EJUC is an EU-funded project supporting marginalised communities and advocates to address environmental injustice and advance fundamental rights-based environmental policies across Europe.

The objective is to strengthen the capacity of communities, human rights lawyers, and other stakeholders to advance intersectional, community-driven strategic litigation under EU law, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.​

Not everyone is equally affected by environmental issues. Pollution, flooding, poor housing and bad urban planning hit the most vulnerable communities the hardest – and too often, policies and decisions ignore their voices and needs. This includes racialised communities, who are frequently exposed to greater environmental risks, are too often excluded from the decisions that affect them. This is true across Europe, including in Spain, France, Romania and Hungary, where our project is based.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 are we 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁?

🔹 Gathering evidence: documenting how inequality shapes who bears the biggest environmental burdens
🔹 Listening to communities: understanding their real experiences with environmental risks
🔹 Building capacity: helping communities and advocates know their rights and how to use them
🔹 Pushing for change: supporting legal action and advocacy to hold decision-makers accountable
🔹 Improving policy: working to ensure that EU and national laws truly protect everyone, not just some

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?

Environmental justice means that everyone – regardless of their ethnicity, residence status, income or where they live – has the right to a clean, safe and healthy environment. EJUC exists to make that a reality.

What does 2C do?

  • Structured interviews with the communities in Pata Rât – Cluj Napoca, with public authorities and with equality bodies to understand needs, barriers and awareness of environmental justice.

  • Capacity-building for marginalised Romanian communities to strengthen knowledge of environmental and human rights, support reporting of environmental harms and enable direct dialogue with authorities.

  • Policy recommendations in Romania and advocacy for stronger environmental justice protections and mapping tools.

  • Exploring legal avenues, including strategic litigation and complaints, to establish precedents and ensure that public authorities uphold fundamental rights.

  • Capacity building for equality bodies (the Romanian Ombudsperson and others) and other fundamental rights institutions so they can better recognise and address environmental injustice.