QLF has conducted international programs in Europe since 1980, and has focused on Central and Eastern Europe since early 1989. We have developed our Central European Stewardship Program in close cooperation with partner organizations working at the local and regional levels, and with the Environmental Partnership for Sustainable Development (formerly the Environmental Partnership for Central Europe). Since the program's inception, several hundred conservation professionals and local leaders from both sides of the Atlantic have participated in our fellowships, workshops, peer exchanges, and community problem-solving exercises.
Our experience in Central Europe has demonstrated the value of exchange focused on stewardship in fostering innovative conservation strategies, building effective partnerships and coalitions, and strengthening the capacity of participating institutions. The stewardship approach, with its emphasis on encouraging private initiative and public involvement in land use decisions, has proven highly relevant to emerging strategies for landscape conservation in Central Europe. At the same time, these community-based, participatory approaches to conservation can contribute to building civil society in the region.
White Carpathians, Czech Republic. Photograph by Jessica Brown
We started our Central European Stewardship Program with a primary focus on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak Republic (the Visegrad countries), with occasional participation from other neighboring countries (i.e., the Baltics, Ukraine, Romania, and Slovenia). Building on these accomplishments, QLF extended the program to Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. This expansion has been met with enthusiasm by our Central European partners and by new partners in the Balkan countries with whom we are collaborating.