Society for the Earth

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Society for the Earth is an organization derived from the branch of Green Federation in Oświęcim. The group was formed in 1989 upon waves of protest against building a refinery in Oświęcim. After a few informal activities in 1994, the Green Federation obtained the status of association. Between 1994-1997 the activities concentrated, above all, on solving the problems of environmental protection on a local scale. In 1997 association members made the decision to transform themselves into a nationwide Polish organization and change their name to Society for the Earth, but are still associated with the Green Federation movement.

• Saving, protecting and regenerating the natural environment.
• Taking action on the development of local democracy, promoting community development and involvement
• Reinforcing peace, preventing the formation of conflicts and antagonisms.
• Promoting ecological awareness among the community.
• Acting on reducing the amount of pollution production and waste as well as their pro-ecological management.
• Promotion of clean production and recycled packaging.
• Participating in administrative procedures concerned with problems connected with the natural environment.
• Appealing to the proper local authority, province and county (according to their competency), as well as courts with an official motion of applying environmental methods for removal of existing environmental hazards in defined areas, to restore to the previous state or to repair the existing state in connection with these damages.
• Carry official motions and provisions to administrative representatives about localization of projects, investment decisions about significant influence on the environment as well as to prepare projects according to the interest of nature protection and the population’s health.
• Conducting publication activities.
• Helping the poor and needy.

Up to now activities of Society of the Earth have obtained financial support from:

• Stichting Doen and the National Post Code Lottery,
• Small Grants Program GEF/UNDP,
• The World Bank Small Grants Program,
• Local office of the Regional Ecological Center (REC) of Budapest,
• Milieukontakt Oosteuropa,
• Partnership for the Environment (EPCE),
• Program PHARE - Tacis/Democracy,
• Program PHARE - Civic Dialog,
• Program "Local government: Effective and Cooperative" made possible with agreement between USAID and the "Cooperative Fund" Foundation,
• Provincial Environmental Protection Fund of Bielsko-Biała,
• Community Environmental Protection Fund of Oświęcim,
• British Know-How Fund for Poland,
• Small Project Assistance; joint program between Peace Corps and USAID,
• Numerous anonymous sponsors.

• Start the project to protect wild rivers in Poland connected with promoting alternative methods of protection from flooding.
• Begin activities against organizing Winter Olympics in Zakopane.
• Manage a data base of investments which can damage environment in Poland. We have already send a letters to 700 municipalities requesting every decision about investments which could damage the environment (based on free access to information). We want to put that into Internet and take part in some of procedures as a Office of Legal self - help.