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In Europe, environmental policy making has become a true international phenomenon. All member states of the European Union base their policies on EC directives and regulations.
National policies are directly related to the work done in the EU Environmental Council and many policy-makers meet regularly at various conferences, workshops and meetings.
The role of communication in the policy -making process is becoming increasingly recognized. Environmental decision-makers view communication as an instrument with great potential to achieve a sustainable society.
Many EU documents refer to this instrument as "awareness raising", "the promotion of public participation", "education" , "communication and information", etc and may include proposals for campaigns, education and training programmes and so on.
In view of the above, a workshop for Communication Officers of National Environmental Authorities within the European Union took place in the Hague in September 1995.
The first steps were taken towards the establishment of the Green Spider, the European environmental communication network The Green Spider First Annual Meeting.
Besides the annual meetings different Member States arrange workshops on specific topics related to information and communication processes.
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