NPRI project with the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate (SIŽP)

The Slovak Environmental Inspectorate (SIŽP) is actively participating in IMPEL's National Peer Review Initiative (NPRI) and is implementing an NPRI programme focusing on the development of a specific new Department of Technological Innovations to support the use of innovative tools to increase  efficiency and effectiveness of  inspections and of other environmental protection activities . From 29 to 31 May, a meeting was held in Bratislava in the framework of the NPRI with 22 representatives of SIŽP; also NPRI Project team members, from Portugal, Romania, Italy and Albania, took part to the meeting, both to give their contribution to the discussion but also to witness the work in progress in Slovakia as example and experience in Peer Review to be used in their own specific NPRI perspective. 

Mr. Ján Jenčo, Director General of SIŽP, mentioned that the NPRI project is important for his organisation, as the application of the flexible NPRI approach will allow them to accelerate the development process of the newly established Department of Technological Innovations. He indicated that the implementation of the NPRI project, with the support of the international NPRI team, has significant added value for his organisation. In particular, this concerns the translation of SIŽP's ambitions into the concrete development of innovative tools. At this stage of the project, the scoping of the Slovak NPRI project, the discussion and analysis of the results of a stakeholder analysis, among others, are important for the further implementation of the project. The national project leaders, tasked with the development of the scheme of the new Department and several representatives of the regional services of the Slovak Inspectorate, “users” of the service under development, also attended the meeting and provided their reflections.

The results of the constructive discussions among the Slovak participants, as well as the peer reflections of the international NPRI project team members, then formed an important basis for the follow-up steps to be taken by SIŽP. The NPRI Project team will foster also the new phase of the activities.

The meeting was also used by the international NPRI project team members to share and discuss the progress of the implementation of their NPRI project through peer reflection. This approach proved particularly valuable.