Identifying the Main Problems of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations: Lessons from Romania

Abstract

Abstract Romanian environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGO) have to deal with a lot of issues when performing their activities, related in general to their form of organization, financial capacity, unspecialized workforce, over bureaucratic administration, political parties’ unwillingness to cooperate, or mass-media’s general indifference. Moreover, most public representatives (e.g., political parties) seldom (or never) ask for the ENGOs’ opinions when designing environmental policies. Within this context, this paper aims to map the most important issues or challenges (in terms of financial capacity and with regard to the public sphere) that Romanian ENGOs have to deal with. The methodological approach is a mixed one (having a qualitative as well as a quantitative component). The study embodies a questionnaire based survey applied on 48 Romanian ENGOs. Unfortunately, the instability of financial resources still tops the Romanian ENGOs’ list of issues. Moreover, the data reaffirmed the indifference of the majority of Romania’s political parties towards protecting the environment (leaving ENGOs out of the political decision making process).