The term "REC-like" as used herein refers to REC-Budapest's goals and mission. The main goal of REC-Budapest is to facilitate and support a grassroots process of environmental protection in beneficiary countries. REC-Budapest's mission is to encourage public participation in environmental decisionmaking by delivering services which contribute to the development of civil society in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). For purposes of this report, Central and Eastern Europe is defined as those countries in which REC-Budapest operates. REC-Budapest also believes that cooperation between different sectors of society - nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments and the business community and different regions has an immediate and positive impact on environment related decisions. The term "NREC" (New Regional Environmental Centers) refers to the REC-like organization proposed for several CIS countries.
The feasibility study final report, which is summarized here, proposes a framework for a "REC-like" organization and the services the organization could deliver in the countries of the CIS. The report is based on the substudy reports prepared in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova by national, in-country experts. Furthermore, the report reflects REC-Budapest's goals and mission and its experience in fulfilling this mission. Limited time and resources prevented field work in the entire CIS. Despite the short time period for conducting this study, we are confident that the report presents a realistic picture of the situation and the possibilities. The substudy reports indicated similarities in the environmental problems facing these countries, which we expect to find in other countries in the CIS.
The need NGOs ranked as the most critical is
The needs ranked in the second tier are:
The third critical area is constituted by:
In light of the above stated needs, assistance should be directed toward promoting environmental networking, providing financial support, building capacity and facilitating a dialogue among the different sectors. The NGO community expressed the opinion that many government leaders have no appreciation of a grassroots approach to solving environmental problems.
The governmental needs analysis identified a large variety of needs, from training and information to support for concrete large-scale national or regional projects.
Only some of the identified needs can be addressed by a REC-like organization because such an organization will have a limited budget and will focus on public participation and regional cooperation. To sum up the results of the governmental needs analysis, the needs that could be partly addressed by a REC-like organization are:
Understandably, a NREC would not be in a position to replace any governmental institution in delivering services to address these needs. In fact, the issue would be to facilitate the process of governmental institutional capacity building. We suggest that a new service organization concentrate on (1) meeting governmental information needs in some critical areas; (2) offering special training options, especially in methods for public participation, benefits of regional cooperation, environmental legislation and fundraising; (3) facilitating regional cooperation and (4) providing a constructive dialogue with NGOs.
NREC would conduct on-going needs analysis and prepare a master strategic plan for its activities. In light of its role as an information broker, NREC would be well positioned to identify needs. After preparing the strategic plan, NREC would have the following options: (1) identify needs to an organization that would have the resources to provide the service, (2) provide funding to an organization so it could provide the service or (3) provide the service itself.
NREC would provide specific services to foster public participation and promote regional cooperation, which are discussed below. Regional cooperation refers to cooperation within a country and cooperation among countries. The focus on regional cooperation presents a niche that other organizations do not address with the attention that NREC would. Public participation refers to all sectors of society - not just NGOs. NREC, through the services it delivers, would serve as a catalyst to facilitate a dialogue with different sectors of society. While some services are targeted primarily toward NGOs, governments and the business community could access services such as information exchange and training.
Publish environmental directories: The goal is to facilitate communication and cooperation among the constituents and various environmental organizations. Environmental directories would be based on the information in a regional contacts database. Ideally, environmental directories would provide a listing of environmental organizations (NGO, government and business) in all the countries in which the NREC operates.
Identify education and training programs: Establishing the type of education and training programs indicated in the needs analysis would prove prohibitively expensive for a "REC-like" organization. Moreover, many organizations provide education and training. A "REC-like" organization would identify these organizations and steer people towards these courses.
Identify funding sources: All the potential constituents indicated a need for increased funding. A "REC-like" organization would identify potential funders, including private foundations and multilateral and bilateral donors, and provide information on how to prepare proposals for specific funders. In addition, a "REC-like" organization could inform donors of potential recipients.
Develop contact databases: In many instances people do not want specific environmental information, but the names of individuals and organizations that have the experience and expertise to help solve a problem. The NREC would develop a database of individuals and organizations that have particular environmental experience and expertise.
In addition, a calendar of events should be developed.
An additional service should be also considered. This service extension option is contingent on securing additional funding and detailed justification:
Electronic Communication System: NREC will establish an electronic communication system (ECS) that links head office with national offices and interested constituents. Establishing and maintaining electronic networks is a crucial tool for fostering regional cooperation and building NGOs' capacities. The system would provide access to NREC's computer-based resources, access to the Internet and other networks, an electronic bulletin board for local country networking, and an e-mail connection with national offices. The ECS will have the potential to expand to a separate service within the framework of Information Exchange.
Capacity building for senior environmental experts: NREC will provide an opportunity for senior level experts to work for two to four weeks on a project that builds on their experience and expertise and that draws on the NREC's resources, knowledge and contacts. The experts can be government policymakers, NGO leaders, academic experts or business professionals. Each expert will pursue a specially tailored program exploring issues that foster public participation or offer integrated solutions to regional environmental problems. At the end of this period, the expert will present a final report at a public seminar. The report will describe what they have learned and how they will apply this experience in the CIS.
Training for potential NGO leaders: The goals of the program are to build the management capability of potential NGO leaders, facilitate their cooperation with other NGOs in the CIS, and introduce them to NREC's services. Over time, this program will enable NREC to establish a network of people it can contact and work with in various CIS countries. Directed instruction will be provided for young NGO members who have leadership potential. During a one-month period, they would receive intense training on: the role of NGOs in civil society, environmental management, international NGO cooperation, proposal writing, project management, computer applications and fund-raising. Six participants would be selected for each of the six sessions during a year. The program would provide valuable work experience in an international environmental organization and encourage an exchange of views and experiences between NGOs in different countries in the CIS. Applications would be accepted from all the countries in the CIS, not just those with national offices.
Sponsor intern exchange program: The goals of the program are to develop the management and leadership skills of NGO members in managing a not-for-profit organization and environmental projects. This exchange of views and skills will cement links for future cooperation with host NGOs. Under this program, less experienced NGO members will stay for approximately one month with more experienced NGOs operating in the CIS. Interns will participate in the activities of host NGOs and receive training from an experienced member of the host organization. Through this program the intern will get an inside view into the operations of NGOs or an ongoing campaign or project and will have a chance to participate in these activities.
Special capacity building programs: These activities would focus on a NREC's goals and the priority needs identified, specifically: (a) public participation, (b) regional cooperation, both within a country and between countries, (c) fund-raising, (d) environmental law, (e) administration and management and (f) environmental law. The special capacity building programs assume conducting focused activities in the forms of conferences, seminars and workshops.
Award earmarked grants: Grants of up to $18,000 will be awarded to NGOs that work on projects that foster regional cooperation and cooperation with local governments. The "REC-like" organization will solicit proposals for earmarked grants and the decision for grants awards will be made on a competitive basis.
Head office would serve as conduit for donor funds. It would engage in fund-raising activities and assist national offices with their own fund-raising. Head office would prepare the master strategic plan, which would be based partly on the strategic plans prepared by the national offices. Head office would also provide communication services for the organization.
As many services as possible would be delivered by the national offices. For instance, if a national office has special expertise and experience in a particular area it could deliver that service not only in that country but in all the countries that the "REC-like" organization services. Thus, this model differs from REC-Budapest in that the proposed model envisions a more decentralized organization.
Five models for the institutional framework of a "REC-like" organization were developed and considered. These models were presented to the NREC Advisory Group, which consists of CIS and Western government and NGO representatives. Members of the Advisory Group recommended unanimously that the international organization model was the best model. This model would be the most effective in delivering the proposed services and achieving the goals of fostering regional cooperation and public participation. Two other models were considered: one large, centralized organization to service the entire CIS, or a series of independent national organizations.
The REC-Budapest experience proves enlightening. In 1990 REC-Budapest served six countries and in 1995 it serves thirteen countries. Expansion should be done in phases and be contingent on NREC's capacity, sufficient demand and funding.
Selecting where to locate the head office and national offices will prove difficult and politically controversial. To facilitate this process, we have formulated criteria so as to make the selection process as objective as possible. While the criteria is primarily for selecting the head office, it could also be used for selecting sites for national offices. The criteria is as follows:
The CIS countries should engage in a negotiation process to decide the location for the head office. The locations for national offices should also be selected.
The feasibility study team suggests establishing a Coordination and Information Center (CIC) in Ukraine. In particular, Odessa or Kyiv afford possible sites for the CIC. For the Ukrainian national office, Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkov or Dnipropetrovsk could be considered the most suitable location. In Russia, the FS team suggests establishing the first national office in Nizhnii Novgorod and securing a one- or two-person representative staff presence in Moscow. In Moldova, the recommendation is to establish an NREC representative office.
A point to emphasize is that nationals from the various CIS countries will provide the majority of the personnel with limited TA from expatriates. This will be a CIS organization, operated by nationals from the CIS, for CIS constituents. In this regard, REC-Budapest serves as a model for how the stakeholders acquire ownership of the organization.
The annual costs are as follows: first year - $758,000; second year - $1,739,000; third year - $2,229,000; fourth year - 2,877,000; fifth year - $2,897,000.
When estimating the costs for project implementation, we make the following assumptions:
