At pivotal moments in history, certain voices help spark lasting change. Boris Strečanský was one of those voices in Slovakia’s 1989 student movement — and ever since, he’s been at the heart of civil society building in the region. Now, as a new member of the WWF-CEE Board, Boris brings his deep experience in philanthropy, community empowerment, and systems change to our shared mission: a future where nature and people thrive together. From the role of the private sector in leading environmental progress, to building resilient funding models for long-term impact, Boris reflects on what it will take to truly move the needle in Central and Eastern Europe — and why WWF’s strategic approach matters more than ever. This is the first in a series of conversations, called "Voices for Nature", with some of the positive change architects in Central and Eastern Europe. We hope you’ll find insights that support the change you’re leading in your own work.

What role should the private sector play in supporting environmental sustainability in CEE?

In today’s interconnected world with complex supply chains and uneven regulatory regimes, there is a lot of space for innovation and leadership by private sector in moving the needle ahead, setting higher standards and inspiring wider changes in environmental sustainability and sustainable resource use. The CEE region has been lagging behind the Western countries in environmental performance of its private sector due to higher resource intensity and inherited structural and process inefficiencies. Despite the progress in environmental performance in last decades due to EU normative pressures and market forces, the current developments in global affairs may mean a global pushback against the green policies and ambitions (recent rejection of the UN SDGs by the US in the ECOSOC and the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement) the leadership role of the private sector in the CEE (and not only there) in environmental field will be even more important.

In your view, what is WWF’s added value in Central and Eastern Europe, and how can it maximize its impact?
WWF added value is in both, its agenda and in its ways of working. Beyond the obvious - the power of the global panda brand, the region benefits from the global experience that WWF brings to the table on nature conservancy and biodiversity, limiting the environmental footprint of human activity and advancing sustainable livelihoods. In its way of working that added value is its strategic approach,  depth of its interventions, consequential multi-stakeholder approach and highly advanced internal processes ensuring high quality outputs. 

How can environmental organizations in CEE build stronger, more resilient funding models for long-term impact?
There are two practices that contribute to funding resiliency: diversification of income sources and developing and maintaining individual recurrent supporters.  A sound diversification of income sources included earned income, corporate partnerships, public sector grants and individual / community support. Building a community of supporters means applying variety of communication and engagement approaches that connect the organization with its sympathizers, supporters and numerous individual donors who provide recurrent donations. This is the most strategic in long-term for organizational resilience, but also most challenging given that it requires a significant, persistent and consistent effort and investment in communication and fundraising.  As we wittness today - public sector funding, while being strategic and critical from many aspects,  is and will be susceptible to political cycle and is not immune from abrupt changes which then have a significant effect on organizations. However, achieving long-term impact will always require a combination of mutiple sources of income as no source on its own can fully answer the resource needs of environmental organization, while ensuring independence and effectiveness in advancement of its mission.