| Subtopics |
Case studies/examples |
| Crafts |
1. “Increasing the visibility of authentic folk crafts by creating authentic cultural promotion products, representative for Romanian cultural creation” (part of Brașov Metropolitan Area Project, in collaboration with Asociația Creatorilor de Artă tradițională și Contemporană Brașov [Brașov Association of Traditional and Contemporary Art Creators], Inspectoratul Școlar Județean Brașov [Brașov County School Inspectorate], and Muzeul Județean Brașov [Brașov County Museum]) (Brașov Metropolitan Agency, 2017).2. A project to promote producers in Bistrița-Năsăud County with various areas of activity, ranging from food products to crafts. The products are promoted online and sold in the centre of Bistrița, encouraging small rural producers to sell their products “in town”. The project was carried out by Asociația „Produs în Bistrița-Năsăud” [“Produced in Bistrița-Năsăud” Association], and the fair takes place every Saturday (after harsh restrictions caused by the COVID-19 human health crisis) (Farcașiu, 2020). |
| transport infrastructure |
1. Biking trails that connect surrounding Transylvanian Saxon villages with the city of Sighișoara. This project is intended for tourism and strives to facilitate the flow of financial resources from Sighișoara to neighbouring Saxon villages (Zaharia, 2015).2. Facilitating the connection between localities by Asociația Metropolitană Sibiu [Sibiu Metropolitan Association]. The main objective of this association is to “solve the problem of public transport between localities, [this] being an obstacle in the flow of materials and products” (Șelimbăr Town Hall, 2019). |
| metropolitan areas |
1. Oradea Metropolitan Area, with a series of ongoing projects, which specify in detail the objectives, budget, and stakeholders. A good example is “CityRegion.Net The role of cities in integrated urban development”, aiming to develop work plans and public policy recommendations to improve cooperation between cities and other local communities / peripheral communes (Zona Metropolitana Oradea, n.d.).2. Development Strategy of Constanța Metropolitan Area: “The development direction envisages the development of Constanţa Metropolitan Area as a competitive multifunctional centre of Romania and the main economic polarizer in the Black Sea region, taking into account the sustainable development of the entire area and reducing current development disparities among the 14 localities that make up the growth pole” (Zona Metropolitană Constanța, 2010). |
| periurban agriculture |
1. Asociaţia pentru Susţinerea Agriculturii Ţărăneşti [The Association for Supporting Peasant Agriculture] promotes a project through which, in exchange for an annual or monthly amount (based on subscription), the proximity producer delivers weekly baskets of vegetables, fruit or other food products to consumers in Timișoara, Cluj, Arad, Oradea and Odorheiul Secuiesc (Business Ideas, 2014).2. Strategy for distributing products from rural communities to urban areas. This project was carried out by two young people from Cluj-Napoca who took products from neighbouring rural areas and sold them in urban areas through a mobile store (Dascălu, 2020). |
| agricultural / agro- industrial parks |
1. The agro-industrial park of Lețcani, which aims to develop an outlet market for local and regional agricultural producers. The park offers selling points for over 300 agricultural producers in Iași and for dozens of companies and agricultural companies in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine (Adevărul, 2012; Iași County Council, 2014, 2016).2. Creation of an agricultural park by taking over a disused farm near the city of Suceava, owned by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the County Council. The arrangement of this park shall be conducted with the contribution of private financiers who are interested in such projects. This initiative proposes that the products should no longer be sold as raw material, but as processed products to produce added value. The goods are intended not only for local consumption, but also for other areas (Agricultura Românească, 2011; NewsBucovina, 2013). |
| reduction of the pressure on the rural environment (capitalization of the disused spaces through urban agriculture, capitalization of the rural products) |
1. Asociația Efectul Fluture [The Butterfly Effect Association] proposes the redevelopment of disused industrial parks into urban gardens with multiple functionalities (Țugui & Diaconu, 2015). This idea was inspired by the project “Grădinărescu”, developed by Kaufland in cooperation with the Asociația si Institutul de Cercetare în Permacultură din România [Association and Research Institute in Permaculture of Romania] for community urban gardens, transforming the roofs, outdoor parking lots and warehouses of the supermarket chain into cultivated green spaces with vegetables, thus reducing the pressure on rural areas (WallStreet, 2017). 2. Creation of marketplaces and covered market halls in the outskirts of Timişoara, designated for local farmers and producers (Dichiș, 2016). |
