The last two decades tested the resilience of societies around the globe, irrespective of their wealth, geographical location, or political regime. The economic crisis of 2008, ongoing violent conflicts on most continents, the migration crisis of 2015-2016 in Europe, increased levels of  terrorism and cyber-crimes, and, not least, the COVID-19 pandemic, that reduced economic activity and mobility to an extent not encountered to date.

While human societies faced various types of crises throughout history, the ability to respond adequately differs. It is influenced, among others, by advancements in technology, economy, policy, democratization, and civic preparedness. It is also influenced by the increased levels of cooperation at an international level. The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 marks an important moment in international cooperation, demonstrating the determination of the global community to end poverty and improve the wellbeing of people in both developed and developing countries by 2030. However, the COVID-19-related crisis is having a deep impact on most SDGs (negative, and sometimes positive) and is putting a pressure on international collaboration and organizations.

The purpose of this program is to research and analyze how various societal characteristics influence the preparedness of societies to successfully face various types of crises. In other words, how societies increase their resilience in order to confront crisis, while not hampering their future development.

News

Publications

Projects

Perspectives

No posts found.

Case Studies

Team

COVID 4 Team EN

Anca Molnoș Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Cosmin Iliescu, M.A. Candidate

COVID 4 Team EN

Georgi Georgiev, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Ioana Hașu-Georgiev M.A.

COVID 4 Team EN

Irina Toma, M.A.

COVID 4 Team EN

Laura Ranca, M.A.

COVID 4 Team EN

Laura Vișan, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Lev Fejes, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Magdalena Dragan, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Mihai Ghircoiaș

COVID 4 Team EN

Oana Lup, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Paul Stiniguță

COVID 4 Team EN

Silvia Fierăscu, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Ștefan Cibian, Ph.D.

COVID 4 Team EN

Teodora Capotă, Ph.D.

Cosmin Iliescu, M.A. Candidate

Iliescu Cosmin-Alexandru has a strong interest in bridging the gap between STEM and the Humanities, building a better and more complex perspective about the world, economically and politically. His fields of interests range from literature and philosophy to making STEM more accessible through ‘popular science.’ He is using journalism as his main tool to tackle the divers topics in which he is interested and to connect people with topics outside their professional background. Regarding himself as an ‘enthusiastic Jack of all trades,’ he is a volunteer an participant at courses and events of FRI and member of YRC. He is in the final year of his bachelor's degree in Automotive Engineering at Transylvania University of Brașov, Romania. Currently working on his senior thesis “The electric future of the European Automotive Industry,” where he wants to offer a more accessible view for the Romanian public about European Union’s (EU) & European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA)'s future plans regarding the automotive sector, taking into account how the industrial, policy, and R&D sectors advance in the current environmental context. Together with a small team of students and teachers, using a validated model from University of Ghent (Belgium), he managed to create and organize Tomorrow Hub, a co-working hub at the R&D Institute of Transylvania University. The Hub has the purpose to create a common ground through entrepreneurship mindset, for start-up related events and projects, regardless of their thematic background. Having the role of Community Builder, he managed PR campaigns through events that took place in important economic centers of Romania (Bucharest, Iasi, Brasov) and in Belgium (Bruxelles), with the purpose of creating sustainable partnerships. He has a big interest in social entrepreneurship, considering it a very important and accessible tool for bootstrapping economic growth in underdeveloped and shrinking communities. Fellow of ‘Journalist for good deeds’ scholarship offered by Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation, he realized articles with the purpose of promoting organizations, projects and people with a high positive impact in the community of Țara Făgărașului.  

Georgi Georgiev, Ph.D.

Georgi Georgiev is a doctoral candidate in comparative history at the Central European University, Budapest (CEU). He was a Visiting Predoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Research Group “Epistemes of Modern Acoustics” (October-November 2018). He completed an MA in Central European history at CEU. Georgi’s research experience includes extensive study of the Radio Free Europe archival collections hosted by the Blinken Open Society Archives in Budapest. Georgi’s PhD project focuses on methods of information gathering during the Cold War, with a special emphasis on acoustic information gathering and noise as an object of research. His work explores the intersection between science, technology, and politics.

Ioana Hașu-Georgiev M.A.

Ioana Hașu-Georgiev is interested in Romania’s recent past, researching aspects related to the armed anti-communist resistance. She holds an M.A. from the Central European University (2015) and is an accredited independent researcher at the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (2011). She explores in her research the less known aspects of the anti-communist struggle, such as the role of women in the resistance, postmemory and trans-generational trauma, traumatic amnesia, the relation between forgetting, remembering, and healing. In 2012 she created an interactive workshop for children, Grandparents’ Times, focusing on the early communist period and repression. The workshop is offered in schools, high schools, and camps.  In 2018 she launched an exposition at the Țara Făgărașului Museum entitled The Women in the Resistance, invisible actors of the anti-communist struggle.  In the last 10 years, Ioana gave public lectures and participated in conferences organized by the Institute for the Investigation of Crimes committed by the Communist Regime. Ioana has over 15 years of experience in mass-media, among others, working for BBC Romania and Radio France Internationale.
FRI PublicationsExpert CommentsNews and mass-mediaOther publicationsEvents

Irina Toma, M.A.

Irina Toma is associate consultant with Highclere Consulting (Brașov), where she is working on Horizon 2020 research projects and public policy analysis. She has an MA in Environmental Management and Policy from Utrecht University and over seven years experience working with several NGOs in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She worked in reporting sustainablity indicators for Global Reporting Initiative. With Fairfood International Irina conducted the research component for several advocacy campaigns for increasing the sustanability of supply chains and the revienues of agricultural workers and small farmers from Philipines, Central America and Madagascar. She returned to contribute to innovation and best practice transfer and for finding adequate strategies for agricultural and regional development. Currently Irina is developing her partnerships and projects through being part of the FRI network and building her consultancy website www.EPMsustainability.eu.
FRI PublicationsExpert CommentsNews and mass-mediaOther publicationsEvents

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

NGO and research reports

Fairfood International - Paradise Lost: The bitter reality behind working in the Philippine Pineapple Industry (2013) Fair Trade Advocacy Office – Competition Law Exemptions & Sector Sustain. Agreements (Mar 2016) Alliance Environnement (on behalf of European Commission DG AGRI) - Evaluation of the impact of the CAP on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions – case study report for Romania (Dec 2017) Highclere Consulting - AGRILINK D2.2- The role of advisory services in farmers’ decision making for innovation uptake. Insights from case studies in ROMANIA Highclere Consulting - SALSA D6.1 - Report on enabling conditions and existing policy instruments that are to, directly or indirectly, promote the development of small farms and a corresponding tailoring of international cooperation and agricultural research for development Highclere Consulting - SALSA D6.2 - Strategic framework for guiding decision-makers in the choice of appropriate support instruments (including the related evaluation and learning arrangements)

Academic and media publications

ARC 2020 - Digitization in Romanian Agriculture – Three Appropriate Solutions (03/2019) Global Food Security - "Small-scale farming and food security – policy perspectives from Eastern Europe" (Pending Review) (09/2019) Global Food Security - "Supporting the role of small farms in the European regional food systems: What role for the science-policy interface?" (Pending review) (09/2019)

Laura Ranca, M.A.

Drd. Laura Ranca is a project coordinator with Tactical Tech’s Exposing the Invisible project. Before joining Tactical Tech in January 2018, she worked for two years as a program specialist with the investigative journalism portfolio of the Independent Journalism Program at Open Society Foundation in London. Prior to that, she was a reporter and researcher with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and with RISE Project – a community of investigative journalists, developers and activists in Romania. At RISE, among others, she coordinated the development of Visual Investigative Scenarios (VIS), a data visualization platform, which assists investigative journalists, activists and researchers in mapping complex organised crime networks. Earlier on, Laura also worked as a public information officer with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as a program coordinator and reporter with the Center for Media, Data and Society at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

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.
FRI PublicationsExpert CommentsNews and mass-mediaOther publicationsEvents

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

“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.
FRI PublicationsExpert CommentsNews and mass-mediaOther publicationsEvents

Posts not found

Posts not found

Posts not found

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.

Posts not found

Posts not found

Mihai Ghircoiaș

Mihai Ghircoiaș is a member of the FRI Research Club. Also, Mihai is studying natural sciences at the National College Radu Negru Fagaras and he is a volunteer at the Association Ms. Maria Brâncoveanu. In the previous years, Mihai was a member of the YouthBank Făgăraș team, a program of the Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation and volunteer at Zestrea Buciumului. Mihai finalized the Duke of Edinburgh Award silver and bronze levels and took the HSK1 language exam in Chinese.

Oana Lup, Ph.D.

FRI PublicationsExpert CommentsNews and mass-mediaOther publicationsEvents

Paul Stiniguță

Paul Stiniguță is studying math and informatics at the National College Radu Negru in Făgăraș. Paul’s main interest is discovering as much as possible about the universe and the world, through browsing the internet, reading books and watching documentary films.  He also likes cycling and spends his free time playing video games, watching films and on YouTube. Paul is a member of the FRI Research Club since 2019 and hopes to contribute to the activity of the Institute and learn together with the other members of the Club.

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 is an Academy Associate with Chatham House – The Royal Institute of International Affairs. Stefan is teaching 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 at the M.A. in International Public Affairs at the Political Science Department, University of Bucharest. His core 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. In terms of 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 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.
FRI PublicationsExpert CommentsNews and mass-mediaOther publicationsEvents

Building and strengthening democratic ecosystems in local communities – A small guide

Mapping the mobilization of the Industry for Good® in countering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, at the level of the Cluj-Napoca Metropolitan Area

Effects of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – article

Transformative leadership for successful crisis management and effective multilateralism – Workshop

Book Launch – The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth

Daring New Spaces – Summit on the European Public Sphere

Interview – Daring New Spaces – Summit on the European Public Sphere

Desktop diplomacy: Training for European Diplomats

Brain Drain, Brain Gain and Social Innovation

Global Diplomacy Lab 2020 Summit

AIESEC 26: A Family Reunion

Mercator Winter Forum 2020

World Responsible Leaders Forum, Mexico

Pathways to Power Symposium: New Ways of Deciding and Doing. Taking #Shift the Power to the next level

Turkey – European Union Relations

The Europe of the Post-89ers

Emerging Engagements Between Central & Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa: Common Interests and Cooperation

The 11th Global Diplomacy Lab – Global Power Shifts: Political and Economic Inclusion for the Next Generation. Collaborating to Realize the Potential of the Demographic Dividend

Antall József Summer School, Budapesta

10th Global Diplomacy Lab – Collaborating to Realize the Potential of the Demographic Dividend in Africa: An Introduction to Ghana and Africa

Lithuanian Development Cooperation: Contribution to the Africa-EU Partnership

Atlas Network’s 2019 Europe Liberty Forum

Europe Think Tank Essentials Training Session, Belgrad

Turkey-Europe Future Forum Alumni Workshop

Teodora Capotă, Ph.D.