Until now NGOs with all their requests, questions, complaining letters and threatens were seen primarily as troublemakers, instead of the clients they are for the EGT. Since without NGOs the EGT should not exist. Another reason is that REC is in competition with other funding organizations to sponsor the best projects and groups. If potential East-East cooperative NGOs do not want to work with the EGT, they might find another way to get their funds. It is important for the EGT to show their results and their effectiveness. Extraordinary closed out projects, complaining letters of activists and the criticism from this research is all bad advertisement for the EGT. If they want to address their funds to establish long lasting East-East cooperation, they have to see the importance of good relationships with the well-developed, well-organized, relatively strong NGOs, because those are potential East-East cooperative organizations. Of course this type of groups knows how to manipulate funders, has leaders with a strong personality and knows how to use their (press)contacts to mention their discomfort with the EGT and its procedures. For the EGT even more a reason to establish and/or keep good relationships with those groups. To see them as clients and respond to their needs, in time. Again good communication is needed, as we have seen before.
The second change in attitude should be to recognize the experience and knowledge of NGOs and individual activists. Potential East-East cooperative NGOs and project leaders are very experienced, skilled, educated people who usually work already a long time in the environmental field. This is not always the case for the REC staff. An attitude of listening instead of dictating would be far more convenient. A third factor is to take the job of environmental NGOs serious. Keep promises, meet the people and their projects personally and show interest in their submitted reports.
Practical improvements of the EGT could be made by simplifying the procedures as much as possible and in being as consistent as possible over time. The latter at least in for example responsible project officers, a client friendly attitude and for standard procedures. Finally the communication with environmental NGOs should actively be improved by the EGT. The above mentioned attitude changes will support better communication, but it is only the first steps. Next steps might include more personal visits to the projects, learning more about the topics where NGOs are dealing with and actively contacting NGOs in order to ask their experiences and offer help if needed.
The EGT started already to implement (some of) these recommendations in a new pilot project on East-East cooperation which started during the beginning of 1996. In the next paragraph a brief description of the pilot project is given.