REC: The Bulletin 7/2: Special Call for Tenders on "The Road to Aarhus"

G R A N T  W I N N E R S

Special Call for Tenders on "The Road to Aarhus"

In the last issue, we announced a Call for Tender for NGO projects on "The Road to Aarhus," as the preparations for the 4th Environmental Ministerial Conference to be held in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 1998, are popularly known. The proposal topic was "to establish a coalition of NGOs who will work together to prepare for the Conference in Aarhus and for the Special NGO Session. The primary goal of the NGO projects should be to define the environmental topics most important to the CEE and NIS NGO community and to agree on a common agenda for the future of the NGOs and the environment, to be discussed in Aarhus."

Thanks to the generosity of the Danish Ministry of the Environment, the REC was able to award five grants to NGO coalitions both from the CEE and, for the first time, from the Newly Independent States (NIS). Working with the NIS NGOs proved to be an exciting challenge that brought its own rewards, and while we discovered that communications systems may be slightly less than perfect in the Ukraine and Russia, NIS NGOs were extremely professional and eager to cooperate with their CEE colleagues. While one project is purely procedural in scope, ensuring that all interested CEE NGOs have access to timely information about the Aarhus conference, three others relate to important policy issues - the Pan-European strategy to conserve biodiversity, public participation, and environmental action plans. The fifth project addresses a critical environmental problem in Russia, the pollution of the Volga River. By evaluating international Volga clean-up efforts, the project will suggest a strategy for more efficient cooperation between governments, NGOs and international agencies.

The prestigious Expert Panel who judged the grant applications included two central figures in the Environment for Europe (EFE) process - Willem J. Kakebeeke from the Netherlands, who leads the Working Group on drafting the Public Participation Convention for the Aarhus meeting, and Sergei Dorozhko, the President and Chairman of the Belarusan Association of Environmental Education. Both met with REC staff on July 18 for an intense deliberation on all project proposals while input from REC Local Offices and the field offices of ISAR, our parallel organization in the Former Soviet Union, allowed the Expert Panel to make informed decisions about which projects would receive grants.

After the final decisions were made, leaders of the five winning NGO projects met at the REC in Szentendre, some of them for the first time, at the Winners' Meeting on August 1. Project leaders exchanged information, received training on project reporting, and signed contracts with the REC. At a celebration meal, NGO representatives traded stories and ideas, invited one another to their future conferences, agreed to share databases and mailing lists, and ideally, formed the basis of a working relationship which will make "the Road to Aarhus" a smooth, busy and productive one.

And the winners are!

1) The Pan-European NGO Coalition Secretariat and Focal Point for Central and Eastern Europe

Gaja has committed to keeping CEE NGOs up to date on the EFE process by collecting all pertinent information, papers, meeting dates and more, and distributing them throughout the region. Furthermore, a November conference in Lake Bled, Slovenia, will bring together interested NGOs and coalitions, including all of the REC grant winners, for three days of discussion and planning.

Contact: Albin Keuc, Gaja Association For Sustainable Development Of Society, Gregorciceva 19, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia, Tel: (386-62) 221-273, Fax: (386-61) 572-468

2) Biodiversity NGOs Coalition for Aarhus

CEEWEB will raise awareness and disseminate information about the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS) to CEE NGOs and the general public. PEBLDS was born from the Working Group overseeing issues related to biodiversity, one of the main focal points of the 1995 Environment for Europe Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. As a result, CEEWEB plans to produce the CEE standpoint on the implementation of PEBLDS for presentation at the Aarhus Conference.

Contact: Dr. Ivan Gyulai, Organization: CEEWEB - Central And Eastern European Working Group For The Enhancement Of Biodiversity, 1121 Budapest, Kolto ut 21, Hungary, Tel: (36-46) 344-401, Fax: (36-46) 352-010 Email: schmuck@mtvsz.zpok.hu

3) Public Participation in the NIS: An Independent Assessment of the Current Status and Trends

Public interest environmental lawyers will investigate the status of public participation in environmental decisionmaking in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine through research, interviews, direct experience, and the study of current legislation. Results will be discussed during regional meetings and presented at Aarhus.

Contact: Svitlana Kravchenko, Charitable Foundation Ecopravo-Lviv, 2 Krushelnitsei str. Lviv 290000, Ukraine, Tel/Fax: (380-322) 271-446, Email: epac@epac.lviv.ua

4) Sofia+3: The NGO Evaluation of the National Environmental Action Plans in NIS Countries

In the NIS, National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs) were developed largely without the knowledge and input of environmental NGOs and consequently, NIS NGOs were not well informed about NEAPs. During this project, NGOs will: evaluate the process used to develop NEAPs; analyze existing plans; and will attempt to formulate an NIS NGO common agenda for the future related to NEAP issues for presentation at Aarhus.

Contact: Dr Mykhylo Magal, The Civil Initiative Organization, Shovkovichna 16-a, apt.10, 252024 Kyiv-24, Ukraine, Tel:(380-44) 293-9131, Fax: (380-44) 293-0938, Email: ogi@ogi.gluk.apc.org

5) The Preparation of Recommendations on the Topic: How to Improve International Cooperation

While the other projects are mainly policy-related, this final project takes a bird's eye view of one of the most important environmental issues in Russia today. The project relates to international efforts to clean up the highly contaminated River Volga which over the past five years have been successful to different degrees. The Eco Center Dront will evaluate the successes and failures of the international efforts in an attempt to make recommendations for the best way for NGOs and governments to work together towards a common goal, to be presented at Aarhus.

Contact: Elena S. Kolpakova, Coordination Center Of The Citizens Movement "Let's Help The River," ECO Center Dront, PLON 34, Nizni Novgorod 603163, Russia, Tel: (83-12) 302-881, Fax: (83-12 )302-890

REC * PUBLICATIONS * THE BULLETIN * SUMMER 1997