Online search for dirt The Blacksmith Institute opens nominations for "Polluted Places" (www.pollutedplaces.org), a website devoted to identifying locales in the developing world "where human health and the environment are significantly impacted by pollution." So far, the project has identified the cities of Dzerzhinsk and Magadan in Russia, as well as Chernobyl in Ukraine, as locations in Eastern Europe where "human health and the environment are significantly impacted by pollution." According to the website, "a 'Polluted Place' is a location in a developing country where identified, primarily point-source pollutants are causing substantial and preventable health problems." The project's goal is to create global partnerships that will assist local agencies in solving pollution-related problems. The project will first accept nominations from all sectors of the community to pinpoint and assess sites that fit this description. Secondly, the project will provide resources to local partners needed to initiate and sustain the remediation process. According to the Blacksmith Institute, the site is looking "specifically for sites that lack an existing and capable clean-up effort, located in communities that demonstrate sufficient capacity and interest to make remediation feasible." Richard Fuller, chair of the project, said the institute welcomes nominations from anyone. World's largest environmental database A new gateway to information about environmental law is now available on the Internet at (www.ecolex.org). "The world's largest environmental law database" has been developed by combining the legal libraries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Information on multilateral legal instruments in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as national legislation and jurisprudence in force in CEE countries are readily available. ECOLEX provides online access to over 100,000 legal references and is an essential resource for developing tools to promote environmental management. The information on the site covers treaties, national legislation, soft law and other non-binding policy and technical guidance documents, court decisions, and literature on policy and law. Users have direct access to the abstracts and indexing information about each document, as well as to the full text of most of the information provided. Czech portal fights the power The Czech civil society network Econnect recently launched a portal called the "Information Portal Civic Society "The Citizen's Handbook to Citizens' Rights." Its creators describe it as a "civic-defence guide" for those who believe they've been wronged by big business or government. The portal at obcan.ecn.cz describes how citizens can get involved in land-use planning, environmental impact assessments and other processes which call for direct public participation in decision making. Some of these processes are illustrated in simple schematic drawings which guide the user through the administrative procedures. The portal includes information on how to deal with officials in particular cases and what to be aware of when participating in environmental decision making. The site also includes a number of illustrative case studies accompanied by scanned official correspondence, a description of procedures and more.

Featured sites: Polluted Places The world's largest environmental law database Information Portal Civic Society