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Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

Bulgarian and Serbian tourists at Mt. Midzur in the West Balkan Mountains. Photo credit: REC Bulgaria Branch.

The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) is a non-partisan, non-advocacy, not-for-profit international organization with a mission to assist in solving environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe.

It fulfils this mission by promoting cooperation among non-governmental organisations, governments, businesses and other environmental stakeholders, and by supporting the free exchange of information and 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 29 countries and the European Commission, and on an international agreement with the government of Hungary.

Between 2007 and 2012, the MCFEA supported the REC in the development and implementation of regionally targeted environmental education programs in rural areas in Bulgaria. This project focused on local schools and communities, addressing general topics such as the conservation of natural resources, protected areas and species and the link between human activities and biodiversity conservation. Output included an educational toolkit, training for teachers, demonstration lessons, and an open-air "green school".