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WORKSHOPS
A conference focusing on Sustainable Development in the Balkans was held from June 15-17 in Struga, FYR Macedonia. Its goal was to discuss the state of the Balkan environment, visualise what a sustainable Balkan region might look like, and identify concrete steps to realise this vision. Over 100 sustainable development experts met with representatives from Balkan civil society NGOs and counterparts throughout Europe. Conference themes included: the environmental situation in the Balkan region; proposals on making European society more sustainable; non-governmental organisation (NGO) presentations and marketplace; introduction to the Balkan Stability Pact and environmental reconstruction process; and theme-related workshops. The organisers of the event included FoEE, the REC and the Heinrich Bell Foundation.
PROJECTS Lithuanian waste management was given a recent boost from a project funded by the REC's Japan Special Fund entitled Education on Hazardous Waste Management in the Community. The focus of the project, implemented in the cities of Kaunas and Siauliai, related to assessing, improving and raising public awareness about current and proposed waste management activities and strategies in Lithuania, coordinated by both governmental and non-governmental organisations. Specific activities included the assessment of relevant Lithuanian legislation, a youth campaign to solve waste management problems in student hostels, and the training of chemistry and geography teachers, among others. Public awareness was strengthened through surveys, public performances by school children, exhibitions, a rock music concert, coverage of activities by numerous Lithuanian city and environmental newspapers and TV stations, and videos, leaflets and booklets about themes such as household waste management and hazardous waste.
In June, the Sofia Initiative on Economic Instruments, based at the REC, published a comprehensive database of environmental taxes in the energy, transport, air, water, and waste sectors. The database also covers user charges for water and waste services as well as economic instruments introduced to protect biodiversity and nature in the region. The Database on Environmental Taxes for 1999 covers CEE with a special focus on the ten EU accession countries. The Latest available information on taxation, tax rates, revenue collection, and use of revenue is presented in a format compatible with a similar database for EU Member States available on the European Commission's website. Policy-makers and researchers interested in a comparative overview of CEE environmental taxation policies related to EU minimums for excise taxes on energy products, air emission taxes on SO2, NOx and CO2, and other environmentally related economic instruments will be interested in this useful reference tool. Visit www.rec.org/siei for more information. The REC's NGO Support Program has begun a new project in the field of Sustainable NGO Financing. This pilot program is in cooperation with four nationally-based NGO support organisations (Center for Non-Profit Management, Slovenia; Civil Society Development Foundation, Hungary; Lotos Foundation, Czech Republic; and Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia) that will help selected NGOs in the above four countries to develop business projects eligible for venture funds. The REC, in cooperation with the Non-Profit Enterprise Self-sustainability Team (NESsT), an US-based charity organisation, will have funds available for these venture grants. In July 2000, a "Call-for-Interest" for NGOs will be announced. Funding is being provided by the EC's Phare Partnership Programme and by the organisations involved.
OTHER NEWS Stephen Stec, the REC's inhouse legal advisor, has been busy spreading awareness of Central and Eastern European legal environmental issues in prestigious American journals. For the Volume 13, 1998 issue of the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, Steve provided an article entitled Ecological Rights Advancing the Rule of Law in Eastern Europe. For the Spring 1999 issue of the Golden Gate University Law Review, Steve's article is Do Two Wrongs Make a Right? Adjudicating Sustainable Development in the Danube Dam Case. And for the Review of Central and East European Law (Vol. 24, No. 5/6), Steve wrote Legal Aspects of Implementation of Biodiversity- Related Conventions in Central Europe. On March 20, Cristi Pop, a participant of the REC's very first Junior Fellow Program in 1993 and a leading figure in the Romanian environmental sector, died in a car accident. He was 30 years old. Cristi was particularly active in the field of public participation, having initiated some of the first public participation campaigns in his home town of Cluj as a member of the Ecological Centre of Transylvania (CET). His work with nature conservation projects in the Apuseni Mountains is considered to be a role model for Romanian NGOs. He provided valuable assistance for REC projects, including the Direct Assistance Program where he trained other NGOs in management-related topics, and as a member of the Romanian Country Office's Local Advisory Board for Local Grants. He also worked for the Soros Foundation as National Coordinator for Local Municipalities Initiatives. He will be dearly missed by all. DEPARTURES NEW STAFF OTHER CHANGES |
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WORKSHOPS PROJECTS Environmental taxes, charges database OTHER NEWS |
     
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