFIT Evaluation of the Environmental Liability Directive, Brussels, 14.4.2016, SWD(2016) 121 final.

[8]For more information on MORA see:

[9] Ballesteros, M., Petrovic, D. and others, Experience gained in the application of ELD biodiversity damage, European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment, Brussels, 2014, 72 pp.

[10]

[11] Available at: