People whose livelihoods chiefly involve the direct exploitation of local natural resources often come into conflict with the institutions of protected areas, which are dedicated to natural resource conservation or preservation. Many scholars and managers now question the traditional top-down approach of excluding local participation and ignoring local interests in protected areas establishment and management.

The aim of the project is to measure and collect standby power data from a range of common household appliances on display in retail stores in two Central Eastern European countries – Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The project aimed at assessing commonly used policy instruments (for example building codes, energy efficiency obligations, subsidies or information campaigns) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings according to their emission reduction effectiveness and cost-effectiveness as well as factors for success. The assessment was based on case studies of implemented policy instruments from over 50 countries. As second part of the project, an online Quick Scan Tool has been developed to assist decision makers on various levels of government in creating policy packages most appropriate to their local context, which consist of the assessed policy instruments.

The subject of the proposed research is the social mechanisms of justifying and maintaining the communist dictatorships in Central Europe. The purpose, however, is not to merely pursue the tradition of looking for the social reasons for supporting the one-party regimes or the practices of adaptation to the new circumstances.

This research project has been commissioned by the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Water Protection with the aim of preparing a background study for the long-term climate change strategy of Hungary.

The project has been initiated in Pasts, Inc. and hosted by Collegium Budapest. It consisted of a preparatory Workshop, held September 11-13, 2006 at Collegium Budapest, and a research period over the calendar year 2007, during which some participants of the project worked as Fellows at the Collegium for various lengths of time, others worked as external contributors.

Starting from January 2009, the Center for Media and Communications Studies (CMCS) is the coordinating institution of a new EU funded project on "Broadening the Range Of Awareness in Data protection (BROAD)" 

The research estimates and analyzes carbon dioxide mitigation potential in the Hungarian residential sector and associated costs resulting from the application of energy-efficient technologies and practices as well as the use of fuel switch options from the demand side. In addition, the most promising options in terms of cost-effectiveness and carbon dioxide reduction potential are identified.

The project is funded by the Higher Education Support Program of the Open Society Institute, Budapest and administered by the help of CEU’s Special Projects Office. This is a three-year project to develop Comparative History as a stream/grouping of courses within a set of target departments in our Region – Central Europe, South East Europe, Eastern Europe --, with CEU acting as the core and the co-ordinator of the group.

Consortium to support action research on sustainable development in China (2007-Present).

CEU organized a conference on February 28th, 2007 on the relevance of the recommendations of the UN SEG Report on confronting climate change for Hungary. Dr.Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, member of UN SEG presented the findings of the Report, and chaired the roundtable discussion.

Green Investment Schemes (GIS) is an architecture which helps to utilize greenhouse gas emission surpluses tradable under International Emission Trading for sustainable energy development. The project aims to assist Hungarian policy-makers with analysis of various options of efficient use of Green Investment Scheme funding.

The objective of the project is to produce a report estimating the potential net employment impacts of a large-scale building energy retrofit programme in Hungary. While it is clear that such a programme would generate a substantial reduction of energy consumption in the country, this report will quantify an important co-benefit that can provide a new entry to the policy-making processes – the one on employment.

The project covers institutions and resources involved in energy efficiency governance: analyzing the use of political authority, institutions and resources at all levels of government to achieve improved energy efficiency.

July 8-19, 2002, our Department is offering a course on Environment and Regional Transport Planning organized in co-operation with the Regional Environmental Center for CEE (REC) Secretariat to the Sofia Initiative on Environmental Impact Assessment.

Synthesizing research to further knowledge about modes of governance to promote environmental policy integration (EPI). (2006-2008).

The one-year research project concerns itself with the European Union's common budget and Hungary 's role and interests in its structural review. The main focus of the project is the EU-budget for the period of 2007-2013, an analytic review of its structure, an assessment of potential changes in the budget structure during its mid-term review as well as Hungary 's interests and potential in absorption of funds. The project also consideres any potential changes in the structure of institutions serving the common EU budget, and how the absorption of financial resources can interact with the main priorities of the EU.

The workshop series (sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council) concentrates on the impact of EU enlargement on the political, social and economic agenda of the EU. More specifically, it analyses the effects that enlargement has on the pan-European discussion regarding the Single Market policy framework and the concept of a European Social Model. Events held in the framework of the project focus on the contribution of Central and Eastern European countries, in defining priorities of Single Market Reform and socio-economic development in the EU.

The project aims to provide a first evaluation of the extent and nature of fuel poverty in Hungary and to understand the experience of fuel poverty by Hungarian households in connection to the role of utility companies and central and local governments.

The Global Energy Assessment (GEA) is a major initiative established by IIASA in late 2005 to help decision makers address the challenges of providing energy services for sustainable development, whilst ameliorating existing and emerging threats associated with: security of supply; access to modern forms of energy for development and poverty alleviation; local, regional and global environmental impacts; and securing sufficient investment.

In collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

The purpose of this project is to investigate how the flexibility of Green Investment Schemes can be best utilized for maximizing benefits to climate and society, whilst ensuring that environmental integrity is not compromised at the expense of simplicity and flexibility.

The Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is a groundbreaking treaty, linking environment and human rights in international law. CEPL engages in research and action to support the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the CEE region. CEPL is a member of the Access to Justice Task Force.

This project studies the political and economic development of 10 Central and Eastern European Countries, with a special view to their relations with the European Union. Experts from each target state prepare detailed country reports that provide an overview and a thorough analysis of their country's transformation process.

CEU holds the IPCC Outreach event, which aims to disseminate the key findings and messages of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), among policy- and decision-makers, academia, businesses, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders in Hungary.

This project seeks to expand uranium mining and milling in the world famous Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, which is the source of 1/3 of the world's uranium. Recently, the cost of fossil fuels and the increased demand for uranium has reignited exploration in the region, promising employment and development opportunities, but historically has left in its wake a legacy of abandoned mines and concerned citizens. As stakeholders, the remote communities in the region (many of which are First Nation) are increasingly burdened with the environmental costs of such exploration and have requested assistance in interpreting the multitude of EISs which will have dramatic effects on their traditional ways of life

The project provides detailed and reliable know-how on the electricity consumption structure and its use by purpose in different types of buildings; develops a harmonised methodology for electricity metering, survey and analysis; conducts a pilot campaign based on this methodology; and models impacts of possible energy saving policies.

The degradation of the freshwater ecosystems is considered to be one of the biggest non-military threats to human societies. For thousands of years the rivers and river valleys have been the cradle for the human civilizations and still an essential component in every national and regional economy. Growing needs of human societies accompanied by growing abilities have caused the significant river alteration and ecosystem changes. Till the end of 20th century the environmental needs were sacrificed for the sake of economic development, what resulted in rivers contamination, biodiversity loss and general riverine ecosystem degradation.

The aim of the project was to provide a lobbying and communications tool to raise awareness of the present and likely future impacts from climate change in the Danube and Carpathian region. The report produced through this project will be used by the World Wide Fund for Nature Danube-Carpathian Programme Office (WWF-DCPO) to initiate political discussions and to attract media and public attention within the framework of WWF's work on climate change.

Comparative project on institutional and discursive responses to multiple, intersecting inequalities in EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe

With support from the East/West Institute, established the Prespa and Ohrid Sustainable Development Network (POSNET).   POSNET is a transboundary, diverse network of environmental, cultural, and women NGOs joined for the purposes of implementing sustainable development in the Prespa and Ohrid region of Albania and Macedonia. (2005-2006).

The project aims to provide qualified advice to the Hungarian National Development Agency for defining Hungary’s position towards a Post-Lisbon Strategy, particularly with regard to climate and energy policy matters.

The objective of the project is to help facilitate the work of Visegrad countries in assuming their responsibilities under their respective EU Council Presidencies and to contribute to the coordination of their agendas in order to achieve joint objectives. It aims to add a V4 angle to the presidencies of the individual countries and thereby contribute to the visibility and success of V4 cooperation.

QUING is a 54-month long international research project funded within the European Commission’s 6th Framework Program. It aims to address issues of gender and citizenship in the European Union and to provide innovative knowledge for inclusive gender and equality policies in present (and future) EU member states. QUING involves twelve project partners across Europe.

The project contributes to an increased understanding of electricity consumption in the EU27 households for different types of equipment, including analysis of consumers' behaviour and comfort levels, and identifies demand trends. The project also assesses potential electricity savings in the residential sector in Europe and investigates to what extent they can be achieved using existing means. Special attention is given to stand-by consumption. To this end a combination of metering and surveying techniques is used.

The current project aims at fostering new research on the shared history of Hungary and Romania by employing relational and transnational approaches, as part of a more general effort to rewrite continental history from an integrated perspective. East-Central European countries share a common historical past that goes far back in time to enduring medieval and early modern imperial legacies.

This project is devised by a group of historians from different national and intellectual backgrounds, as well as of different generations and academic positions. Its aim is to write a new narrative of European history in a polycentric context, adopting a non-Eurocentric perspective, focusing on science – its history, emergence and worldwide circulation – in a crucial period for the construction of European ‘modernity’.

The objective of this project was to design a Web site containing information on the state of the environment in Central and Eastern Europe and environmental educational resources in order to enable free access to information and encourage public participation in decision-making.

The aim of the project is to bring new impulses to public and expert debates in the Visegrad countries concerning the Eastern dimension of EU policy and to increase and sustain the role of Visegrad countries in shaping the political agenda of the Commission, the European Parliament and member states in the area of CFSP and Neighborhood Policy.

The project aims to understand how policy processes and mechanisms of involvement of different level actors explain policy outcomes and policy quality in the field of domestic violence in five Central and Eastern European Countries: Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and Romania.

The department is participating in an EU-wide research project under the management of Diana Urge-Vorsatz. The project is supported by the European Commission’s Altener program, with some matching funding provided by Central European Univeristy.

Building on previous research on the collectivization of agriculture in communist dictatorship, this comparative project deals with the collectivization of agriculture in Eastern Europe between the 1930s and 1980s. On the basis of a re-examination of the collectivization enforced in the USSR in the late 1920s and early 1930s, empirical work will concentrate on the transfer and (selective) appropriation of the Soviet model in East European states (GDR, Czechoslovakia Hungary, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania).

Special focus on investment in environmentally friendly energy and the impact of such a sustainable energy path on employment and access conditions for low income consumers

The aim of the project is to carry out archaeological excavations in cooperation with European or

“Transatlantic Initiative for Environmental Justice,” with grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Roma Participation Program of the Open Society Institute, and Central European University.  Conference convening US environmental justice activists, scholars, and lawyers with environmental and human rights activists from CEE and the Balkans. Environmental Justice Programme, Budapest, Hungary. (2005).