Join Our Webinar: “Moving the Global Access to Information Agenda Forward”
by
Sarah Parsons - 
A version of this post originally appeared on The Access Initiative's blog.
The World Resources Institute, The Access Initiative, Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, and Thailand Environment Institute invite you to an online seminar on October 25, 2012. Participants will learn how citizens in Indonesia and Thailand are using their countries’ freedom of information (FOI) laws to obtain data on environmental pollution in their communities.
“Webinars like this are so important because they enable people to reflect on developing country experiences in the implementation of right to information laws for citizens,” said Carole Excell, a Senior Associate in WRI’s Governance and Access program. “We hope to challenge the perspective that right to information laws are tools used only by sophisticated organizations and talk about their utility as tools for citizens and communities.”
A Study Tour at WRI
From October 22nd–October 25th, WRI will be hosting an international group of Thai and Indonesian civil society representatives, high-level government officials, and legal aid groups as part of our Strengthening the Right to Information for People and the Environment (STRIPE) project. This Study Tour will provide participants with an opportunity to meet U.S. government officials, World Bank representatives, and NGO leaders in order to gain knowledge about America’s pollution-control regulations, data-release procedures, and the challenges of using freedom of information (FOI) requests to further pollution prevention campaigns.
On October 25th, from 4:00 – 6:00 PM EST, the Study Tour will present a concluding panel discussion entitled “Moving the Global Access to Information Agenda Forward.” The panel will be broadcast online, and viewers will be able to ask questions and provide feedback via a webinar. Join us online as we highlight the outcomes of our STRIPE Study Tour and detail how this work fits into the broader context of open government, environmental justice, and global access to information movements.
Invited speakers include Andrew Steer, President and CEO of WRI, and Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, Secretary General of the Office of Natural Resources and Environment Policy (ONEP), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Government of Thailand. Representatives from the Thailand Environment Institute and the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law will also participate in the discussion. We hope you will join us!
Here’s How You Can Participate:
View the live stream of the panel discussion on October 25th, beginning at 4PM EST
For interactive participation, also join the GoToMeeting (Meeting ID 168-746-730)
We are also inviting the public to attend the panel event at WRI. If you would like to attend in person, please RSVP to Carrie McKee at cmckee@wri.org
Learn more about access to information by visiting the Access Initiative's website.