From the grassroots to the region – civil society as an opportunity for regional cooperation on environment in the Western Balkans
From the grassroots to the region – civil society as an opportunity for regional cooperation on environment in the Western Balkans

Summary/Abstract: Environment has been an important theme in regional cooperation in the Western Balkans ever since these efforts were first started after the conflicts of the 1990s. This article argues that despite some successes, such as the clean-up of polluted areas and keeping environmental questions in the political agenda, the cooperation has not managed to acquire regional ownership and sustainability. The majority of relevant initiatives are still being led and financed from the outside, which is problematic as international actors are increasingly scaling back their activities in the Western Balkans. It is possible to identify a number of factors hindering regional environmental cooperation, including the lack of political will, excessive dependency on outside funding, inadequate administrative coordination at the national level and poor integration of the civil society into the activities. The article proceeds to propose measures to enhance the cooperation while improving its regional ownership and financial independence. In particular, it suggests that the civil society has a key role in forming regional networks and strengthening the cooperation from the bottom up, thus also yielding possibilities to improve overall public participation in environmental issues.

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