Within the last decade, Central and Eastern European countries, including the countries of the former Soviet Union, have received considerable assistance from Western governments to initiate and support their efforts in environmental protection. This assistance has been concentrated primarily on the realization and implementation of direct environmental projects. Indirect issues, such as administration and management, access to information and public participation were addressed by separate initiatives made both at country and regional levels. The REC's establishment and activities provide an example of a regional bottom-up approach to environmental improvements in Central and Eastern Europe.
Considerable results have been achieved by the REC since its creation in 1990. Support for regional cooperation among citizen groups in the CEE countries, facilitating the East-East dialogue, in addition to the East-West one, exchanging environmental information and experiences collected by individual countries in the areas of environmental legislation, economic instruments, public participation, environmental policy etc. are just some of the REC's most welcomed activities. Environmental capacity building and cooperation among NGOs, governments and business communities are examples of other projects carried out by the REC. The independent character of the REC, its transparent procedures and a region-wide perspective have made a bottom-up approach to environmental issues attractive to both donor and recipient countries. Such extensive support has never before been given to NIS countries.
Experiences collected in CEE countries in utilizing Western environmental assistance and developing regional cooperation are now ready to be transferred to the NIS countries. A similar heritage of centrally planned economies and the passive attitude of the public need special efforts to bring about more active and dynamic social behavior. This can be accomplished through initiating a REC-like organization working for NIS countries.
The feasibility study presented in this report is based on a series of extensive substudies conducted in selected NIS countries. It identifies clearly the need for an independent assistance organization similar to the REC to be established in the CIS countries. The new organization should act as an unbiased and neutral facilitator for introducing a participatory approach to the process of environmental decisionmaking.
The initiative to establish environmental centers for NIS countries received support in the Ministerial Declaration of the Sofia conference. The conference has encouraged interested donors as well as governments of beneficiary countries to assist in creating a network of such independent centers. We hope the feasibility study will help to fulfill the recommendation of the ministerial conference and will facilitate the development of a network of such centers.
The Feasibility Study is a common effort of both REC experts and external consultants. Mr. Alexander Juras supervised the study and ensured the effective cooperation of many experts and the effective work of the whole team. Two project coordinators, Mr. Eugene Gibson and Mr. Alexander Chvorostov, managed the whole project, designed the framework for the international study, organized the fieldwork in the three countries and compiled a comprehensive final report.
The following experts have been involved in the project as consultants or advisers: Iorgu Apostol, Valeriu Briceag, Arcadie Capcelea, Dumitru Drumea, Piotr Gorbunenko, Eugene Hristev, Larisa Milovanova, Viktor Mokanu, Alecu Renitsa (Moldova); Nina Belyaeva, Sergei Fomichov, Irina Khalyi, Nadezhda Kolokolchikova, Evgeny Simonov, Sergei Tikhonov, Oleg Yanitsky, Sviatoslav Zabelin (Russia); Volodymyr Demkin, Andriy Demydenko, Halyna Freeland, Victor Khazan, Svitlana Kravchenko, Andrei Osadchuk, Valery Rubtsov, Valerii Semichaevsky, Alexander Stegniy, Vladimir Tikhii (Ukraine); Kliment Mindjov (Bulgaria); Winston Bowman, Janos Zlinsky (REC); Branko Bosnjakovic (UN ECE); Juergen Gneveckow (EC); Jaakko Henttonen (Finland); Marga Verheije (the Netherlands); Elizabeth Karkus, Dan Thompson (USA).
The Feasibility Study was financially supported by the environmental ministries of Norway, France and Finland; the U.S. State Department; DG XI of the European Commission; and REC-Budapest.
I would like to thank those who participated in the project for their dedication and commitment.
Stanislaw Sitnicki
Executive Director