5 April 1998

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am very pleased to offer my endorsement for funding applications to support the Polish Green Brigades/Zielone Brygady editorial team in their efforts to consolidate and expand their activities. Many scholarly studies have drawn attention to the profound obstacles facing all post-communist countries in the construction of a dynamic, activist civil society. Zielone Brygady constitutes both an affirmation of the positive consequences of voluntary participation and a testimony to the difficulties faced by volunteer activists.

The journal itself is interesting, informative and a unique national resource. It provides a major source of information and a forum for serious debate on key environmental issues. Its scope extends very widely, embracing issues of direct concern for sustainable development but also encompassing broader issues of democratization, issues linked to gender equality, and the role of the church. It does not pursue a particular line but makes its columns available for controversial perspectives and a diversity of viewpoints. Its circulation is impressive for a journal of this type, operated on a shoestring; and it also feeds into general periodicals of mass circulation such as Polityka and Wprost, which quote its spokespersons and utilize it as an information resource.

Zielone Brygady has also developed a major networking and co-ordinating role for the Polish environmental movement as a whole, including disseminating information about local and national activities and providing materials about general strategies and tactics of pressure group politics and civic organisation. Through its international links it conveys information both from and to the wider international community. My organization has published many articles in Zielone Brygady and has received a good response from the readers. I have also found it an invaluable resource for articles on Polish political development in general and the green movement in particular.

This multi-faceted role is particularly crucial in circumstances when public knowledge of environmental issues is limited. The green movement is often virtually the only source of an alternative perspective on current government policies. Those who have demonstrated their intense commitment of time, energy and other personal resources to this effort should be congratulated and supported in their contribution to constructing a stable pluralist democratic society.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Richardson, B.Sc.(Physics, M.I.T.), M.Sc.(Physics, U. of Illinois) , Ph.D. (Psychology, Stanford University)
Member of theBoard
Ecosolidarity Association
34-146 Stryszow 156, Poland

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