7.2 Background of the Project
Transparency International Turkey and the Environmental Law Association first
met at an Environment and Transparency Workshop held by Transparency
International Turkey in 2013. At the workshop, the importance of the law in
environmental struggles was one of the topics, and the lack of common knowledge
about environmental law and the increasing need for this knowledge were
emphasized. After this workshop two organizations started to work together to
create a project which was expected to contribute to the environmental struggle by
taking steps to explain the law to environmental activists. By taking this workshop
as a first step and keeping in mind that the law in environmental struggles is a
complex and lesser known area, the aims of the project were: to create transparency
in environmental legislation and implementation; and to monitor and highlight
environmental law cases and important decisions which could influence new
environmental cases. It was also defined as a first step in exploring the vast area of
environmental struggles and a chance to open new paths for new projects and
research.
The project was chosen for funding by the European Union under the
Developing Civil Dialogue among CSOs Grant Scheme in 2014. The project team
consisted of technical staff who did the mapping and organized workshops, lawyers
who worked actively in finding and analysing court case decisions, and two experts
who are academics. Environmental law cases closed by high courts which would
not cause any speculation because they are closed cases (European Court of Human
Rights, Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal, and Council of State) were found
and examined by the project team.
Out of around 10,000 high court decisions, 200 decisions chosen according to
the aim of the project were examined by the project team. Twenty decisions were
analysed in depth and used for the interactive maps which show the relations
between legislation, institutions and concepts that were used to make decisions by
the related high court.
6 In addition to interactive maps, there is a report (Alpsoy,
2015) which summarizes the project and results and a leaflet
7 on how to use right to
information and how to read court case decisions easily.
The project used the technique of network mapping to reveal the relationships
between concepts and actors. This makes it easier to understand the connections
between them. Network mapping is a digital tool which reveals the relationships
between various actors or nodes. This technique visualizes the connections to make
them more understandable, thus abstract data turn into a map of relations. As
GraphCommons, who provided their platform to shape the project maps, puts it,
8
6
The project web site: http://www.cevredavalariharitasi.org/ (no longer working).
7
The leaflet can be reached at: http://www.seffaflik.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Kitapcik.pdf.
8
GraphCommons: “Graph Commons is a collaborative ‘network mapping’ platform and a
knowledge base of relationships. Graph Commons members have been using the platform for
investigative journalism, data research, civic activism, strategizing, organizational analysis,
116
E. Türker Alpay
Transparency International Turkey and the Environmental Law Association first
met at an Environment and Transparency Workshop held by Transparency
International Turkey in 2013. At the workshop, the importance of the law in
environmental struggles was one of the topics, and the lack of common knowledge
about environmental law and the increasing need for this knowledge were
emphasized. After this workshop two organizations started to work together to
create a project which was expected to contribute to the environmental struggle by
taking steps to explain the law to environmental activists. By taking this workshop
as a first step and keeping in mind that the law in environmental struggles is a
complex and lesser known area, the aims of the project were: to create transparency
in environmental legislation and implementation; and to monitor and highlight
environmental law cases and important decisions which could influence new
environmental cases. It was also defined as a first step in exploring the vast area of
environmental struggles and a chance to open new paths for new projects and
research.
The project was chosen for funding by the European Union under the
Developing Civil Dialogue among CSOs Grant Scheme in 2014. The project team
consisted of technical staff who did the mapping and organized workshops, lawyers
who worked actively in finding and analysing court case decisions, and two experts
who are academics. Environmental law cases closed by high courts which would
not cause any speculation because they are closed cases (European Court of Human
Rights, Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal, and Council of State) were found
and examined by the project team.
Out of around 10,000 high court decisions, 200 decisions chosen according to
the aim of the project were examined by the project team. Twenty decisions were
analysed in depth and used for the interactive maps which show the relations
between legislation, institutions and concepts that were used to make decisions by
the related high court.
6 In addition to interactive maps, there is a report (Alpsoy,
2015) which summarizes the project and results and a leaflet
7 on how to use right to
information and how to read court case decisions easily.
The project used the technique of network mapping to reveal the relationships
between concepts and actors. This makes it easier to understand the connections
between them. Network mapping is a digital tool which reveals the relationships
between various actors or nodes. This technique visualizes the connections to make
them more understandable, thus abstract data turn into a map of relations. As
GraphCommons, who provided their platform to shape the project maps, puts it,
8
6
The project web site: http://www.cevredavalariharitasi.org/ (no longer working).
7
The leaflet can be reached at: http://www.seffaflik.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Kitapcik.pdf.
8
GraphCommons: “Graph Commons is a collaborative ‘network mapping’ platform and a
knowledge base of relationships. Graph Commons members have been using the platform for
investigative journalism, data research, civic activism, strategizing, organizational analysis,
116
E. Türker Alpay