The State of the Environment
The extent of the environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe have been widely acknowledged and there has been considerable international interest and support. There have been NGOs working in this sector in Hungary established for a while, either on lobbying or directly tackling environmental issues. It was therefore important that Autonómia's work in this field fitted in with the existing NGOs.
Early days
In the early 1990s Autonómia provided a base and expertise for Environmental Partnership's operations in Hungary, a group of international agencies providing grants to environmental projects throughout Central and Eastern Europe. At that time Autonómia focused its support on a range of projects including those which raise awareness about environmental issues, fact-finding projects, legal support, funding monitoring equipment, etc.
One of the most notable successes during this time was the establishment of the Green Spider Network, which links a number of environmental organisations through a computer network.
By 1995 Environmental Partnership was sufficiently established to become independent, and it now has its own offices and staff. Since that time Autonómia and Environmental Partnership have continued to work closely together.
Present priorities
More recently Autonómia identified that environmental problems within impoverished communities are not being addressed by existing programmes. Environmental organisations have traditionally been dominated by the better educated middle classes, often those who can afford to be environmentally conscious. However there are serious environmental problems in some of the poorer areas of Hungary, where there are also high levels of need for training and new forms of employment. There is therefore potential for collaboration between environmental organisations and community groups to tackle environmental problems and create employment, such joint work would also increase community solidarity and strengthen civil society.
The present programme, known as Greenwork, is therefore focused on environmental organisations working in poor areas where employment creation is included as a part of the project. A special emphasis is given to projects where the activity is implemented in partnership with local groups.
Working with Environmental Partnership
The current programme is a joint one with Environmental Partnership. The relationship is based on Environmental Partnership's extensive expertise in the environmental field, coupled with Autonómia's knowledge of Roma and poverty issues. The two organisations therefore complement each other in this initiative.
