Six projects in Bucharest will receive combined funding of over RON 830,000 in 2026 through the Environmental Platform for Bucharest, as the Bucharest Community Foundation and ING Bank Romania said they doubled their support for long-term green initiatives in the capital city. The new funding round complements a first investment of nearly RON 770,000 and is aimed at helping organisations expand proven initiatives beyond isolated interventions.

The supported projects cover areas such as biodiversity protection, environmental education, circular economy, urban regeneration, and civic engagement, with a focus on scalability and collective impact.

“Through this funding, we choose to support initiatives that have already proven their impact and that can grow alongside the communities around them. We are not talking about one-time projects, but about interventions built over time, which bring meaningful change to Bucharest," said Alina Kasprovschi, executive director at Bucharest Community Foundation.

All six initiatives had previously received funding through programmes run by the Bucharest Community Foundation and were selected following a structured evaluation process. The projects also went through a strategic incubation programme based on the theory of change and collective impact methodology, designed to strengthen planning, community involvement, and long-term sustainability.

One project that continues due to its proven results is “Rescue and rehabilitation of native wildlife in Bucharest and Ilfov,” implemented by the Visul Luanei Foundation. It responds to the growing number of wild animals at risk due to urbanization and supports specialized interventions for rescuing and rehabilitating urban wildlife. 

Following funding of RON 185,490 granted in 2024 to consolidate the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, the initiative received RON 224,970 for the period between June 2025 and July 2026.

Meanwhile, the Wilderness Research and Conservation Association continues the “Batwatch” project after previously receiving RON 130,000 to monitor and protect bat colonies in Bucharest. The initiative received an additional RON 100,000 in funding for the period between June 2025 and July 2026 and aims to reduce the impact of renovation and thermal insulation works on urban wildlife.

Moreover, after receiving RON 74,550 between July 2024 and May 2025 to redevelop a degraded urban space in central Bucharest, the Wilson Civic Initiative Group continues the project “Green Concret(e). From grey to life” in 2025-2026 with new funding of RON 50,000, according to the press release. The initiative addresses the lack of nearby green spaces and transforms a residential block courtyard into a green, community-oriented space.

The “Bucureștii verzi și Noi” project also continues in 2026, following a previous RON 74,550 funding round for regenerating micro-green spaces between apartment buildings in the Bucureștii Noi neighbourhood. The initiative proposes alternatives to aggressive green space maintenance and builds dialogue between residents and authorities through simple, replicable solutions for caring for nearby green areas. 

Following two previous phases focused on urban gardens and neighbourhood composting, the “ROOTS - Urban Gardens” project, developed by the Culturalis Association, enters a new phase in 2025-2026 with funding of RON 109,940. The initiative addressed common neighbourhood issues such as poorly maintained green spaces, soil degradation, and insufficient biowaste collection by creating two block-level gardens in the Vitan-Foișorului and Titan areas, with plans for further expansion.

Compost Academy, a collective impact project implemented by a consortium comprising the Climato Sfera Association, Culturalis Association, the Association for Sustainable Consumption, and the Livada Comunitara Martisor, is also on the list. After an initial RON 200,000 funding round in 2023 that validated the community composting model, the Compost Academy continues in 2025-2026 with new funding of RON 273,000 to expand the network of composting points, develop educational components, and strengthen dialogue with local authorities.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Bucharest Community Foundation)