The Making of Environmental Policy in Georgia
The Making of Environmental Policy in Georgia

Summary/Abstract: In Georgia, there is a window of opportunity to address long-neglected environmental problems. The government is under pressure to harmonize its environmental policy with EU legislation, and to bring the level of its performance on environmental matters up to expected EU standards. The EU certainly offers money and expertise to secure the results of such political and legislative effort, but without local contextualization the ultimate aim, which is of course an improvement in the quality of the environment, will not be achieved. By means of an actor-focused social network analysis, this article offers an examination of motivations and constraints in the production process of environmental policy in Georgia, and draws upon local primary sources supported by extensive secondary sources. The author concludes that hitherto unstable and donor-driven ‘best practice’ environmental policy-making ought to be supplemented by highly skilled analytical institutional bodies which must connect actors, and that local needs require a stronger voice. Information and transparency are crucial to reaching those goals.

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