In the words of ECOM: "About Us"

The Research Center ECOM was founded in 1999 under the aegis of the St. Petersburg Naturalist Society.

The main goal in the founding of the Center was the development in Russia of modern approaches in the area of environmental conservation, including: environmental impact statements, ecological management, sustainability indicators, the Local Agenda for the 21st century and others.

Currently the work of ECOM is focused around the problem of public participation in decision-making with environmental implications. The Center’s staff conducts work on the mechanisms of effective public influence on government and business.

For more than 6 years ECOM has successfully realized projects directed at:

- Increasing the role of the public in the process of preparation, deliberation over, and execution of environmentally significant decisions in the economic and social spheres.
- Development of methods for and immediate realization of professional evaluation of the impact of plans, programs and projects on the environment and social fabric.
- Construction of a partnership between public organizations, enterprises and government bodies for the achievement of common goals in environmental conservation. Integration of eco-technology and environmental management approaches in governance.
- Development of a legal foundation that shapes responsibility for the environmental and socio-economic impacts of decisions made by business and government.

The main aspects of the work of the Research Center ECOM are:

- Integration of improved methodology and procedures for environmentally oriented decision-making at the local and regional level in the Russian Northwest.
- Drafting legislation outlining public participation.
- Conducting of information campaigns, public hearings, and similar events.
- Defense of citizens’ environmental rights (legal representation, consultation).
- Consulting business-structures and local government bodies on questions of organization of public participation.
- Realization of educational programs in the area of public participation.

The staff of the Center participate in municipal and regional projects as experts and consultants on questions of organizing public participation. They have also originated academic courses which are offered at the leading universities of Petersburg: the Northwest Academy of Government Service, Nevskii Institute of Language and Culture, St. Petersburg Technological Institute, and St. Petersburg State University. The Center has an open environmental library with a unique selection of contemporary academic literature and reference materials.
ECOM is a partner of leading Russian and international organizations for nature conservation, and is a member of the European Eco-Forum, the Northern Alliance of NGOs for sustainable development (ANPED), and the Coalition of NGOs for the Kyoto Protocol. The experts of ECOM prepared recommendations on citizen participation for the Representative for Human Rights in St. Petersburg.