My name is Edit Kovács, I am a community development and civil society expert. Since 2000 I have been working in various fields of social development with small communities in urban and rural settings.

Initially, I worked simultaneously in a public institution and in NGOs, which was an important experience for me.

Since its establishment, I have been a trustee and an independent expert for the Roots and Wings Foundation. As a community development professional, I have long been interested to explore how to better manage local resources – community foundations have provided a complex model for this. I have been active in the development of community foundations in Hungary for just over ten years. Although it can be difficult to make progress in pioneering work, I like its challenges, as they drive me to learn and gain experience in new areas, while they bring together great people. 

Some elements of the community foundation practice can also be applied in small municipalities. This has led to the launch of the R&W Foundation’s Revitalising Small Towns programme, an initiative in which I work as a leader and expert. We work with key people in communities and help them develop, together with their communities.

I am an instructor at the Community and Civic Studies MA Programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences and also teach at various training centres; all along I strive to reconcile practice and theory in the everyday reality of community work.