Göncöl Foundation

Description

The Goncol Foundation is a Hungarian environmental organisation based at the Goncol House in Vac, one of the oldest nature conservation civic groups in the country.

It began as a science youth group in Vac in 1973 and took its present form as a foundation in 1989. It is a registered non-profit, non-partisan body independent of political or commercial interests, and it forms the core of a wider alliance of legal bodies, member organisations, volunteers and experts. It won the Hungarian Pro Natura Prize in 1993 and belongs to international bodies such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, whose Hungarian National Committee it also hosts.

The Foundation works through several units. Its Environment and Sustainability Education Centre runs nature trails, field camps, courses and publications for schools and the public. Its Regional Studies Institute carries out ecological field research and participatory planning, and it led research that preceded the creation of the Danube-Ipoly National Park. Its Editorial and Publishing Office produces nature science magazines and books, its Look-out Modern Arts Gallery in Budapest hosts environment-related art, and its Public Assistance Workgroup gives legal and administrative help to other civic groups.

It helped shape Hungarian environmental legislation, including the Environment Act, and helped organise the national environmental movement through national meetings and networks of civic groups. It is funded by donations, grants and project work, and Goncol House itself is a historic monument, regional geology museum and environmental library.