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Project Description
After the fall of state socialism, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Central and Eastern Europe had to navigate significant domestic transformation and, at the same time, new opportunities and pressures from transnational actors and initiatives. This project examines the internal transitions that took place within environmental NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe as they dealt with the transitions taking place around them. The objectives of this project are to:
  • Assess the ability of civil society actors to pursue their mandates as they contend with large-scale change;
  • Contribute to scholarship on transnationalism, diffusion, and organization strategy and change; and
  • Generate policy relevant knowledge regarding capacity and implementation challenges faced by environmental NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe.

In the first phase of this project, interviews were conducted with representatives from four environmental NGOs in the Czech Republic to gain in-depth understanding of changes in organizational mission, goals, and practices relative to domestic transition and interactions with transnational actors and initiatives.

The second phase of this project consists of a survey of environmental NGOs across Central and Eastern Europe. The survey also will be used to update the Regional Environmental Center’s Directory of Environmental NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe. The survey data collection concluded in Spring 2007. Preliminary results will be available on this website in Fall, 2007.

This project was developed and is led by Professor JoAnn Carmin, of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. It primarily is funded by a grant from the United States National Science Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Hnutí Brontosaurus