Photo: COURTESY OF REC COUNTRY OFFICE SLOVAKIA REC Slovakia helps communities According to a recent survey, fewer than 58 percent of Slovakians had ever heard of sustainable development and just 9 percent had even basic knowledge about it. Moreover, 94.2 percent had never heard of Agenda 21, the United Nations programme on sustainable development. To help inform local authorities about sustainable development and strengthen their ability to implement Local Agenda 21 programmes, REC Slovakia is carrying out "Regions 21 - Capacity Building for Sustainable Development at the Local Level." The project began in July 2002 and is to conclude in December 2003, with the Ministry of the Environment of Slovakia helping with coordination. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has donated USD 100,000 and UK's Department for International Development has given EUR 10,000. Regions 21 is based on three interlinked components. The first summarises the experiences of local sustainable development initiatives in Slovakia in a publication called "Local Agenda 21 - Sustainable Development of Municipalities and Regions." Along with general information on Local Agenda 21, the publication presents 10 case studies from municipalities where the agenda has been implemented. It also identifies the main constraints to the programme's implementation, which range from lack of support from the national government to lack of information and encouraging case studies. But the publication also recognises opportunities and positive examples. The second component, Regions 21, involved giving support for six Local Agenda 21 programmes in municipalities and micro-regions (USD 9,000 each). The farm pictured above is in the village of Detvianska Huta, located in a part of Central Slovakia where Local Agenda 21 is being developed. The farm provides facilities for agro-tourism which Local Agenda 21 is promoting as a means of the area's sustainable development. During the third component REC Slovakia organised four seminars in the biggest Slovakian cities. Some 250 people attended, including municipal representatives, state administrators and NGO members. The seminars focused on capacity building, the basic principles of sustainable development, Local Agenda 21 and possible ways to finance local sustainable activities. EcoLinks finishes five years of work A total of USD 10. 8 million was invested in regional environmental businesses during the last five years thanks to a programme that concluded in May. The Hungary-based office of the EcoLinks programme fostered tangible environmental improvements throughout Central and Eastern Europe. EcoLinks started as an initiative of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote practical market-based solutions to urban and industrial environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The programme links businesses, local governments and associations with their counter-parts throughout the region and in the United States. Working as partners, these organisations identify and remedy environmental problems, adopt best practices and increase trade and investment in environmental goods and services. EcoLinks comprise three inter-connected components: grants, investment and trade, and information technology. Based on cross-border partnerships, the local arm of EcoLinks was a unique programme that recommended environmental solutions to businesses and local authorities, said Violeta Kogalniceanu, the regional programme manager for Central and Eastern Europe. The Regional Environmental Center of Central and Eastern Europe, in cooperation with the Institute for International Education, managed the Partnership Grants. These provided international funding in the form of Challenge Grants and Quick Response Awards to begin solving urban and industrial environmental problems. Challenge Grants of up to USD 50, 000 support one-year, cost-shared partnership projects aimed at water-quality management, cleaner production and global climate change problems. The programme awarded 187 Challenge Grants for USD 8.8 million over five years. In 2002, 22 Challenge Grants were awarded in Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Russia's Far East, Slovakia and Ukraine. The programme also awarded 427 Quick Response Awards totaling USD 1.8 million. This awards programme will run to the end of 2003. Some 47 best practices were prepared and posted on the EcoLinks website, with the aim of disseminating successful methodologies and technologies to other organisations in the region. The grantees reported receiving more than USD 82 million in additional financing, trade or investment to further their EcoLinks activities. In addition the programme helped grantees increase their institutional capacity for environmental problem solving. Programme looks at Balkan investments The first meeting of the Regional Priority Environmental Investment Programme for South Eastern Europe (PEIP) took place March 26 - 28 in Budapest. Decision-makers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro participated, and discussed regional environmental issues, priority investment projects, and the assessment of the institutional and policy framework for the implementation of the projects. The PEIP has been under development since the beginning of 2002. A project team has been formed including focal points from the ministries of environment of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, local SEE consultants, two CEE consultants and REC staff. Environmental justice supported in Bulgaria The Bulgarian Environmental Law Centre, a REC-supported venture, has been busy, having begun legal procedures in five cases and investigations in several others. It has carried out separate trainings and meetings with NGOs, local authorities, legal practitioners and law students. The second meeting and training session of the Environmental Advocacy Network for South Eastern Europe (EANSEE) took place March 1-5 in Prague and exposed lawyers of South Eastern Europe to the work of experienced advocacy organisations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Workshop covers ore mining and IT A short introductory course for NGOs on mining and environment issues was organised May 19-21 at Miskolc University in Hungary together with other partners of a project dedicated to ore mining and environmental information technology. Eighteen participants attended, most of them from Estonia, Romania, FYR Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Hungary and Turkey. The course covered environmental impacts of accidents, best available tech- niques for sustainable mining and socio-economic aspects of mining. Photo: COURTESY OF BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL Marton Burger With heavy hearts, we report that a valued former colleague and committed environmentalist, Marton Burger, died on July 22 after a year-long fight with cancer. He was 32. From March 1999 to June 2000 he worked off his Hungarian national service as an editorial assistant for the Bulletin. From here, he carried the green torch by enhancing environmental coverage as a reporter for the Budapest Business Journal. He is survived by his partner Rita, their 21-month-old daughter, Nina Flora, his parents and a brother. REC staff on the move NEW STAFF Marta Szigeti Bonifert - executive director of the REC Jolanta Manska - project manager for the Capacity Building Programme Gabriella Jani - specialist for the Human Resources Department Zsolt Bauer - communications manager Katarina Mareckova - project manager for the Climate Change Programme OTHER CHANGES Gabor Heves is now a part-time project manager for the Information Programme. Ausra Jurkeviciute has been promoted to project manager for the Environmental Policy Programme Sylvia Magyar was appointed as head of the Publishing Department Attila Morotz was appointed as a project officer of the Business and Environment Programme Ruslan Zhechkov was appointed as a project manager for the Business and Environment Programme DEPARTURES Nathan Johnson - editorial officer for the Publishing Department Violeta Kogalniceanu - regional project manager for Ecolinks Tamas Magyar - travel officer Toni Popovski - executive director Danco Uzunov - grants manager for the Ecolinks project

REC staff on the move Top