In the framework of the project Climate Environmental Justice Convergence in the Western Balkans, financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Expertise France (EF) is looking for a Key Expert on Public Participation working in North Macedonia.

General description of the position:

The Key Expert on Public Participation will be responsible for the implementation of Project activities directed to North Macedonian pilot municipality (Component 2). He/she will work under the direct management of the Team Leader (‘TL’) to:

• Conduct analysis, assessments, develop guidelines, tools, recommendations and other deliverables foreseen in the work plan;
• Liaise with North Macedonian institutions and stakeholders and ensure their involvement in the Project implementation;
• Draft terms of reference, conduct the recruitment, in collaboration with the TL and the FAO, and coordinate the short-term national experts; work in collaboration with the team of short-term international expert;
•  Organise activities, such as round tables, trainings, meetings, workshops, in collaboration with the TL and the Financial and Administrative Officer (‘FAO’);
• Update the work plan and closely monitor its implementation.
•  Report to TL on conducted activities and ensure their quality and timeliness with reference to the workplan;
• Assist the TL and monitoring and evaluation expert to monitor component 1 results, outcomes and impact, including through the collection of data to update related indicators;
• Perform other duties related to the Project such as detailed in purchase orders.

In particular, the Key Expert on Public Participation will be directly contributing to:

1. Component 2 – Public Participation in environmental decision making

The work of this component aims at strengthened capacities of local authorities to encourage effective public participation practices in environmental matters in two of the targeted countries: Albania and North Macedonia. The work of the Public Participation Key Expert in North Macedonia, in cooperation with the international Public Participation expert, would be to assist the CEJ project team in the following activities:

2.1. Analysing the public participation mechanisms for policies and strategies affecting the environment at the local decision-making level in a local Municipality in North Macedonia already selected by the project during the assessment phase.

2.2. Improve effective use of public participation and consultation tools at the local level, based on the community needs, using the EU/ French best experiences and participatory examples.

2.3. Enhance participatory methods used in the environmental impact assessment processes by improving and widely disseminating relevant participatory tools, using the EU/ French best experiences and participatory examples.

2. Covering Environmental participation aspects at the National and Regional Events as part of the Component 1.

The work will mostly consist in contributing to the discussions related to Public Participation during the National Roundtable on Environmental Justice and the Regional event with the presence of the three targeted countries organised in the North Macedonia.