The United States - Central and Eastern European Environment Foundation

What We Do

About UCEF

UCEF was founded in 2000 to assist citizens, NGOs, environmental businesses and governments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS) in addressing the environmental challenges they face and in working towards a sustainable future.

Our mission is to improve the state of the environment by:

How We Work

In order to accomplish this mission, we combine our expertise in American environmental protection and fund-raising with our familiarity in the CEE and NIS regions, and we connect organizations and projects in the CEE and NIS with prospective donors, foundations, and other partners in the United States.

In this role as a liaison, UCEF provides invaluable services to partners on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.  For partners in the CEE and NIS, UCEF is a clearinghouse of information about US-based funding sources and the American environmental movement and non-governmental organizations. As a 501(c)3, UCEF is eligible to receive contributions from other American organizations, an opportunity generally closed to groups outside America. UCEF also provides assistance to CEE organizations as they prepare and refine project proposals for submission to prospective US-based foundations and partners.

For partners in the US, UCEF provides knowledge and insight into the environmental and NGO situations in CEE and NIS. UCEF provides the useful service of explaining and smoothing over the important cultural and governmental differences that may discourage organizations from seeking international partners. (This works in both directions, by the way!)  UCEF also ensures a level of oversight and accountability not always available with international partners.

And most importantly, UCEF fosters and facilitates the exchange of information and expertise between these regions, thereby actively strengthening the environmental movements on both sides of the Atlantic.

UCEF and the REC

The inspiration for UCEF grew out of a series of discussions with one of the most well-respected environmental organizations in the CEE, the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). The REC is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit organization with the mission to assist in solving environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The Center fulfils its mission through encouraging cooperation among non-governmental organizations, governments and businesses, supporting the free exchange of information and promoting public participation in environmental decision-making.

The REC was established in 1990 by the United States, the European Commission and Hungary. Today, the REC is legally based on a Charter signed by the governments of 25 countries and the European Commission, and on an International Agreement with the Government of Hungary. The REC has its headquarters in Szentendre, Hungary and Local Offices in each of its 15 beneficiary CEE countries, which are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Yugoslavia.

The REC is structured into the following program areas:

Recent donors are the European Commission and the governments of the United States, Japan, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as other intergovernmental and private institutions.

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