Climate Innovators Mapping in Central and Eastern Europe 1 This ecosystem mapping on climate innovation in nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe would not have been possible without the hard work of several people, whom we would like to acknowledge: Silvia Luican (IziData) and Răzvan Zamfira (Interrobang) and their research teams, who conducted the quantitative network analysis in all the countries in the study. Magdalena Dul-Komosinska and Anna Brussa, from EIT Climate-KIC, who trusted in the worthiness of this mapping endeavour and challenged us to constantly improve our methodologies and work. The sectoral experts who wrote country briefings for all the countries we examined, helping us to substantiate the findings of the mappings: Romania: Roxana Bucată and Ștefan Voicu Bulgaria: Yasen Georgiev Hungary: Nora Feldmar and Akos Gosztonyi Lithuania: Migle Grigiene Latvia: Ilona Platonovia Poland: Andrzej Kassenberg Czech Republic: Martin Sedlak, Ivan Touska Slovakia: Richard Filcak Estonia: Ragmar Saksing In-country Ashoka teams, who either supported the strategic development of this project, its operational workings or quality assurance: Marie Ringler (Ashoka Central and Eastern Europe Director), Anna Schaden (Ashoka Central and Eastern Europe Operations and Integration Manager), Agata Stafiej-Bartosik (Ashoka Poland Director), Marta Ciesielska-Ploszaj (Ashoka Poland Office Manager), Zsolt Pethe (Ashoka Hungary Director), Pavlina Horejsova (Ashoka Czech Republic Director), Corina Murafa (Ashoka Romania Director), Ana Murray (Ashoka Romania Partnerships and Strategy Manager), Roxana Buzețelu (Ashoka Romania Consultant), Bogdan Borș (Ashoka Romania Trainee) and others. Liviu Bărbulescu, who provided the design and visual outlook of this report. FOREWORD Over the last four decades, Ashoka has been working to build an Everyone a Changemaker world, a world that responds quickly and effectively to social challenges and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address social problems and drive change. Of the many global challenges we face today, few are as wide-reaching as climate change. While humans have enjoyed the convenience and comfort brought about by the Industrial Revolution, many of us have also lost touch with nature and as a result, directly and indirectly contributed to global warming and climate change. As a result, for the first time in its 40-year history, in 2019 Ashoka has decided to galvanize the strength of its community on climate action, through a new global initiative – Next Now: Planet & Climate. Within this flagship initiative, we aim to change the course of history by uniting leading changemakers around audacious goals that bring people and planet to a new equilibrium. Together, this ecosystem of visionary changemakers will build a brighter future. A future that addresses and anticipates the world’s most urgent climate challenges. A future in which no one gets left behind. Because the world is changing fast and the time to act is Now. For all these reasons, the partnership with EIT Climate-KIC has brought us great joy. We view the ecosystem mapping of climate innovators in nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe, which constitutes the object of this report, as a major first step in our global work on climate innovation. When it comes to global climate action, the scale and depth of the challenge we face as humanity is so severe, that we need moonshot goals and cathedral thinking. Yet, we first need to know who are the extraordinary women and men that can join hands, shoot for the moon and restore our planetary equilibrium. The fact we were able to do this ecosystem mapping in Central and Eastern Europe has been an honour and a privilege. The massive transformation this region went through, after half a century of oppression, is largely due to changemakers that stepped up to the mission of bringing a new vision for the region to life. A vision based on active citizenship, participation and inclusion. In this landscape, have the concerns for our planet fallen through the cracks? Statistics point out climate skepticism is wider and more far-reaching in Eastern Europe than in the West. But is it really so? If not, who are the regional champions that are driving a new wind of age? What are their obstacles and which are the opportunities they see in their work? Our qualitative deep-dives, authored by regional experts from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia complemented a thorough quantitative network analysis in all these countries, performed with specialized teams of market analysis consultants, based on a carefully planned and tested methodology. 502 phone interviews helped us surface 827 innovators, changemakers and leading players in several fields which we saw as paramount for climate action in our region: energy efficiency in buildings, climate-smart agriculture, socio-economic transformation in post-coal regions and air pollution. We hope you will enjoy this reading, which condenses months of scrutiny and search. The first chapter details the rationale and aim of the study. The second one presents in greater detail the methodology we used. If you have little time for reading, do not miss Chapter 3 – it sums up the main findings and insights of our whole analysis. Chapter 4 looks at all the field areas we examined and describes in great detail the general context of each of them, main policies in the region, main innovations, as well as socio-demographic characteristics of the changemakers that work in each of them. Chapter 5 comprises, in fact, nine annexes: one for each country in the region that we looked at, with both the qualitative findings provided by the experts we consulted, and the results of the network and ecosystem mappings. You will probably enjoy the very insightful nine individual Maps of Changemakers, each with its own shape and specificities. For us, the journey begins now. We now know who can turn our region into a global frontrunner in climate and sustainability. It is our responsibility, as well as an invitation we would like to address to all institutional actors in the region – from governments to corporations, from funders and business leaders to leading foundations – to nurture this ecosystem, to support its visionary spirit and courageous thinking. The time to act is Now. Corina Murafa Ashoka Romania Director, Field Leader Next Now: Planet & Climate Marie Ringler Ashoka Europe and Ashoka CEE Director, Agata Stafiej-Bartosik Ashoka Poland Director, Zsolt Pethe Ashoka Hungary Director, Pavlina Horejsova Ashoka Czech Republic Director Climate Innovators Mapping in Central and Eastern Europe 1 2 Climate Innovators Mapping in Central and Eastern Europe Table of contents 5 Chapter 1: Rationale and Aim of the Study 7 Chapter 2: Methodology 13 Chapter 3: Insights of the Network Mapping Analysis. How Does the Network of Climate Innovators in Central and Eastern Europe Look Like? General Trends and Patterns at Regional Level 35 Chapter 4: Main Findings in the Four Sub-Areas Under Consideration 35 Energy Efficiency in Buildings 42 Climate-Smart Agriculture 47 Socio-Economic Transformation in Post-Coal Regions 51 Air Pollution 55 Annexes: Main Findings in Each of the Surveyed Countries 57 Annex 1: Qualitative and Network Analysis Romania 79 Annex 2: Qualitative and Network Analysis Bulgaria 101 Annex 3: Qualitative and Network Analysis Hungary 125 Annex 4: Qualitative and Network Analysis Czech Republic 151 Annex 5: Qualitative and Network Analysis Slovakia 175 Annex 6: Qualitative and Network Analysis Poland 201 Annex 7: Qualitative and Network Analysis Lithuania 223 Annex 8: Qualitative and Network Analysis Latvia 243 Annex 9: Qualitative and Network Analysis Estonia 263 Annex 10: Terms of Reference for the Qualitative Briefings 267 Annex 11: Interview Guide for the Changemakers Maps Climate Innovators Mapping in Central and Eastern Europe 3 Chapter 1 Rationale and Aim of the Study In 2019 EIT Climate-KIC and Ashoka joined hands learns from the patterns in their innovations to conduct a study in 9 countries (Romania, and mobilizes a global community to embrace Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, these new frameworks and build an “everyone a Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) with the changemaker” world. purpose of identifying the most important players and changemakers in the climate innovation area. Both organisations did this inquiry because such changemakers who generate positive change About EIT Climate-KIC are quite a few, and even fewer in the climate EIT Climate-KIC is a Knowledge and Innovation innovation sector. The purpose of the project Community (KIC) working to accelerate the has been to create a network that will act on transition to a zero-carbon economy. Supported maximizing the potential of all members. If you by the European Institute of Innovation and feel we have missed important actors in any of Technology, EIT Climate-KIC identifies and the countries we examined, or if you think we supports changemakers and their innovations that misaddressed one of the prominent trends in help society mitigate and adapt to climate change. any of the countries under scrutiny, please reach out to us. At the same time, the purpose of our About Ashoka endeavour is to design future programmes and Ashoka is the largest global organization strategies that would support these vibrant promoting and supporting social entrepreneurship communities of changemakers and innovators.