“FIENI – Rethinking the present, we build the future”
THE LAUNCHING OF THE FILM “FIENI – Rethinking the present, we build the future”, July 6th 2018, Fieni Town Hall, Dâmbovița, Romania
THE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF ROMANIAN GEOGRAPHERS (APGR),
in collaboration with CICADIT and CENAFER,
organized the international conference:
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE – CONSERVATION,
CULTURAL PROMOTION AND INTELLIGENT REUSE
THIRD EDITION
27 October 2017
BUCHAREST
Program: here
The organizing of 3 workshops within the activities for the assessment of social sustainability and the identification of social and institutional innovations in Fieni, Dâmbovița county:
Workshop 1. The assessment of social sustainability in Fieni (08.10.2018, Fieni)
Within the activity for the identification of social and institutional innovations in the industrial towns included in the project, social sustainability in Fieni was assessed through the organization of a workshop which took place at “Mircea Popescu” Municipal Library of Fieni (inside “Ing. Mihail Lupescu” Cultural Centre) on 8 October 2018. Different categories of people from the local community were the participants to the workshop. The aim of the workshop was to assess the social sustainability of the town as an essential element of sustainable development. In this sense, a matrix of social sustainability was applied, the analysis methodology involving the identification of strong and weak aspects for different urban quality of life domains: opinion and civic influence, public services and social infrastructure, cultural and social life, adaptability and resistance to shocks. The general conclusions showed that in the case of Fieni, as a town in which the necessary workforce exceeded its total population before 1990, the industrial restructuring determined the massive reduction of the population occupied in industry, together with an evident emigration of the active population outside the country which affects the development of services in the area and it delays the adaptation of the town to the future changes.
Workshop 2. Social innovations in Fieni – needs and expectations (11.03.2019, Fieni)
The workshop, organized at “Mircea Popescu” Municipal Library of Fieni (inside “Ing. Mihail Lupescu” Cultural Centre), on 11 March 2019, had as main objective the gathering of information on social innovations which Fieni knew until the present time. Social innovation is still at its beginnings in Romania, but it has a large potential for the valorization of the many challenges raised by different social issues. This time too, the participants at the workshop included representatives of the local community: institutions (administration, school, kindergarden, library, church), entrepreneurs, etc. The participants were split into two working groups and they have identified a series of past and current social innovations which contributed to increasing the quality of life for the local population. At the end of the workshop, the participants were encouraged to analyze new possible examples of social innovations as solutions for the most pressing town issues, this action representing also the homework for the participants until the organization of the following local workshop.
Workshop 3. Social innovations in Fieni – the projection of several solutions for the future urban development
(08.04.2019, Fieni)
The third workshop was focused on the analysis of possible innovative directions for the local socio-economic growth of the town. The meeting was organized at “Mircea Popescu” Municipal Library of Fieni (inside “Ing. Mihail Lupescu” Cultural Centre), on 08 April 2019. The participants at the workshop included members of the local community as representatives of different local institutions and private companies, but also some pensioners. In order to identify practical social innovations, problems and ideas for solving them were presented based on the synthesis of previously discovered information. These have been integrated into solutions in the form of social and institutional innovations connected to local issues that need urgent solution. The three working groups identified various issues: demographic ageing, lack of skilled labor force and, in general, lack of jobs in the area; the need to set up an association to market local products; lack of local agricultural marketing producers in the online environment; asbestos pollution.
The intensification of the migration process as a result of industrial layoffs has led to the depopulation of the town and, consequently, to the decrease of the standard of living. Jobs are an issue for the citizens of Fieni, respectively for the age group between 18 and 55 years. This issue was aggravated as a result of the socio-economic decline, the closure of the light bulbs factory, but also of the production refurbishment at the cement factory which led to the dismissal of the employees. The efforts so far have been focused on attracting entrepreneurs in order to settle in Fieni, respectively by providing facilities for business development and by promoting the job offers.
Three general directions in the development of social innovations have been identified: a) agriculture and entrepreneurship: a digital information platform and an association for entrepreneurs in the animal breeding and plant cultivation sector; b) a town museum;
c) reorganization of homeowners’ associations in residential areas.
Meeting of the project partners and preparation of the workshop: Fieni – Identity through authenticity
(06-07 June 2019, Fieni, Dâmbovița County)
On June 06, 2019, the project partners met in the town of Fieni, Dâmbovița County. Members of the project teams from Slovenia (project leader), Finland, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Romania have attended this meeting. The presentations and discussions focused on analyzing the development stage of social innovations (participants, evolution, challenges) in case study towns in the project (Velenje – Slovenia, Kajaani – Finland, Heerlen – Netherlands, Corby – United Kingdom and Fieni – Romania). Although there are different contexts and stages of evolution of the social innovations, these case study towns in the project have common points, such as the young population migration.
A discussion topic addressed the analysis of the industrial past and the industrial tradition involvement in shaping social innovations. Also, during the meeting there was a debate on the general structure of the Strategic guide for developing urban policies, as well as on the Stakeholder-specific practical guide.
After the project partners’ meeting, on June 07, 2019 the Fieni – Identity through authenticity workshop was held at the Mihail Lupescu Cultural Center in Fieni, attended by members of all the project teams, along with representatives of the local community. It aimed at knowing and analyzing local traditions, respectively the importance of preserving traditions in shaping future identities of the towns studied in the project in the post-industrial era.
There were presentations and debates about the general dynamics of small industrialized towns in Romania, the development perspectives of Fieni, the importance of local values and heritage, and at the end there was a presentation on the experience and success story of a local entrepreneur.