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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to the daily lives of citizens, their interactions with their communities, the nongovernmental sector and the public administration, as well as threatening the continuity of the civic initiatives they had developed. This paper draws on the scientific literature on public participation and uses qualitative methods of inquiry (semi-structured interviews) to explore how external factors, in this case the COVID-19 pandemic, affected the public participation of citizens organised in civic initiative groups in Bucharest, Romania. One key contribution of the study pertains to the interplay between practice and the conceptual level of public participation. In this respect, the results showed that many members of civic group perceive it to be genuinely contradictory in practice in their definitions of public participation. However, their ideal visions of public participation in genuine democratic politics are markedly collaborative. The research showed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on civic groups has been quite limited, adding obstacles to public participation but also enabling opportunities. In particular, it can be concluded that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing challenges. It should also be noted that co-creation of public services can be defined by a certain level of continuity, especially in the case of civic groups that were involved in co-initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an account of the transformational capacity of Romanian public administration in relation to four main aspects: (1) human resource performance and integrity; (2) territorial, functional and institutional decentralization; (3) public policies and (4) capitalizing on the digital and innovative component. The Romania case study highlights the gradual transformation of public administration in the last 30 years, as a reaction to the emergence of economic, social and political crises. For an imperative and irreversible change, we have identified directions for capitalizing on opportunities and good practices in the matter, in the context of the intensified integration process in NATO and the EU. We have analyzed the strategic documents on strengthening and accelerating the transformation of public administration and highlighted the need for the interconnection and interdependence of its four pillars to meet the specific objectives of Horizon 2030. For decision-makers, practitioners and researchers, this article aims to stimulate and contribute to the dedicated public debate and consultation of coherent, predictable and sustainable legislation and practices in the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to conduct an analysis regarding the professional training process of the public personnel from the Romanian public administration, in the 2020-2022 period. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of professional training has experienced a series of emerging changes, that had a major impact on the management of the professional training, in general, and training processes, in particular. The research method used consists of an opinion survey, conducted with the self-administered questionnaire, designed by the authors, based on the main studies and researches in the field. The questionnaire was sent to public institutions in the central public administration, under the subordination/ coordination of ministries. 239 respondents agreed to participate in the study. The research revealed that the public personnel from public administration prefers the professional training process to be conducted in the classical and mixed systems (blended learning). In addition, benefits of the training process in the online system which can be developed, in order to optimize this type of training, were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This present research brings into focus the figure of the prefect and wojewód seen at the crossroads between career public servants representing the interests of the Government and political agents, appointed and dismissed at the whim of the Prime Minister. This paper approaches the issue of the holder of the prefect's office in Romania and Poland employing a prosopographic analysis and applies a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) on select items in order to identify the general trend and particularities of their profiles. This institution was structured and articulated at the confluence of some administrative and political actions and integrated in the national institutional framework as a key actor, which continues to connect the institutional capacity of the state and the political capacity of the Government. Moving beyond the legal framework and institutional design of each country, we look at the profile - involving educational, professional and political affiliation - of the people actually appointed to this position in order to ascertain the weight of each of these factors when called to serve in office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research is an exploratory study aiming at presenting the measures taken by the European Union to support the creation and development of clusters and to analyze Romania’s position in relation to other Member States in terms of key factors impacting cluster development. Impact factors on the development of clusters, such as digital skills among the active population, the degree of development of innovative companies, the number of applications for obtaining patents per one million inhabitants, the degree of development of clusters and the share of GDP in expenditures for research, development and innovation (%) were considered. The study highlights that Romania ranks last in the European ranking, due to the lack of incentives to promote the emergence of strong innovative clusters, underfunding of the innovation system and the absence of a legislative framework to support small and medium enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil servants' training process plays a key role in developing the public employees' skills and broadening their vision. The present paper seeks to examine the perception of Employment Agencies' civil servants regarding the effectiveness of training programs, measured through their impact on the number of projects initiated and implemented under Sectorial Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013. The role of training programs in enhancing civil servants' innovation capacity is also investigated. The methodology consists in an analysis of 253 projects financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) during 2009-2015 and an empirical research using a representative sample of 337 civil servants who attended EU funded training courses in project management. The conclusions of this paper indicated a direct relation between the number of projects developing training courses in 'project management' and the number of projects initiated and implemented annually by the territorial Agencies for Employment. Moreover, a positive correlation between the training programs and the innovation capacity of civil servants from County Agencies for Employment was also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shale gas involves a technology which is a controversial method of energy production mainly because there are uncertainties about the possible environmental and human health impacts. The article aims to identify the level of knowledge in relation to the impact of environmental risks attached to shale gas exploitation in the academic and scientific community. It does so by employing the expert elicitation approach which has the benefit of quantifying the judgment of individual experts. We have revealed a consistency among researchers in assessing the level of uncertainty of the main environmental risks and a preferred policy option in dealing with uncertainty, a vow for improved transparency, openness and ease of access to information. Shale gas policy-making in Europe needs a science- based approach as science informs policy by delivering objective and reliable knowledge. The article concludes that developing a comprehensive approach based on scientific data and an appropriate regulatory framework will provide a path forward for the future development of contested policies like shale gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]