Shifting views of environmental NGOs in Spain and Romania

Environmental issues are of growing importance in South and South‐Eastern Europe. Democratization has seen the emergence of non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) addressing a range of domestic and regional environmental considerations. This article compares the development of the environmental NGO sector in Spain and Romania, as this says much about state attitudes towards the environment. In spite of very different histories, there are a number of similarities in the experiences of environmental NGOs in both countries. The article argues that environmental NGOs continue to be marginalized due to non‐democratic legacies that suppressed participation and maintained closed administrative systems.