Article by Natanael Iriciuc, volunteer within GIL Sector 1.
At the end of October, in Bucharest, took place the final event of the project “active citizens for quality local public services”, which included the launch of the diagnostic report that presented the results of the project, as well as applied discussions with local, national authorities, guests and young people.
“Active citizens for quality local public services” meant passionate involvement, and the last 32 months were dedicated to promoting quality local public services. Out of the 32 months of continuous action, 12 were with grassroots advocacy actions carried out by the 8 local initiative groups.
Through this project, over 24 advocacy campaigns were carried out at the level of the 8 cities in the project, there were over 100 agents of change at the level of diagnostic cities, over 400 young people participated in activities to promote democracy and civic involvement and approx. 1000 citizens participating in structured dialog actions with decision-makers.
To see what are the results of the project in the diagnostic cities of this project, we will talk in this article about the change it has produced locally. In this project the three areas of action were: Education, transport and waste management.
- Education
Indicator:
- ENSURING EXPENDITURE FOR INVESTMENTS IN SCHOOLS, AS WELL AS FOR CAPITAL REPAIRS AND CONSOLIDATIONS
- SECURITY OF EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
- RESPECT THE RIGHT TO SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS OF STUDENTS
- ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE IN SCHOOLS
- ALLOCATION OF GRANTS FOR BOARDING SCHOOLS AND CANTEENS
- ACCESSIBILITY OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS FOR STUDENTS WITH LOCOMOTOR DISABILITIES
Compared to the score obtained in 2021, we can see a slight increase from 48.07 to 49.13 points out of 100. Among the specific recommendations for Constanta in the field of education are: Increasing the amount of the merit scholarship; making investments in school medical offices; providing subsidies for canteens and school boarding schools.
- Transport
Indicators:
- Accessibility score of public transport stations
- Scor intermodalitate
- Integrated metropolitan/county service score
- Public transport subsidy score
- Transport score with the needs of vulnerable groups
- User satisfaction score
- Transport operator evaluation methodology score
- Information access score
If in 2021, Constanta received 67 points in this section, after 12 months of local advocacy, it increased to 70 points out of the total of 100. The recommendations specific to this section include: Increasing the number of passenger stations; The implementation of a methodology for establishing the Passenger satisfaction Index; Increasing accessibility for passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility, improving access to information for public transport, modernizing public transport infrastructure and greening the rolling stock of the public transport operator.
III. Waste management
Indicators:
- Ensuring separate collection by fractions;
- Meeting recycling targets at municipal level;
- Updating the sanitation contract according to the law;
- Implementation of the “pay for what you throw” tool;
- Ensuring the collection of bio-waste;
- The existence of own waste management strategies or programs;
- Ensuring separate collection for: Electrical and electronic waste (WEEE), waste batteries and accumulators (DBA), bulky waste and construction waste;
- Providing information and education to citizens;
- Financing of separate collection infrastructure in schools;
- Carrying out tasks related to the collection of abandoned waste.
According to the ranking, the evolution of Constanța municipality in the waste management section was not a big one, it increased from 36.5 to 39 from 100. The specific recommendations that could change this ranking are: Implementation of the economic instrument “pay for what you throw” at the municipality level; Organizing the collection of bio-waste at the level of the municipality; More visible information and education campaigns, by making radio spots, tv, press releases, educational materials, street panels, educational programs in schools, making meetings with citizens, associations of tenants, civic groups in order to inform about the separate collection system and its benefits.
What was the local initiative group in Baia Mare noticed?
- She collected information on the school’s background and wrote articles reflecting the views of the students and young people in the city on the education system.
- They submitted requests based on Law 544/2001, as well as a memo sent to the City Hall, in which the group’s vision on what it means to pilot models of good practice at the level of a neighborhood in Constanta was detailed.
- He wrote the largest number of articles on the subject of transport compared to the rest of the groups.
- He organized the biggest debate on the digitization of Romania and local public services.
The project is implemented by The Romanian Academic Society in partnership with the Act For Tomorrow Association and Vellenes Fellesorganisasjon and benefits from a 249.989 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information, visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.