The Role of Environmental NGOs--Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop (2001)

Summary: In June 1999, the Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences agreed that a joint project on the role of environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) would be of considerable interest to both Russian and American specialists in the environmental field. A workshop was held in Moscow in November 2000. This report includes the papers that were presented. The papers highlight many important issues concerning the role of a sampling of different types of environment NGOs in the two countries. The workshop was a good first step in identifying many of the successes of NGOs and the difficulties that they often face. Of course the role of NGOs in Russia in contributing to environmental improvement is greatly impeded by the current economic crisis in the country. Also, environmental NGOs are much more mature in the United States with several decades of experience in influencing environmental policies at the federal, state, and local levels. Nevertheless, there are common concerns and common approaches that provided a basis for useful interactions among the specialists from the two countries