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Energia Klub
(The Energy Club)
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FAIRE
FREE AND APPLIED INTERNSHIPS ON RENEWABLES AND EFFICIENCY





FAIRE Program Summary



FAIRE is a capacity-building program of Energia Klub, Hungary, to address the need for sustainable energy strategies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The first part of the FAIRE program includes an intensive English language, energy analysis, fundraising and campaigning skills training course, organised and held for participants in Budapest.

Following this course, participants work as interns with western Environmental Citizens’ Organizations (ECOs) involved in regional energy issues, to build analytical and/or activism skills and facilitate east-west international networking.

Finally, interns return home to carry out cooperative projects in their regions with their hosts as partners. These projects include developing or enhancing sustainable national energy strategies.


Project Goals


1. To develop strong energy analysis, organising, fundraising, and English skills for individuals who show potential to affect change in the CEE and CIS energy sector.

2. To build east/west contacts working on sustainable energy through joint projects and campaigns.

3. To initiate and promote realistic and environmentally sound energy legislation for the region on issues dealing with energy production, energy efficiency, nuclear waste, etc.


Problems Addressed by FAIRE


In the area of energy production in Eastern Europe, there are legislative, economic, social, and public health dilemmas that remain unsolved. The solutions chosen will affect water and air quality, waste production and the economic and social stability of the region. Energy efficiency and renewable energy resources represent a practical and rational alternative to current patterns of production and consumption.

There are many opportunities for enhancing energy efficiency and utilizing renewable energy resources in all the CEE and the CIS countries, but their advocates are few and the critical alliances to the west are often weak or lacking. These advocates must be strengthened by a growing number of regional and international partners who are well-trained on energy issues and skilled in international cooperation. Such a strong and broad network will support the adoption of successful sustainable energy strategies by government, industry and the public.

The FAIRE project has been developed to address these issues by training a group of carefully selected candidates in the field of grassroots organising. These individuals will receive an intensive classroom training involving English language, energy analysis, fundraising and campaigning skills, taught in Budapest. Having completed this training, they will work as interns with western ECOs involved in regional energy issues, in order to build analytical and activism skills and establish western contacts. In the final phase, these interns will return home to implement a cooperative project with their former host in their region, which will include developing or enhancing national sustainable energy strategies.


Project Outline


The FAIRE program includes four distinct parts:

* 14-week intensive English language training in Budapest, with tailored course work to address energy issues and nonprofit organising;

* 2 week specialised training seminar with workshops on energy analysis, campaigning, and fundraising, with presenters from leading eastern and western ECOs in the energy field;

* 3 to 6 month internship with a western group working on regional energy issues (analysis, campaigning or both);

* 6 to 12 months of follow-up implementing a short term project in the intern’s home country, including visits from western partners to eastern groups and design of additional joint activities as needed.


Expected Results


· 12 skilled and experienced energy campaigners/analysts per year (in two rounds of the program)

· new energy strategies focusing on efficiency and renewables, for every participating country

· a special handbook for teaching English to energy campaigners

· a fundraising handbook focusing on energy issues

· a strong network within the region and with western ECOs


Measures of Success


Although it is generally difficult to measure the impact of a capacity-building program, some of the following indicators will help to show the success of FAIRE:

* Evaluation of FAIRE by interns;

* Evaluation of FAIRE by intern hosts;

* Number of interns who successfully raise funds for their continued work in the field after the internship is finished;

* Number of interns still working in the non-profit sector in the east 1 year after they finish with FAIRE;

* Number of former interns who continue to maintain contact and good cooperative relations with their former hosts;

* Progress made in implementing phase out plans (publicity, presentation before energy utilities, promotion by members of government or parliament, submissions to executive directors of lending institutions, and support from industry working in environmentally sound energy generation).



History and Future of FAIRE

In April 1996 at the "Lessons of Chernobyl" conference in Kiev, a group of eastern and western activists sat down to think about what was most needed to strengthen the sustainable energy movement in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

One of the main problems they discussed was the lack of young, skilled, English-speaking activists and analysts. There were some people in the east who were experienced in organizing international campaigns, but they badly needed support from others within their region. They felt overworked and overstressed; many were the leaders of their organizations, and since they were the only people who spoke English and had international experience and contacts, they were the only ones who traveled to conferences and did the international footwork necessary for effective cross-boundary campaigns.

For these reasons, they agreed that young easterners needed training in the English language, on energy issues, and on campaigning skills, and they needed internships with their western counterparts.

As a result of this discussion, the FAIRE program was initiated in Budapest, and for two years, it did just that - offered training and internships to eastern energy activists. A small team at the Energy Club, working together with Hnuti DUHA from the Czech Republic, organized and implemented a four-part program involving an "energy English" training course, a training seminar, internships, and eventual cooperative campaigns. Financial support came from foundations, foreign embassies, western and eastern partner organizations, and the Hungarian environmental ministry.

Our FEET course (FAIRE Energy English Training) lasted 12 weeks and combined an intensive general English language program, from the elementary to the intermediate level, with additional coursework on energy issues and NGO strategy. The training seminar which followed each FEET course was 5 days long in 1997 and 8 days long in 1998, and brought together activists and analysts from all over eastern and western Europe and North America to exchange information and experience and gain new contacts. Following that, a number of participants traveled to western Europe and the US for internships with host organizations working on energy issues. Now some of those interns are working on cooperative projects with their former hosts.

The responsibility for organizing these trainings will now be shifted to eastern NGOs who want to run this program in their countries, and the FAIRE program will be decentralized. If you can see the problems outlined above in your region, and you would like to address them by starting your own FAIRE-type project, our handbook is a good place to begin. Energy Club staff may also be available to travel to your country to offer advice on how to set it up there, and we can also provide references when you are fundraising and seeking hosts for your interns.

(when writing to the Energy Club on this subject, please specify "for Enikõ " in the subject category)



FAIRE Hosts and Partners

* indicates that the organization hosted a FAIRE intern in 1997 or 1998. ** indicates that they hosted interns in both years (or were planning to at this writing). Other organizations on this list have been so far unable to host interns but asked to be considered in later years.

A SEED (Action for Solidarity, Equality, Environment and Development)*

Contact person: Gerbina

PO BOX 92066, 1090 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tel. +31 20 668-2236, Fax: +31 20 665-0166

aseedeur@antenna.nl OR gerbina@aseed.antenna.nl



Center for Safe Energy

Contact person: Enid Schreibman, Fran Macy

Earth Island Institute, 2812 Cherry Street, Berkeley, CA 94705

Tel. +1 510 540-7120, Fax +1 510 649-9605

fmacy@igc.org, eschreibman@igc.org



For Mother Earth International*

Contact person: Pol D'Huyvetter

Lange Steenstraat 16/D, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Tel./fax +32 9 233-8439

international@motherearth.org

http://www.motherearth.org



Friends of the Earth - Scotland*

Contact person: John Green

72 Newhaven Road, Edinburgh EH6 5QG, Scotland UK

Tel. +44 131 554-9977, Fax +44 131 554-8656

foescotland@gn.apc.org



Global 2000**

Contact person: Patricia Lorenz or Manuela Kraeuter

Flurschuetzstrasse 13., A-1120 Vienna, Austria

Tel./fax: +43 1 812-5730, 812-5728

global2000@t0.or.at



Greenpeace - Netherlands*

Keizersgracht 174, 1016 DW Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tel. +31 (20) 626-1877, Fax +31 (20) 622-1272

receptie@ams.greenpeace.org



The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research*

Contact person: Anita Seth

6935 Laurel Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912 USA

Tel./fax: +1 301 270-5500, 270-3029

anitas@ieer.org

http://www.ieer.org



International Institute for Energy Conservation*

Contact person: Peter Tulej

31 Pitfield Street, London N1 6HB UK

Tel./fax: +44 171 490-7616, 490-7626

peter.tulej@dial.pipex.com OR iiec.europe@dial.pipex.com

http://www.iiec.org



Institute for Risk Research, University of Vienna

Contact person: Wolfgang Kromp

Tuerkenschanzstrasse 17/8, A-1180 Vienna, Austria

Tel. +43 1 479-0094, Fax +43 1 479-0095

wk@pap.univie.ac.at



Nuclear Information and Resource Service**

Contact person: Michael Mariotte

1424 16th Street NW Suite 404, Washington DC 20036 USA

Tel./fax: +1 202 328-0002, 462-2183

nirsnet@igc.apc.org

http:/www.nirs.org



Oeko Institut**

Contact person: Martin Cames

Friedrichstrasse 185, D-10117 Berlin, Germany

Tel./fax: +49 30 201-65080, 201-65088

cames@oeko.de



OVE/INFORSE-Europe*

Contact person: Gunnar Boye Olesen

Gl. Kirkevej 56, DK-8530 Hjortshoj, Denmark

Tel. +45 86 227-000, fax: +45 86 227-096

ove@inforse.dk

http://solstice.crest.org/renewables/sen/index.html;

http://www.inforse.dk/



Physicians for Social Responsibility

Lisa Ledwidge, Associate Director for PSR Security Programs

1101 14th St. NW #700, Washington DC 20005

Tel. +1 202 898-0150, 898-0172

ledwidge@psr.org

http://www.psr.org



World Information Service on Energy - Amsterdam**

Contact person: Peer de Rijk

PO Box 59636, 1040 LC Amsterdam

Tel./fax: +31 20 612-6368, 689-2179

wiseamster@antenna.nl



Funders of the FAIRE program

This is not a comprehensive list of possible funders for your program. These are the institutions which funded the regional FAIRE program. There are sure to be other resources in your country which are unavailable here, and vice versa. Addresses are not given below because they may differ for your country or region.

Heinrich Boell Stiftung

Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

National Forum Foundation/Freedom House

Charity Know How Foundation

Dutch Embassy KAP Program

Canada Fund(Canadian Embassy)

British Know How Fund

Environmental Partnership for CEE - Hungarian Office

Hungarian Ministry of the Environment

Anti Atom International (Austrian Ministry of the Environment)

Swedish Acid Rain Secretariat

The NIRS Eastern European Grant Program also provided support to several FAIRE interns for their home-country campaigns (see address under FAIRE Hosts and Partners).

In-kind donations from:

Tim and Jess Perry (English teaching time)

KASZ Cultural Center (discount on classroom)

MÁV Flying Club (discount on classroom)

various NGOs (teaching materials)