New CIVINET for Romanian cities launched
A new CIVINET for Romanian cities was launched on 14 June in Timisoara (Romania).
Almost 40 people took part in the launch event for the new CIVINET, among them representatives of public administrations, the Romanian national government, NGOs, governmental agencies and universities, along with a number of guests from abroad.
Agathe Martin from Europroject Consult opened the event with a presentation on the CIVITAS Initiative and the other ten CIVINETs. The CIVINET Romania is now the eleventh CIVITAS National Network.
"I am impressed to see so many people here, it is a good start," said Antal Gertheis from Metropolitan Research Institute (MRI) in Budapest (Hungary), who recalled the beginning of the Magyar CIVINET, of which MRI is the secretariat. "It is important that municipalities understand that the Network is good for them, and they will come."
The launch event was also attended by Cezar Grozavu, Public Manager of the Romanian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, who spoke about mobility in Romanian cities. "[The CIVINET] is something that we really need," said Mr Grozavu. "We have lacked this network, which is an excellent platform to share experiences and good or bad practices. One can learn also from bad experiences."
The second part of the launch event was an open discussion about mobility and transport in the Romanian cities. "It is not always the expensive projects that make the difference. A smaller investment can mean a lot for improving transport and urban mobility in a city," said Ciprian Cadariu the President of Urban Survey, the Secretariat of CIVINET Romania, referring to the bike-sharing system recently implemented by the City of Timisoara as part of the public transport system.
The launch event concluded with a short trip with the newest transport system implemented by Timisoara: a system of ferries called vaporetto. "Timisoara is the only city in Romania that has five different systems of transport: trams, buses, trolleybuses, bicycles and vaporetto. They are our projects, and we are proud of them," pointed out Loredana Sibian, a representative of the City of Timisoara and National Network Manager of the new CIVINET.
