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The aim of this research is to emphasize the importance of education for the philanthropic responsibilities of students. The basic term of the explanatory research is corporate social responsibility, adapted for higher education institutions--the philanthropic responsibilities of students, their implication on charity organization memberships or volunteering activities, and their motivation to help others. Special attention was given to the following questions: Are students involved in charity organization activities or voluntary work? Are there any differences between state and private universities regarding the philanthropic activities of students? How frequently, where, and why are they involved in volunteering? What is the latent structure of students' motivations? The quantitative international survey dates were collected by the Centre for Higher Education Research and Development from Debrecen University, Hungary, and the present examination focuses on the sample from Romania. Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software, first, through a longitudinal perspective, Romanian students' implications from state and private institutions were compared. Second, the paper analyzes the characteristics of volunteering and student's motivations. The conclusions present significant differences between state and private institutions. Students traditional motivations, i.e., to help others, were very common and connected with relational and self-development intentions. This mixed motivational factor was different from the global motivational factor (to learn new languages and to discover new cultures).

A local development strategy allows the active coordination of the development process taking place in the territory, taking into account local characteristics, changes in the external environment and allowing a positive approach to territorial development in an innovative way. Local development strategies are characterized by at least seven characteristics recommended to local managers responsible for development: vision for the future, creativity, flexibility, activity, created for action, orientation to change and orientation to sustainable gain. The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the needs and requirements of the inhabitants of the Snagov commune, respectively the degree of satisfaction with the public services they benefit from, as well as the development vision of the Snagov commune. To obtain the information necessary for the study, the questionnaire method was used, and the group of people related to the sample filled in the requested data and expressed their opinions regarding public services, infrastructure, community projects. The key challenge is to ensure a balanced and sustainable development of the territory based on polycentric development, providing services to the surrounding rural areas, avoiding the decline of the rural population and ensuring the continued attractiveness of these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networking sites have seen tremendous growth and are widely used around the world. Nevertheless, the use of social networking sites in educational contexts is an under explored area. This paper uses a qualitative methodology, autoethnography, to investigate how social networking sites, specifically Facebook[TM], can help first semester doctoral students adapt to a Ph.D. program and a new national culture. Each week during the semester, a Ph.D. Student Tip and a Cultural Tip was posted. Students would then post related discussions, observations, and/or questions. At the conclusion of the semester the doctoral students shared their thoughts about participating in the Facebook[TM] group through autobiographical narratives. A technique called open coding was used to analyze the narratives. Our findings suggest three emergent themes. Social networking sites can aid adaptation through: 1) facilitating knowledge exchange, 2) alleviating apprehension, and 3) enabling socialization and building community. The data showed that the Facebook[TM] discussions aided in various types of knowledge exchange, providing a conceptual map that facilitated greater adaptation. Next, the interactions appeared to help minimize trepidation related to embarking on a new program of study and adjusting to a new national culture. Third, the Facebook[TM] group was useful fostering socialization and community among the students. We make the following recommendations for professors when implementing SNS (Social Network Site) groups: 1) establish a Facebook[TM] group with a course-related identity, 2) be sensitive to security and privacy issues, 3) provide tips to "seed" various types of knowledge exchange, 4) encourage participation, and 5) assess and adjust. While our research is exploratory in nature, we believe it provides a foundation for future research in this important and rapidly expanding area of SNS usage. (Contains 2 tables.)

This paper highlights a series of forms of community participation in the case of a Romanian rural community that has a welldefined cultural identity and carries out numerous activities aimed at creating cultural vitality. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight a series of data and reflections derived from the field research carried out over the past years using the ethnographic method, as well as to interpret research data on the basis of a theoretical model developed by Mataritta-Cascante and Brennan (2012). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural development is a key objective of national and European policies, widely debated at political level but also in the academic community. Romania is a predominantly agricultural country which makes agriculture the main pillar of rural development. However, there are many rural areas in the mountains where agriculture cannot be practised at a high performance level, so diversification and the search for new economic sectors is essential. In these areas, tourism can be considered as an alternative to agriculture in rural development. It is important that tourism development is managed responsibly and that the views and concerns of local people are taken into account. Open dialogue and community consultation can help strike a balance between the economic benefits of tourism and the preservation of local values and quality of life. In this context, this paper aimed to carry out a survey in order to identify the opinion of the local population from the commune of Valea Doftanei in relation to the development of tourism and leisure activities as a source of income and with a positive impact on the community development. The survey was based on an interview using a structured questionnaire and addressed to 380 interviewees and the results have been statistically processed with SPSS Software. The results pointed out that the inhabitants of Valea Doftanei Commune have a positive attitude towards the development of tourism and leisure activities and consider that by a well managed tourism strategy it could be assured a beneficial economic development of the locality as well as the preservation of local values and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are once again witnessing a directional change in urban studies. This simple and concise statement comes out from a brief analysis of both the latest interests of different scholars and the discourses of urban, regional, and governmental actors. The change we are talking about refers to a slight interest drop in environmental issues and an ever-increasing attention paid to the economic and social aspects of urban life. The conceptual shift from sustainable development to smart growth is a good example, and the fact that the recent European Union papers (EU 2020 strategy, EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020) have adopted it ensures its liability. Coming to urban planning, which is primarily conceived as sets of regulatory measures, one can notice that in order to achieve the latest standards it has to develop and implement new methods and instruments which will eventually lead to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Knowing that urban plans look to specific urban issues as zoning, layout and design, which are usually regulated by legally approved national guidelines, this new tasks fall into the charge of informal planning. In Romania, informal planning refers to local development strategies, local action plans as well as the Local Agenda 21, which was implemented throughout the world. Admitting that municipalities worldwide are in a sharp competition for inhabitants, investors and capital (from trade, tourism, exhibitions, etc.), we realize that small and medium-sized towns have to ensure that all of their valuable characteristics are as visible and as marketable as possible. In order to do this, they have to enhance their attractiveness through different actions, using different methods and instruments. The present paper highlights the ways that local actors in four small cities in Bihor County, Romania are trying to market their municipalities. The chosen cities organically fit into one of the most representative mental space in Romania, the Land of Beiuş. The Romanian lands are distinct areas, with high identical features, somehow isolated, hence in need for suitable management measures. The paper's outline consists in an empirical attractiveness measurement of two of the four towns, what are the actual measures that local stakeholders are using to enhance their town attractiveness and finally some recommendations based on examples of good practices and successful stories from abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present era that we are living can be described as the "Information Age" as a semnificative general abordation for Information Society. No matter what area of science and technology we look at, it is more obvious that ever that we are dealing with an 'information overflow' without precedent in the history of humanity. Environment Sciences are no exception to this rule and recent advances in this field would have been unthinkable, unmanageable and unattainable without the support offered by modern information technology, in the sense of Environment Information Systems or Environment Informatics. The aim of the present paper is to introduce and to underline the importance of Environment Information Systems, especially in environmental protection, planning, management and, of course, decision making. This work paper is focused on the creation, management, use and role of Environmental Information Systems; at the same time, the paper explores the typology of EISs and examined the common definitions of them in the light of these major issues: the concepts of data, information and knowledge in EISs, the connection between EISs and EI, the problems and obstacles to the development of EISs and finally, the emerging demand for public access via EISs and EI to environmental information and environmental protection, engineering and research in Information Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

«How to approach the sustainable spatial development in South-East region of Romania?» is the main question to which this research-paper tries to find answers. New development trajectories are needed in order to tackle the current challenges posed by the rapid dynamics of the labour market, in a globalized, increasingly digitized economy, and in the context of technological, climate and demographic changes. This paper analysis the internal socio-economic inequalities that South-East region of Romania experiences, highlighting the main challenges of territorial development. The internal development capability of South-East region of Romania is presented by an inventory of needs and resources during the 2010-2016 period, using the most recent statistical data available on the website of Romanian National Institute of Statistics. This region is confronted with multiple vulnerabilities such as mass unemployment (due to the lower wages and the territorial proximity with capital-region: Bucharest-Ilfov), insufficient public income transfers, out-migration (causing high social costs and also constituting a barrier to regional adjustment) and if these trends persist in longrun, at the extreme, possibly desertification. Moreover, in absence of some basic preconditions for regional development, in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, basic public services, growth could be a dream and not a reality. The paper concludes by proposing suggestions on how to respond to the specific and particular challenges that the South-East region of Romania is now facing, on the basis of the previous conceptual and empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of community-owned renewable energy projects in Western Europe are rooted in favorable internal community dynamics and an enabling policy contexts. However, in countries like Romania, community-owned renewable energy projects (COREPs) are almost inexistent. By looking at solar power projects in northwestern Romania we discover that, out of 97 projects deployed in rural areas, only two are owned by the local communities. This paper seeks to find out what is the general context surrounding community-renewables interplay in Romania. Specifically it discusses the ways in which public policies hinder the development of COREPs and what alternatives could be implemented to change this situation. For this task, present research relies on a multi-method approach combining questionnaires with local authorities, document analysis and a series of in-depth interviews with representatives of local authorities owning the two COREPs. Based on the empirical data, this paper finds that there is a weak relationship between renewable energy projects and host communities. Even in the case when local authorities own the project, we cannot discuss about effective COREPs in Romania yet. Public policies in the field are quite restrictive, centralized and inflexible, while the selection mechanisms exclude small and peripheral communities from the opportunity of reaping the benefits of renewable energy projects. Discussing with representatives of local communities I also found that projects are poorly integrated in the local socio-economic landscape. The implementation and the management of the projects are outsourced to private companies from outside of these communities. On the bright side, I argue that the two COREPs still produced important benefits for local communities in terms of savings for the local budget, support for innovative thinking (to avoid the difficult bureaucratic processes) and increasing self-awareness of the local authorities regarding their energy options and negotiation capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the role of tourism in sustainable economic development, the paper analyzes the existence of co integration relations between GDP, the employed population in hotels and restaurants and the number of tourists' arrivals in the tourist accommodation structures in Romania by development regions. Taking into account that the analysis aims at identifying stable long-term relations between the analyzed variables, we consider that the gap between the current study period and the availability of the data series in the official statistics does not have a significant influence on the conclusions of the paper. The main conclusion of the paper is the existence of a co integration relationship between the analyzed variables which highlights the significant role of the arrivals flow in the tourist reception structures both on the employed population and on the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The years 2006-2016 marked a challenging decade for Romania in terms of regional development as they covered the preparation, implementation and the necessary arrangements for the closure of the first financial exercise within the cohesion policy. As more data is becoming available with regard to the final results of the convergence programmes, the present paper focuses on the actual achievements of these programmes in 3 of the Romanian counties from the region North East. Using a bottom-up approach, the paper analyzes the results of the projects carried out by public type authorities at county and locality level, identifying the areas where the financial support was concentrated and the performance of the local authorities in using the European Union funds. As currently the set-up for the second financial exercise is under fine tuning, the paper also suggests some future means of improving the type of information regarding the physical achievements of the interventions on regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Etică şi dezvoltare comunitară" [Ethics and community development] by Ana Caras, published by Lumen Publishing House from Iai, Romania, in 2016, brings to the forefront a new perspective on development at the community level. The ethical approach of the paper that was the basis of this volume comes to complete the anthropological perspective and the aim is to evaluate the "effectiveness of the community development program" (Caras, 2016). As projects that take place at the rural level must have an ethical basis, the author emphasizes a number of elements aimed at responsibility, supporting the specific cultural element and the training of the community leaders and members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Political Science Review / Przegląd Politologiczny is the property of Faculty of Political Science & Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper focuses on the complex relationships among social capital, community development and festivals. The Covid-19 pandemic put a lot of pressure on festivals, forcing an entire industry to adapt and recreate itself. In the restricted sanitary context, the pandemic festivals redefine the sense of events, of community and of social interactions. The empirical data, comprising in-depth interviews with the organisers of the first festival in Romania after lockdown, have revealed the prioritisation of social benefits and the growing connection between festival and community. This study therefore suggests that festivals could be involved more deeply in the community by assuming social charitable causes. Festivals create their own communities of fans but also shape the local communities where they take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes as a starting point the imaginaries guiding the development of the city and the labour market as they become visible in the discourses of some of the institutions producing policies at the level of municipalities. Relying on the multi-levelled ethnographic empirical material that was gathered within the SPAREX research project, this paper seeks to describe the ways in which the current hegemonic discourses of economic development (centred on attracting foreign investment to cities) and that of the neoliberal subject (the worthy entrepreneurial autonomous and creative individual) dovetail with the existing stereotypes of the ethnically Roma. It is a tentative explanation of the ways in which the particular nodal points of the dominant vision of development further creates the basis for the definition of certain actors and possible alternatives, excluding from the onset entire categories of people when attempting to manage and to better the life of the cities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the way in witch the objective of making regions visible actors at the European level can be achieved in Romania through the absorption of Structural funds. Firstly, we will highlight the importance of coherent and effective policies for the development of regions. Secondly, we will examine the way in which the actors involved in the implementation of regional development project can promote a proactive and transparent dialogue. Previous studies have shown that a weakness and main risk of such projects is the fact that the continuous collaboration with managing authorities is deficient. Hence, the way in which the stakeholders understand the importance of maintaining a close contact for the good functioning of the projects is crucial [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Technologies / Socialines Technologijos is the property of Mykolas Romeris University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present article analyzes the challenges faced by the European Union in its endeavour of implementing and developing cross-border cooperation as a means for reconciliation and regional development. It also presents the context in which Euro regions appeared as a form of institutionalized cross-border cooperation and focuses on the Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa Euro region, highlighting the opportunities and threats faced by this particular Euro region. Acknowledging that mass-media is a mirror of the society, the paper aims to establish, by analyzing the regional mass-media, if DKMT can be considered a case of good practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper tackles the concept of local development and establishes methods of strategy development through the LEADER program as main instrument for the GAL Rediu Prăjeni zone in order to eliminate the social disequilibrium of this area in comparison to the urban areas. The paper brings to foreground the way in which it is implemented a local strategy within LEADER axis, which involves great importance and is also effective, because the local development is community-led, which allows to the local partners (public, private, civil society) to achieve realistic local development strategies, based on the requirements and priorities of rural territory taken into study. The Romanian rural area has numerous shortcomings, these representing also the reason of disparities between urban and rural areas with all their components: rural economy, demographic potential, health, school, culture, etc. To reduce these disparities, one solution is the development and implementation of integrated development strategies by local communities, taking as a starting point the identified needs and endogenous potential of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problems that Romania faces due to the globalization process, imposes its necessity to manifest a large opening to all the cooperation forms. The demand for developing modern methods of organizing and running according to both central and local administration, on the other hand requires, the necessity of implementing some projects about the development and modernization of public administrations from Romania. By the fact that the unequal development of territories reflects the weakness of the entire (complete), and they are not acceptable because, at their turn, become sources of economic and political instability in the way of the harmonious development of the entire (complete), it is considered a deeper analysis of the regional development policies, respecting the considerations of the economic and social cohesion. Under the aegis of E.U. headline target achievement namely the regional development, we are still looking a solution to ensure a balanced distribution of the financial resources between the various levels of administrative organization considering the budgetary rigor that is required at all levels of public administration. The present work approaches the issue of regional development in Romania and its implications upon the local autonomy, I will use an analysis of the main economic indicators to emphasize the way in which the political objectives of the regional development up to the present, have been attained, as well as an elaboration of an analysis of local autonomy, considered to be the central pillar to achieve the objective of the regional development, considering the reasons of the degree of dependency of local authorities of the central ones, and the extent to which an emphasis on the phenomenon of local autonomy would be the ideal of Romania regarding the elimination of regional disparities. The paper is elaborated based on the empirical research on the theoretical scientific support using both statistical and comparison methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to assess the evolution of exports (overall and by sectors) in the regions of Romania. Considering the fact that the export base of a region acts more as an absolute advantage for the regional development, we use shift-share analysis tools to investigate the extent of the interregional trends and disparities in exports. The results reveal a diverse sectoral milieu and a trend towards higher diversification, better use of regional resources and technological upgrading, also providing useful insights for the general and specifically-targeted policy areas concerning regional development and business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper raises questions concerning the complexity of the term “community” when dealing with community-based tourism initiatives. It highlights the difficulty of translating into practice the paradigm of “community-based tourism”. Through a case study of tourism in the multi-ethnic village of Viscri, Romania, the paper discusses the operational role that a network of both internal and external actors may play in piloting tourism initiatives that produce benefits for communities that are unaccustomed to participatory development processes due to various barriers. The study highlights the key role played by a local leader and an external foundation in building a network that, thanks to the bonding and bridging relations activated, led the community towards a form of sustainable tourism development and a broader amelioration of the social conditions. The network described can be replicated in other geographical contexts, provided there is strong local leadership and also international interests and donors. In the long term, however, the network needs to be strengthened by involving other actors, above all local authorities. They are needed to assure the basis for long-term empowerment, participation in decision-making and progressive diversification of economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Banat was the first Western Romanian region where towns and villages had straight streets, the church, the school and the town hall in the centre and a clear delineation of the perimeter of the town or village, with its surrounding agricultural fields. Part of the data in this paper comes from the Transylvanian Rare Breeds Association's database. Banat has been a model of regional development and of interethnic communities ever since 1716. The rural households in Banat have two or three yards and this model can be found in Central Europe as well. Owners in Banat preferred to take care of their animals themselves to watch over them carefully. On the borderline with Hungary, in Arad County, there is a totally different type of agriculture, namely one based on the existence of these types of shelters. At the shelter people raised cows, sheep, horses, chicken, geese, pigeons and beehives. All the field work was done according to a calendar which took into consideration religious holidays as well as certain days which were known to be significant. Old shelter is a model for organic farm. The only chance European agriculture has got is quality, and that goes also for Romanian agriculture, especially the one in Western of Romania. In Romania, the existence of modern farms is being encouraged, which have to have modern shelters, equipment and machines to be used on large areas. The erosion of the zoo-genetic patrimony in Western of Romania is obvious. Local breeds are being replaced with better imported ones but these have to be very well taken care of in order to reach their genetic potential. Banat was once renowned for its farms for processing animal products. In 2011 there are some units of processing animal and vegetable products in Banat, but these belong almost entirely to some transnational companies. Rich pastures and skilled locals have led to raising pure blood animals. Banat is an excellent region for crops and for raising animal due to its rich pastures, its geographical layout, the plain field and the water routes that can easily reach the Danube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurship spirit is a key element to ensure the dynamics of the economy and the society, both at worldwide and regional level. The entrepreneurship activity has the potential to respond to the challenges of an environment in a continuous change and ensures both local and regional development. The aims of our paper are to present in short the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the Romanian enterprises and to analyse its effects at the regional development level. A set of two hypotheses were tested and validated during our research by using the information provided by the National Trade Register Office. Our research shows, through the analysis of statistical data, a decrease of the interest for the entrepreneurial development and a dramatic fall in number of companies over the years 2008-2010, as a result of the economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper "Typology and Planning of the Tourism Regional Development in Romania" presents a succinct approach of the general conceptual background of regional science, context in which have developed also the theoretical elements on the typology and planning of the regional economic growth. In the paper is presented the typology of regional development of tourism in Romania, in the form of touristic regionalization or zoning of the country, as well as some of the typological groups made in the specialized literature for Romanian tourism. Also, the paper presents a theoretical delimitation of the concept of regional development in tourism and some of the plans/programmes that include the Romanian regional tourism development, too: Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013, National Development Plan 2007-2013 of Romania, National Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 and Master Plan for the Development of National Tourism 2007-2026 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarizes the main challenges that the Romanian higher education will be facing during the years to come, in terms of its responsibilities for both the individual development and community evolvement. These challenges are revealed as gaps against the European and international tertiary education system, but also as opportunities as well as threats. In addition, the article explores the changing factors that shape the future of higher education in Romania, with a focus on those factors that build the entrepreneurial process throughout the university and sustain its performance on long term. By using the expertise provided by a team of knowledgeable experts from academia, government and various business fields, we explore the future provocations that universities should address in order for them to be sustainable and increase their impact on local or regional community; furthermore, we discuss the key driving factors that shape the future of educational market in Romania as well as influence the labour market trends. The changing factors addressed in the paper were determined based on a PESTEL analysis conducted for higher education by an interdisciplinary team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, according to our knowledge is among the few ones dealing with the analysis of state aid impact and of the way it was used at national level. Firstly, the goal of our study is to analyze the evolution of state aid in Romania, the impact on regional development, on creating jobs and value added. Secondly it is intented to see the contribution of automotive sector which received the highest amount of state aid to the trade balance from the current account between 2008-2015. Automotive sector is a key sector for the development of Romanian economy in the last 10 years for the manufacturing and assembly of cars and for companies producing equipment or auto parts. The paper is structured in seven parts which deal with topics like the state aid in the European Union and Romania, state aid schemes and funded sectors in Romania, sectorial and geographical distribution of the state aid, the analysis of the automotive sector for Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of social responsibility actions of the main bricolage companies doing business in Romania on their value, and mutually the impact these activities have on various social sectors. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is a concept related to the contribution that companies need to have to the development of modern society. Over time, this contribution has been theorized by many different schools of thought. "Responsible" initiatives of companies have been named by a variety of terms: corporate citizenship, corporate philanthropy, corporate societal marketing, community affairs, community development etc. Consequently, currently, to demonstrate that it is "socially responsible", a company must understand the principles of CSR that are internationally promoted and regularly report about the integration of these principles in its activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I will demonstrate that the actions of cross-border organized crime networks (especially in the former Soviet Union) influence, from an economic point of view, the development of policies to combat transnational terrorism. The research starts from the idea that extremistterrorist organizations are criminal groups that have a specific organization, logistics, specific training and education systems that can function without material and financial resources. However, the impact of the actions taken by these entities is devastating on national/regional economic development. Consequently, one of the most effective ways to neutralize the actions of cross-border crime group/terrorist organizations is to combat the financing of these entities. Within the European Union (where Romania is a member), the main responsibility for combating the financing of terrorism lies with the member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that political regionalisation should be more than the division of a territory into regions, its main aim being the regional development of a political entity, this paper seeks to provide answers to the following question: what is the most appropriate geographical scale to describe and support regional development in EU and, in particular, in Romania? In order to achieve this, guided by logical analysis and using data from specialised literature and from the studies of different national and European expert bodies, there are analysed the notions of regionalisation and regional development and brought up the issue of the institutional framework of regional policy instruments. These open new insights for future research. The study concludes that while the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is used as a territorial analysis unit, the real local needs cannot be assessed in the same way. In fact, one aspect often overlooked is the importance of social, economic and cultural relations between economic actors, which are proper sources of agglomeration economies that enable a balanced development of the regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the linkage between establishing cross-border relations and tourism development by focusing on ten tourism projects implemented under Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme (2007-2013). The study area comprises the two neighbouring counties of Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, the border connecting two areas characterised by social and economic similarities. Building on a solid foundation, as the first Hungarian-Romanian cross-border initiatives were launched nearly two decades ago, the two counties work together towards the shared aim of developing business infrastructure, cross-border trade, culture and tourism. The present study examines the relevance of cross-border projects viewed from the perspective of sustainable tourism development in two peripheral counties featuring similar resources. Moreover, the investigation is based on consultation of project documents, reports and promotional materials, against the theoretical framework of cross-border cooperation and regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupled support is one of the main payment schemes from the "optional direct payments" category, introduced in the EU in the year 2015, funded by the Common Agricultural Policy from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF). At EU-28 level, in 2019, 73.2% of the total coupled support budget was directed to the livestock sector, out of which 12.6% to the sheep and goat farming sector. In the same year, the sheep and goat sector from Romania benefited from 64.3 million euros, as against 50.2 million euros in the year 2018, i.e. 37.1% of total livestock sector. The results obtained following this regional analysis reveal that the impact of this payment scheme implementation has positively impacted the development of the sector, both in terms of meat production, slaughtering in specialised units and livestock herds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of ageing on community well-being has been part of the policy discourse in the West, but it is a relatively new problem for the post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe. This study focuses on the patterns of ageing in rural Romania and Bulgaria, offering a holistic view of vulnerabilities, including persistent rural disadvantages, ageing in the countryside and the post-socialist transformation. Aggregate statistics and community case studies reveal the links between demographic processes and community development. This paper contributes to the country-specific analysis of the ageing European periphery in the context of social cohesion as a fundamental European goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global context of personal identity development, regionalism is one of the solutions at hand capable of stimulating sustainable human development of the regions, by engagement in the regional and community problems through the sense of solidarity and identity it confers. Based on the assumption that regionalism is one of the basic factors of development and vice-versa, that regionalisms need proper development conditions, this paper intends to outline why regionalisms are extremely poor in Romania. In order to do this, it is necessary to identify the bases for the formation of various types of regionalism, and then understand how these work and what their functions are. The subsequent analysis of the conditions and conditionings of the Romanian context will enable us to identify what causes the difficulty of regionalisms consolidation in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present the concept of quality of life and compare the standard of living in the urban areas of the South-East region, implementing a new method of analysis, based on quantitative data obtained from statistics. The process of aggregating the statistical data used in this analysis create partial indices (Demographic Index, Social Index, Environment Index, Information Society Index, Culture and Recreation Index) figured out by means of Quality of Life Audit method, which combines the concept and principles of the European program Urban Audit with the formula used by statistical software Dashboard of Sustainability. Finally, the Quality of Life Index is obtained by aggregating the five indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public function in Romania and other European Union member states or aspiring to that status, represents a fundamental institution of the state of law. The Romanian Constitution devotes a statutory scheme for the public function and one of contractual type for employees. The applicable regulations for the civil servants is represented either by the General Statute, adopted by Law no. 188/1999 or by specific statutes for categories of the civil servants working for the certain public services. It enshrines, for the civil servants, a career system, in which is recognized the right of all persons who have Romanian citizenship and residence in Romania to be recruited in public office, usually based on a competition. Although the law does not expressly enshrines, it is recognized implicitly the right to career for the civil servants in Romania and is regulating the procedural and institutional means of guaranteeing the type of right subject to an analysis in this paper. The European integration imposes political, economical and social requirements for the segment of the public functions of the states. One of these many rigors is the tangential element between quality of the training and the performance career of the civil servants in these community formations. Scattered initiatives specific to the activities of the states administrations at different levels are sensitive, also, are involved in our countries through skills and structures of these accession processes. In this context, it is necessary to develop a valid and legal support and appropriate ad-hoc curriculum, having rigorous compliance with the recognized international standards, but adapted to the new realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policies regarding regional development in the last years took tourism more and more into account, as a strategic sector for the assurance of a dynamic economic growth of regions with an important tourism potential. Consequently, we intend to analyse the implications of the North-East Regional Development Agency in the development of Romanian tourism in the present socio-economic context, both at regional and at national level [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE PRESENT PAPER ANALYSIS THE TRANSFORMATION OF A NON-GOVERNMENTAL ACTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF THE INTEGRATION INTO EUROPEAN UNION. IN THIS CASE THE SUBJECT OF RESEARCH IS REPRESENTED BY THE REIONAL POLICY. MORE SPECIFICALLY, IT DEALS WITH A THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF THE „EUROPEANIZATION" THESIS, WHICH DETECTS A PARTICULAR TENDECY FOR THE AGENCY OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE RELEVANCE OF THIS STUDY FOR THE AREA OF RESEARCH RESIDES IN THE POSSIBILITY TO GENERATE ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE FURTHER TO BE EMPLOYED IN A LARGER RESEARCH OR IN A MULTIDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERLINE THAT THE CHOSEN THEME TOUCHES UPON VARIOUS ASPECTS: EUROPEANIZATION, EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, REGIONAL POLICY. DESPITE THE SHORTCOMINGS INHERENT, THE PRESENT RESEARCH AIMS AT DEVELOPING A COHERENT ARGUMENT BASED ON EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION DERIVED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES AT HAND. THE METHODS CHOSEN ARE QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS AND SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS AND DATA COLLECTED BY OTHER RESEARCHERS. ALL IN ALL, THIS PAPER REINFORCED THE LARGELY CONTINGENT CHARACTER THAT REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY HAS ALMOST ENTIRELY COMPLETED THE EUROPENIZATION STEPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While sustainable development involves acquiring the equilibrium of four pillars - economic, social, environmental and cultural, it also has a spatial dimension, which must also balance these criteria. To achieve it, urban and spatial planning, though different by scale and objectives, represent participative processes demanding the presence of inter- and multidisciplinary teams. The paper examines in detail the particular issue of the involvement of specialists with a background in environmental protection in the elaboration and coordination of such plans, focusing on their spatial distribution and potential area of influence. The results of GIS-based spatial analyses indicate that the distribution and influence are uneven, concentrating around large university centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a brief analysis of Romania on the regions in terms of development and a proposal for improving the process. This paper sketches the current state of division of territory in terms of economic development and changes that should be made to existing structures, changes according to the author were more accountable and responsible public authorities in financing regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the topic community development from a particular perspective, namely from the development of a professional community. Given that adult education is receiving much less policy attention from governments than other education sectors, the creation of a strong professional adult education community can be seen as an essential precondition for the strengthening of this sector. The German NGO dvv international has been supporting the development of adult education in Romania through its own project office from the early 1990s up to the end of 2009. This paper examines the question of how such activities of development cooperation can contribute to the formation of a professional adult education community in a country. It draws on the findings from an evaluation of the dvv programme in Romania which was carried out in early 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the hereto study is the analysis of the role of the local development strategies as regional political tools in Romania. The local development strategy represents a participative tool that involves the entire community and which goal is to provide the economic development. In most of the cases, local development strategy is a long-term step, being a future community projection. This vision of the community, related with its future development must be shared with all relevant actors at a local level and transposed in a set of specific objectives and a clear action plan. The case study examined in the present paper focuses on the practical methods used in order to achieve a local development strategy in the Valea Jiului microregion from Hunedoara County, realized under the StrategVest project and funded by the European Union through the Phare Programme 2006, the Civil Society Component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper there is discussed the importance of regional economic development, the role of clusters and network for the development of the regions, the management of such clusters, as well as some Romanian examples in this respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the philosophy, history, and mission of Pentru Voi Fundatia as a sustainable "best practice" model of interdisciplinary community development (lCD). it is based on positive social, economic, organizational, and/or physical changes that improve the general welfare of the community while providing services to a specific vulnerable population. The Pentru Voi Bakery, one of many programs operated for persons with intellectual disabilities by the Foundation, is used to showcase the key elements of successful LCD. These elements are partnerships, integration, innovation, and transferability. While all community development projects are inherently different, other NGOs interested in creating sustainable programs that utilize the collective agency of local, regional, and international partners can learn from this example. Community Development literature and social entrepreneurship literature are reviewed and discussed as they relate to the Pentru Voi model. Pentru Voi is framed as a practice model based upon the qualities of best practice outlined by the International Labor Office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some initial implications of the changes brought about by recent economic transformations within the Romanian rural sector during the current transition period. As a case study of those trends, within the context of pluriactivity and constraints to rural development, it looks at some characteristics of agricultural production in the Subcarpathian region of the county of Valcea, an area where collectivisation, and thus its influences, had been partial and limited. The paper links micro and macro view points. At the micro level, it looks at the coping strategies, based on pluriactivity, adopted by rural households under changing economic conditions. At the macro level, the paper discusses some of the possible factors supporting as well as hindering rural welfare levels and agricultural development under current economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to see how art and community structures could be connected. The general considerations in this respect are made through a case study: Roşia Montană, Romania. Here, a Canadian-based company, RMGC, tried to open a gold mine and to use large quantities of sodium cyanide in the industrial process, destroying also very precious roman archaeological remains and a unique landscape. The opposition against this project, which formed the largest civic movement in Romania after the fall of communism, used art and culture in the battle. We try to analyze, from an anthropological point of view, the uses of different arts, either by opponents or by supporters of the RMGC project, and try to argue that art is a tool for building or rebuilding communities and for the creation of an active, dynamic civic conscience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anisotropic regions occupy a distinct place in the typology of geographical regions due to their internal territorial structure and certain development opportunities. regional geography adopted the terms "anisotropy" and "anisotropic" referring through them to a special type of territorial construction, namely the anisotropic region. in this paper, we demonstrate the complexity and interrelationships of the elements pertaining to anisotropic regions and the existing development opportunities, focusing on a representative region of romania, the someşul Mare anisotropic region. We demonstrate that this region meets all the structural and functional requirements of an anisotropic region by analyzing the geographical and historical factors influencing its evolution, as well as the present situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the post-socialism breakdown, the post-90 Romanian capitalist economy fuelled by chaotic interventions in local urban restructuring changed the urban functionality, the local ways of life of the locals and the inner-urban landscapes of the cities and towns regardless of their size, rank or functionality. Against such a background, this article examines the post-communist changes in the town of Buzias, emphasizing both the consequences of the local transition to a market economy and the implications of the local urban restructuring process. Using quantitative and qualitative research, the article explains the local attributes of Buziaş post-90 redefining and the spatial results of economic restructuring. From emblematic tourism economies under the earlier capitalism, and with important touristic development under the state-socialist governance, since 1990 Buziaş faced with major problems at the local scale, with its local economic culture being altered. These issues are important in designing further proper interventions in local development, pushing out the local development strategies beyond theories, indifference, and the local community neglecting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Făgăraș Land (Romania) is a very old administrative formation with its own identity, preserved from the beginning of the Middle Ages. The mapping of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) highlighted the groups of caroling lads as the main strategic heritage resource, but also the existence of many other ICH resources that can be exploited towards the sustainable development of the area. These include local soups, an ICH gastronomic resource that can help build the area's tourism brand. All resources, together with the peculiarities of the local medieval history, the memory of the anti-communist resistance in the Făgăraș Mountains and the religious pilgrimage to the local Orthodox monasteries, support the configuration of Făgăraș Land as a multidimensional associative cultural landscape. The content analysis of the information on ICH available on the official websites of the administrative territorial units (ATUs), correlated with the data from the interviews with local leaders, highlighted the types of local narratives regarding the capitalization of cultural resources and the openness to culture-centered community-based development, namely glocal, dynamic local and static local visions. The unitary and integrated approach of tourist resources, tourism social entrepreneurship, support from the local commons and a better management of the local cultural potential are ways to capitalize on belonging to the Făgăraș Land cultural landscape, towards sustainable community development of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional development is a complex process that needs to sustain the development of each city from the region taking into account, modeling and developing the human activities and so, it contributes to the reduction of the economic gaps of different regions. Among the areas of interest of regional policies, since the establishment of the development regions in Romania were the development of the SMEs sector. In the Western part of Romania, the number of SMEs has increased continuously until 2008, the beginning of the economic crisis. If in 2005, in the Western region operated around 42,000 SMEs, at the end of 2008 their number reached over 62,500, which shows a 50% increase. During the economic crisis, by using statistical data, we will find out in the dynamic of the new SMEs a reduction of their number, in Romania. This study proposes an analysis of the SMEs sector in West Romania, during the 2008-2012 economic crisis, underlining also the importance of the anti-crisis measures initiated in October 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]