I N T E R V I E W
Training project success for the NGOs in Romania
Christina Motoi is deputy director of the Training, Information and Mediation Center for Eco-Development in Romania.
Can you please define the Training, Information and Mediation Center for Eco-Development?
TIMCED is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization founded in 1993.
And how did you start its foundation?
TIMCED's beginnings are based on two Romanian NGO projects. Originally, these two founding NGO projects were People and the Environment and the Ecological Cooperation Group. All the activities were - and still are - project-based. Usually, it is other organizations that come to us with new methods, approaches and projects. At first, the two NGO projects worked in partnership, but later the Ecological Cooperation Group decided to drop out. So People and the Environment is now running the institution on its own. Later on, TIMCED established close relations with the university. We are actually located on its campus. This merger has brought many advantages to both sides: Students cooperate in our activities, and we provide them with information that matches their interests. Alongside the university, a close and successful cooperation has also been established with the local government. The proof is that NGOs from all over the country attended our workshops.
So this was one of your early achievements. But what do you consider your most successful project?
One of our main successes was the "Milieu-Contact" project, a two-year project based on strengthening environmental NGOs and increasing public participation in environmental decisionmaking in Romania. This project consists of 10 modules spread over the two years. Upon the project's completion in February 1997, there was an evaluation of the program. Participants were very satisfied. When asked if such projects should be repeated and followed up, they all answered positively. They also came up with useful suggestions to further improve such initiatives. It was also felt that participants need support in their activities, such as this project provided. All in all, this project proved very successful and also suggests that there is a real need for professional help and support and for training activities in the region. So this means that the Milieu-Contact project was an excellent way of assessing the training needs in the NGO community.
What has been your major obstacle in implementing your projects?
Funding has been a main problem in organizing our training activities.
And what is your "policy" on funding?
Initially, we did not charge for workshops, and we still do not. So at the moment, we are still very dependent on grants. But we intend to charge fees in the future. This method of not charging cannot be pursued for long in the present conditions. Of course, the fees will depend on the target audience. Usually it consists of businessmen and individuals. I believe it is a good thing to have different sources of funding. If one source gets cut, it will not cause too much harm, we can still rely on the other ones.
What do you see as possible future developments for TIMCED? Do you have any particular plans?
We would like to concentrate more on local governments, that is to implement projects locally. There is indeed a lack of professional educators in the region, of people with knowledge of the latest trends and developments in the environmental field. This does not mean that they are unqualified - they may have a specialization in environmental engineering, for example, but they do not know how to transmit their knowledge throughout successful trainings. We have already made significant steps toward this plan through several projects. One of them is the International Council of Local and Environmental Initiatives, based in Freiburg, Germany.
REC * EMTC * PUBLICATIONS * INSIGHT * WINTER-SPRING 1997
