Events, Conferences, Seminars, Campaign Meetings

Access Info's team of staff, consultants and board members participate in events such as conferences and seminars. These face to face meetings with civil society, jounrnalists, government representatives, academics and members of the general public are an important way of discussing and raising awareness of the right to information.

On this page you can read about recent events and find links to more material such as declarations, reports and video footage. This news on events will also help you to identify who is doing what to promote the right of access to information and who are the key contacts in your country or region.

14 December 2008, Budapest, Hungary

Budapest Declaration on Right of Access to Information

On 14 December 2008, leading experts from around the world adopted the Budapest Declaration which calls for the right of access to information to apply to all States at all levels of government, to intergovernmental organizations, and also to other bodies undertaking public functions. At the two-day conference organised by Access Info Europe, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the Central European University's Center for Media and Communication, the experts noted the need to develop the right of access to information in specific sectors and called for development of effective systems for monitoring implementation of the right of access to information.

To read the text of the full declaration click here and to see pictures of the event click here.

2 December 2008, Helsinki

Anders Chydenius Foundation Conference: Swedish and Finnish Governments commit to EU Transparency

A one-day forum organised by the Anders Chydenius Foundation and Helsingin Sanomat Foundation on the occasion the anniversary of the adoption of the world's first access to information law (1766) presented an opportunity to raise concerns about transparency of the European Union and to get a commitment from the governments of Finland and Sweden to ensure that they would work to defend the openness of Europe's supra-national body. At the forum, attended by Access Info's Executive Director Helen Darbishire, the Anders Chydenius Foundation issued its annual award to Mr. Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media for his work to promote access to governmental information. Read more ...