Bookshelf

The Regional Environmental Center has churned out a number of new tomes recently, all of which are worth adding to your collection of environmentally friendly books. It's a 2x2+1 affair: two new directories, one for environmental businesses, one for government bodies responsible for environmental protection, and two status reports, one that looks at national environmental action plans (NEAPS) in 12 CEE countries, and another that gives a bird's eye view on how public participation is progressing in 13 Regional states. A survey of the environmental marketplace in the Visegrad countries rounds out the quintet. Here's how they measure up:

The Environmental Business Directory

This phone book-like directory lists the vital statistics of 700 environmental businesses providing products and services in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic. Each listing contains contact information, a company profile, a description of products and services offered, and a reference list of environmental projects completed, both in English and the local language. A great companion to The Emerging Environmental Market.

The Emerging Environmental Market:
A Survey in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic

This analytical report, based on a survey of 600 environmental businesses, unlocks the secrets to the developing environmental marketplace in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic. It provides a comparative profile of the firms in each country, including their size and status of ownership, sources of revenue, experience with foreign partners and office resources. The report also describes what kind of training and business information are in demand by environmental firms. Concise and clear, this is a must read for business professionals considering doing business in Central and Eastern Europe's environmental marketplace.

Government and Environment:
A Directory for Central and Eastern Europe, Second Edition

An updated and more complete version of the original, the second edition lists contacts, responsibilities, and organizational charts for ministries of environment and other governmental organizations responsible for environmental protection and management in 13 Central and Eastern European countries. Each country chapter now covers more than just relevant administrative bodies; they also include three of the most important areas in environmental protection: access to information, enforcement, and monitoring.

Status of Public Participation in Environmental Decisionmaking in Central and Eastern Europe

This most recent product of the REC's public participation program examines the successes and failures of public participation in environmental decisionmaking in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition to democracy and a market economy. The report cites the failure of CEE governments to provide citizens with access to environmental information as the most significant drawback to public participation in the Region. The report also reveals that despite the existence of basic constitutional rights, environmental protection laws and specific legislative procedures, public participation at all levels of the decisionmaking process has encountered some major problems.

Status of National Environmental Action Programs in Central and Eastern Europe

This volume discusses the status of national environmental strategies that have been developed as a direct result of the Environmental Action Program adopted at the Lucerne Ministerial Conference. It presents both a regional overview and case studies of 12 Central and Eastern European countries in an easy to read, comparable format.

All of the REC's publications can be ordered from NHBS (see Briefs: REC books in Britain).

THE BULLETIN * AUTUMN 1995