Problem addressed

Bucharest faces increasingly severe environmental challenges that directly affect the quality of life of its residents. Air pollution, inadequate waste management, dirty streets, outdated public transport, heavy traffic, and sidewalks occupied by cars contribute to a deteriorating urban environment and recurring social tensions. 

The core issue is the absence of a long-term, structural, and collaborative approach capable of generating sustainable solutions. Fragmented efforts and limited coordination hinder progress toward cleaner air, better mobility, and improved urban infrastructure. A neutral space that enables cooperation among civil society, public institutions, companies, and citizens is essential to address these complex environmental problems. Platforma de mediu pentru București responds to this need by facilitating collaboration around shared environmental priorities and collective impact.

Innovative solution

Platforma de mediu pentru București is a neutral collaborative space where civil society, academia, public authorities, and companies work together to address the environmental issues of the capital city.

Initiated by Fundația Comunitară București and ING Bank Romania, it supports the development of projects that identify and address environmental issues and opportunities within Bucharest’s communities.

Fundația Comunitară București attracts private funding (from companies that pool their resources to increase community impact) and co-finances environmental initiatives in the form of grants awarded to NGOs and civic groups selected through periodic project calls (funding rounds).

In each funding round, a number of projects are selected to receive support for a period of 3–4 years, depending on project results and on the platform’s ability to attract new sources of funding.

Key results and benefits

By 2025, Fundația Comunitară București aims to build a community that can generate collective impact in addressing the complex environmental challenges of the capital, challenges that no single actor can resolve independently. As a facilitator, it provides a neutral collaborative space where community members can develop project ideas and advocacy initiatives.

Through previous funding rounds, a total of 14,882,484 lei, including 2,521,250 lei supported through the În ZONA TA initiative, has been invested in the implementation of 58 environmental projects in Bucharest and Ilfov between 2021 and 2025. These investments have strengthened local capacity, encouraged long-term engagement, and contributed to more coordinated solutions for air quality, waste management, mobility and urban green spaces.

The platform has also helped build stronger connections between civic groups, public institutions, companies and residents, leading to more informed and collaborative approaches to environmental issues.

Potential for mainstreaming

The collaborative model developed through Platforma de mediu pentru București and Fundația Comunitară București can be replicated in other urban areas facing complex environmental challenges. Its structure, which includes neutral facilitation, pooled private funding, multi-year grants, and continuous engagement between NGOs, authorities, companies, and citizens, provides a framework that other cities or community foundations can adopt to strengthen environmental governance and collective action.

Some components of the project, such as the micro-community funding programme “In ZONA TA”, have already been extended to Cluj. The plan is to further expand the platform to other cities across the country where a community foundation exists and where complex environmental challenges are present.