Promoting an Environmental Civil Society: Politics, Policy, and Russia’s Post-1991 Experienceropr

In recent years the United Nations Environment Program, UN Conference on Environment and
Development, and other international organizations have acknowledged the importance of civil society for
engaging stakeholders in environmental change—especially at the local community level—and in
promoting democracy.1 In Russia, efforts by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to promote reform
since 1991 have aimed at achieving both objectives and face numerous political, legal, and attitudinal
hurdles.