E D I T O R I A L

Dear friends of the REC,

  Beginning in August I have had the privilege to take over the post of the Executive Director of the REC from Stanislaw Sitnicki. Under his leadership, the Center has developed into a serious organization of international character, contributing to the transition process in our region and serving nongovernmental organizations, governments and businesses in 15 countries. The past achievements of the REC set a high standard and pose a big challenge to my performance.

  For me personally, this job will be an opportunity to use to the full extent my experience which includes forest ecology research; work with environmental NGOs in the eighties and the Green Party and the government in Slovenia around 1990; environmental consulting in domestic and international projects; a post in the ministry as the State Secretary for Environment and with OECD as the Regional Coordinator for National Environmental Action Plans. Through my work until now, I have been able to get to know Central and Eastern Europe pretty well and have closely followed the development of the REC.

  During the six years since the establishment of the REC, its constituents have undergone unprecedented change. Democracy and market economy are developing well in many countries and economic growth is starting again. In most countries new environmental legislation has been passed, setting the basic structure for environmental management. Businesses are being privatized, enabling them to take full responsibility for their environmental performance. In most countries strong NGOs have emerged that can act as serious partners to policymakers. Public awareness, as well as the political importance of environmental problems have sharply declined in times of economic hardship, but is starting to show signs of recovery as the economies stabilize and NGOs consolidate. There are still some countries in the initial stages of the transition, but in most of the region transition is well under way as these countries are seriously working to join the European Union.

  This situation brings new demands for the Regional Environmental Center. The issues of transition are gradually being replaced by issues of sustainable development and approximation to the European Union. The partners - governments, NGOs and businesses - are increasingly better prepared to engage in policy dialogue and in solving actual environmental problems. This demand is driving the Center towards full implementation of its mission, as reconfirmed by the constituent countries signing the new Charter of the REC in June this year: "to assist in solving the environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe through the promotion of cooperation among nongovernmental organizations, governments, businesses and other environmental stakeholders, through the free exchange of information and public participation in environmental decisionmaking."

  By utilizing our accumulated experience with public participation, financial support to NGOs, information exchange, capacity building, regional surveys and studies, and involvement in international networks and processes, REC will increasingly assist the three partner groups on local, national and international levels to build partnerships for solving environmental problems. We are making the first steps in this direction by supporting the Sofia Initiatives, the East-East cooperative programs initiated at the Sofia Ministerial Conference last year.

  The new REC site in Szentendre will offer tremendous new possibilities for cooperative activities on the international level. The network of local offices in the countries on the other hand will enable us to be involved in national and local activities. And the dedicated staff, combined with a network of friends outside, will enable the REC to provide high quality services to our constituents.

  I am confident that the REC as a West-East partnership as well as a partnership of its teams and programs, will play an important role in the establishment and success of the many other partnerships that will be required in Central and Eastern Europe in the next few years to achieve the goals of transition, approximation and sustainable development.

Sincerely,
Jernej Stritih
Executive Director