Developing the capacity of NGO’s from Țara Fagarasului

After more than 30 years from the Communist regime, Romanian civil society in rural and small-town areas is still in an incipient phase. Furthermore, today it is further negatively impacted by COVID-19. The project aims to research the level of development, networks, and capacity of civil society organizations în Țara Făgărașului. Our research is a part of a border effort driven by the Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation to build a mechanism for continuously enhancing the capacity of civic society în Țara Făgărașului. Our aims are to involve 100 local civic initiatives in a process adapted to their specific needs and meant to increase their capacity and sustainability, working together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.

 

 

 

The aim of the project is to provide NGOs in Făgăraș County with opportunities to increase organizational capacity. The first stages include the mapping of civil society in the region and the creation of two hubs (resource centers) to serve Făgăraș Country on a long-term basis.

 

 

 

The following activities will be offered to non-governmental organizations in the area are:

  • training courses on organizational management and governance;
  • facilitating a dialogue between NGOs in the area;
  • access to learning and collaboration experiences;
  • shaping a network of non-governmental organizations in the area and supporting collaboration within the network;
  • access to common workspaces and learning resources dedicated to civil society organizations.

NGOs allow people who care about their community to contribute actively to community life. Whether we are talking about better education, a better healthcare system, a more developed business environment, or support for people facing social challenges, civil society is the keyword for all of us to strengthen the communities we serve. That is why the project for developing the capacity of NGOs in Făgăraș County aims to start with an analysis of the civil society in the area.

About the Active Citizens Fund Romania program

The Active Citizens Fund Romania program is financed by the EEA Grants 2014-2021.

The overall objective of the Grants is to reduce economic and social disparities and to strengthen bilateral relations between the 15 beneficiary and donor states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway). The program is administered by the consortium of the Foundation for Civil Society Development, the Partnership Foundation, the Resource Center for Roma Communities, the PACT Foundation, and Frivillighet Norge, which acts as a Fund Operator designated by the FMO - Grants Financial Mechanism Office EEA and Norway.

Active Citizens Fund Romania aims to strengthen civil society and active citizenship and increase the capacity of vulnerable groups. With a total allocation of EUR 46,000,000, the program aims to develop the long-term sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector, stepping up its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship, and human rights while strengthening bilateral relations with donor states Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. For more information about Active Citizens Fund in Romania, please visit www.activecitizensfund.ro. For more information on EEA and Norwegian Grants, visit www.eeagrants.ro.

Duration Oct. 2021 - Apr. 2024 

The project “Development of the capacity of NGOs in Țara Făgărașului” is carried out by the Făgăraș Community Foundation in partnership with the Făgăraș Research Institute and the Mihai and Maria Frățilă Foundation and is funded by the Active Citizens Fund, funded by Iceland and Norway, Liech SEE 2014 - 2021.

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Team

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Adriana Cârnu

Team Project ACF

Ana-Maria Chirila, M.A.

Team Project ACF

Laura Vișan, Ph.D.

Team Project ACF

Lev Fejes, Ph.D.

Team Project ACF

Magdalena Dragan, Ph.D.

Team Project ACF

Oana Lup, Ph.D.

Team Project ACF

Silvia Fierăscu, Ph.D.

Team Project ACF

Ștefan Cibian, Ph.D.

Adriana Cârnu

Adriana Cârnu – is a Consultant for the World Bank office in Romania, expert in facilitation of community development processes. After pursuing a leadership destiny in AIESEC, the world’s largest student organization, Adriana Cârnu has been investing energy and passion in the field of community development and education since 2004. In 2010 she founded Sigma Association together with her team, a platform that emerged from the intention of having an impact on the social architecture of the rural communities in the South East of Romania. The NGO has initiated and implemented projects and activities that revolved around community development innovation, as well as in the social inclusion policies and education, enriching the area with an absorption of 2,5 million euros for the growth and development of the local region. She has initiated and invested her energy in steering volunteering projects, youth workers development and education, but also research and piloting in the field of education, developing non-formal education enabling instruments for teachers. Her overall experience revolves around project management, grant writing and implementation, learning and development. In terms of processes, her main community mantra is that the well-being of the community should be decided by the entity itself with the agents of change holding space for the dynamics. That is why her passions revolve around process designing, coaching groups, hosting and harvesting group transformation.

Ana-Maria Chirila, M.A.

Since the beginning of her career, she has been an active participant in the community while supporting the activity of the Institute and the Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation. She holds a BA in Biotechnical Systems Engineering and an MA in Environmental Engineering.  Ana-Maria considers that community engagement is an important part of one’s life, therefore, it is important that we create and collaborate, as we are sharing life experiences every day. Ana-Maria is passionate about exploring new places and sports, such as endurance biking, swimming, and hiking.
 
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Laura Vișan, Ph.D.

Laura Visan is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Arts, Culture and Media (ACM) at the University of Toronto Scarborough and has a Ph.D. in communication from York University and Ryerson University in Toronto. She researched the process of social capital formation through civic participation and networking in the case of Romanian immigrants from Toronto. Ha­ving grown up in Romania, Laura has also written about the popular culture artefacts of the Nicolae Ceauşescu era, with a focus on the 1970s and 1980s. She has taught at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton and at York University in Toronto.
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“Recuperate, Recycle, Reuse: Adaptive Solutions for the Socialist Architecture of Bucharest”. In Lisa B. W. Drummond and Douglas Young (Eds.), Socialist and Post-Socialist Urbanisms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020; pp. 168-184 “Political Engagement through Civic Transnationalism: Romanian Diasporas and the 2014 Presidential Elections”, in Reading Sociology: Canadian Perspectives, Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 2017 “Reading Cutezatorii and Watching Jackie Chan – Romanian Children and the Communist Propaganda (1970s and 1980s). Medialni Studia (Media Studies), Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University Prague, II 2013, Pp. 212-228.  Available online at: http://medialnistudia.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/6_laura-visan.pdf “(Dis)Connected: Romanian Canadians in Cyberspace”. Romanian Journal of Communication, Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations. Pp. 113-127. Vol. 15 No. 1 (29). April 2013. ISSN 1454-8100. Available online at: http://journalofcommunication.ro/29/visan_29.pdf “Creating Social Capital Resources: A Case Study of Romanian Immigrants in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area”. Working Papers series no. 93 / 2012, CERIS, the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement; available online at: http://www.ceris.metropolis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/WP93_Visan.pdf Romanian Immigrants Go to Church” – Illumine – The Journal of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria, 2012; vol 11, no. 1. Available online at: http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/Illumine/issue/view/763/showTocPartially Color– Rethinking Exterior and Interior Spaces in Communist Romania” – Anthropology of Eastern Europe Review, Vol. 29, No 2 / Fall 2011,  51-66; available online at: http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/aeer/ “Houses that Cry: Online Civic Participation in Post-Communist Romania” – McMaster Journal of Communication, Vol. 7, Issue 1, 2011; available online at: http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mjc/vol7/iss1/3/

Lev Fejes, Ph.D.

Lev holds a doctorate in criminal justice from the School of Criminal Justice within Michigan State University (MSU) and an MA in Nonprofit Organization Management from Babeș-Bolyai University. As the Head of Research at the Association for Community Relations (ARC) he is responsible for coordinating the organization’s research efforts related to philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. He is a founding member of the Initiative for European Democratic Culture (ICDE) think-tank, and a Research Fellow at the Făgaraș Research Institute and Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD). An enthusiast of research methods, at ARC he utilizes his research experience developed at the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP) within MSU in designing and implementing studies aimed at furthering the understanding of philanthropic behavior in Romania and at informing decisions with regards to the development needs of Romanian NGOs. In his other capacities, Lev pursues various topics related mainly to urban safety and policing. His area of expertise includes anti-counterfeiting strategies, consumer behavior, corporate social responsibility, philanthropy and public policy. His main academic research interests relate to criminology, product counterfeiting, policing and urban safety. He is also interested in more applied research on the topics of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility and is passionate about turning the world into a better place for each and all.

Magdalena Dragan, Ph.D.

Dr. Magdalena Drăgan is a researcher at the Geography Department of the Romanian Academy, Cluj-Napoca Branch. She studied Geography-French Language and Literature at Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. She got a PhD in Regional Geography from the same university. Main interests are post-communist changes (demographic, economic and landscape changes) taking place in rural areas. Currently she works on a study on the management of the commons (forests and pastures) in Romania. She lives outside Cluj-Napoca with husband, son, a dog and five cats.
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Drăgan Magdalena, Cocean Gabriela, 2018, Drivers of Change in Post-communist Agriculture in the Apuseni Mountains,  Transylvanian Review, XXVII,(1), p. 21 – 33.
Drăgan Magdalena, 2016, Locuințe secundare și case de vacanță în Munții Apuseni, Geographia Napocensis, X (2), p. 19 – 25. Drăgan Magdalena, Gabriela Cocean, 2015, Constraints on tourism development caused by the road network in the Apuseni Mountains, Romanian Review of Regional Studies, vol. XI, nr. 2, pp. 85-94. Drăgan Magdalena, 2013, The reorganization of economic activities in the Apuseni Mountains, Rev. Roum. Géogr/Rom. Journ. Geogr., 57, (1), p. 55 – 62.

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Oana Lup, Ph.D.

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Silvia Fierăscu, Ph.D.

Dr. Silvia Fierăscu has a PhD in Comparative Politics and Network Science from Central European University. Her research focuses primarily on quality of governance, political-business relations, and statistical analyses of network data. Silvia is involved in various interdisciplinary projects, translating complex problems into real-time applications for organizational management, political communication, and better governance.

Ștefan Cibian, Ph.D.

Dr. Ștefan Cibian is a member of the Board and the executive director of the Făgăraș Research Institute. Stefan teaches courses related to international relations, international development, international organizations, peacebuilding, and postcolonial Africa at the M.A. in International Development at the Political Science Department, Babeș-Bolyai University and the M.A. in International Public Affairs at the Political Science Department, University of Bucharest. Previously, Stefan worked as an Academy Fellow at Chatham House – The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Africa Programme and Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, the Association for Community Relations, and Central European University. His research interests include international development, community development, Africa-CEE-EU relations, development policy, international relations theory, peacebuilding, fragile states, the link between research, policy, and practice, higher education policy, and global affairs. Regarding his geographic focus, Stefan is primarily concerned with Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, the European Union, and transatlantic relations. Stefan is an Executive Committee member of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and is a member of the International Studies Association, European International Studies Association, Central and Eastern Europe International Studies Association, and UACES. Stefan also focuses on civil society development in CEE. He is the President of ARCADIA – The Romanian Association for International Cooperation and Development and GRASP, and a Board Member with Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation (FCTF), UiPath Foundation, the Association for the Practice of Transformation, and the Romanian Federation of Community Foundations. Stefan is a member of the following networks: Bosch Alumni Network, BMW Responsible Leaders’ Network, and Mercator Foundation TEFF Alumni Network. Stefan received his Ph.D. in political science and international relations (2012) and his M.A. in public policy (2006) from Central European University. He holds a B.A. in political science (2004) from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and a B.A. in law (2005) from the 1st of December 1918 University, Alba Iulia, Romania. Stefan also studied or conducted research at Salzburg University, the University of Ljubljana, and UCLA.
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