Danube Grants One of the aims of the Danube Regional Project is to strengthen non-profit groups so that they are better able to help with the clean-up of this important watershed. Grants are awarded to facilitate regional and inter-sectorial cooperation among NGOs and other stakeholders, including local environmental authorities, water-related institutions, the industrial sector and the agricultural community. The hope is to encourage pragmatic approaches to address pollution problems. About USD 700, 000 is available in the first grants round, which is earmarked for NGO work at the national and regional levels. The Danube Regional Project (details can be found at www.icpdr.org) is supported by the Global Environment Facility/United Nations Development Programme and is dedicated to supporting existing structures and activities in the Danube Basin and facilitating a regional approach for the reduction of point and nonpoint sources of organic and toxic pollution. The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, with the assistance of the representatives of the Danube Environmental Forum and independent experts, will judge and select grant proposals with a bias toward projects that will serve as models that can be replicated elsewhere in the basin. The intention is to stimulate awareness and action within the NGO community while building innovative and exemplary cooperation for solving pollution problems. More information about this Grants Programme can be found at www.rec.org under the NGO Support Programme (Danube Grants page). Questions may be directed to grants manager Entela Pinguli. REC staff on the move NEW STAFF Kaidi Tingas - project manager (Public Participation Programme) Graciela Simunovic - project officer (GTZ Project) Balazs Martini - civil servant Todd Schenk - project officer (NGO Support Programme)/assistant to the deputy executive director Maria Khovanskaia - pro-ject officer (Climate Change Programme) Nathan Johnson - editorial officer, temporary help Patricia Barna - layout specialist, temporary help OTHER CHANGES Peter Bodo was named project manager (Business and Environment Programme) after finishing his civil service at the REC. Francesco Rizzo was named as head of the Italian Trust Fund after serving as a project officer (Climate Change Programme). He reports directly to the executive director. The former Information Programme has been split into two separate entities: 1. the Information Programme and 2. the Communications and Publishing Department. Maria Khovanskaia was selected as project officer (Climate Change Programme), after serving as an intern for the same programme. Magdolna Lajti came back from maternity leave and started in a new position: project assistant (NGO Support Programme). Miroslav Chodak started service as a private consultant to the REC after being a project manager (Environmental Policy Programme). DEPARTURES Gergely Dobra - civil servant Tamas Prohaszka - civil servant Thomas Popper - assistant editor/project officer (Information Programme) Marco Basile - project offi-cer (Italian Trust Fund) Roman Vyhnanek - project manager (Business and Environment Programme) Eszter Rozsa - project assis-tant (NGO Support Programme) Eunice Reyneke - produc-tion manager (Communications and Publishing Department) Andras Szabo - financial and administration officer (Ecolinks Project)

REC staff on the move Top