Category: Society Today

Every year, at the beginning of March, World Obesity Day is celebrated, designed to draw attention to this increasingly common pathology.

Obesity – characterized by an increase in body weight due to adipose tissue – is not only a matter of physical appearance or weight control, but represents a medical condition that can have multiple repercussions on health. It can generate or worsen cardiovascular problems, endocrine problems, joint diseases, and even some forms of cancer. Also, obesity has a significant impact on the quality of life, being able to cause a decrease in self-confidence or social stigmatization.

According to existing data, globally, almost 1 billion people, i.e. 1 in 7 people, suffered from obesity in 2020. And estimates show that, by 2035, their number could reach 1.9 billion. As for children, those who tend to gain weight since kindergarten, uncontrolled – say specialists – tend to become obese before finishing secondary school. Among children, obesity is expected to increase by 100% between 2020 and 2035.

What is the situation in Romania? According to the National Institute of Public Health, 2 out of 100 people were diagnosed with obesity in the medical record in 2022. Regarding the new cases of the disease, also in 2022, most were registered in women and in the urban environment.

However, adopting a healthy lifestyle is not easy, that’s right, but not impossible either! At the individual level, the recommendations are to limit the intake of fats and sugar, to increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts, as well as to regularly practice a physical activity of moderate intensity. A rest schedule and a lifestyle adapted to age, sex and emotional state are also needed. In short, a personalized program, as explained on Radio Romania by university lecturer. Dr. Lygia Alexandrescu, specialist in nutrition:

“The term <diet> appeared in ancient Greece, when the lifestyle called <daiata> was defined as a set of notions that involved sleep, therefore rest, hydration, food, movement, well-being… all these make up the <diet>. When we say, at this moment, <diet>, we mean food, but not WHAT we eat, but what we DON’T eat. When we talk about <diet> we talk about restriction, which is totally false. If we talk about food, we have to talk about what we need, what keeps our cells healthy, and then customization is very important. The same diet doesn’t work for everyone, so everything we see on the internet – the high-protein diet or the high-carb diet, or the rice diet or the apple diet, or other crazy things we see at the moment – all these diets are totally unbalanced. A diet that works for one person doesn’t work for another. What are the criteria? There are a lot of criteria that we take into account when it comes to drawing up a food plan. I wouldn’t even call it a diet, which is something restrictive, it’s something you keep long enough to get into a dress, long enough to fasten your shirt or belt more easily. What is related to food is related to lifestyle! And then we come back to custumization. Age, gender, the type of effort we make, the type of emotional state, genetics, current analysis, updated. The discussion with the attending physician, the discussion with the nutritionist, the discussion with the sports coach, all these lead to the formation of a personalized food schedule. No two diets should be the same. Just like medication, it needs to be customized.”

Some more specific tips? Eating unprocessed foods, 100 steps after a meal, good hydration, returning to traditional cuisine, with cooked meals… “When we eat food, especially in the second half of the day, in large quantities and in incorrect combinations, practically , we are aging.” – Lygia Alexandrescu draws attention:

“We don’t need to have the science of nutrition, we don’t need to have the science of food biochemistry! We need to know that we have energy to consume and we need to give the body fuel, good quality gasoline. And this can be done with foods very close to nature, as little processed as possible. Buying ready-made will obviously lead to weight gain, because it also has a lot of salt, contains fried ingredients, does not have the original quality of the food. There are a lot of details. It all comes back to education. As the Chinese say, if you want to have a healthy generation, educate the population for 30-40 years and then you will have a healthy generation. A rice crop is obtained from one year to another, healthy, balanced and complete people are obtained through the education of generations.”

As, therefore, at a collective level, education in shaping the choices that people make in terms of healthy living is essential, the “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest launched, for example, the “Control obesity” campaign, through which people will be taught to eat healthy and exercise. It will take shape, this year, in 8 sessions of information, awareness, and medical education held in 8 cities of Romania. Each action in each city will be structured on two components: one addressed to the general public, the authorities and the media, another scientific, medical education addressed to medical professionals involved in the management of people with obesity. “Our goal is to highlight the fact that obesity is a public health problem that requires immediate and coordinated interventions. ” – says university professor. Dr. Cătălina Poiană, initiator of the “Control Obesity” campaign.

Without major and coordinated action, obesity rates will continue to rise and more and more people will die prematurely from obesity or one of the diseases that can be attributed to it. Moreover, chronic non-communicable diseases associated with obesity, which were once seen only in adults, are becoming more common at much younger ages. However, for the moment, no country in the world is on track to reach the goal of stopping the increase in the prevalence of obesity by 2030, as was established in 2013 by the World Health Organization. In other words, the urgency to act is great!

Conducted over March 9 and 14, on a group of 800 respondents, the survey does not entail good news though. Most of the young people believe the country is going in the wrong direction and do not trust the democracy in Romania, whereas 23% would vote for an extremist party. Razvan Petri, coordinator with the aforementioned group has told us more on the voting intentions of the young generation.

Răzvan Petri: “The most important thing is to pay heed to the fact that young people believe that Romania goes in the wrong direction. A large number of the respondents, 68% of them believe that. Moreover,79% of them believe that Romania’s democracy cannot be trusted. So we are having a problem here, because the country’s democratic pillars cannot be trusted anymore and another major aspect is that very little trust has been mentioned regarding the country’s political institutions, the parties, the government and Parliament. So, we no longer trust the instruments we are supposed to work with and make good decisions in the future. And that’s very dangerous because the tendency is that this lack of trust in the democratic instruments can make people choose instruments from outside the democratic exercise.”

People’s preference for instruments from outside the democratic exercise could be explained through the disappointment towards the way the democratic institutions are functioning in Romania. In other words, if in our country, the democratic practices are perceived as flawed, young people may understand that, at least theoretically, democracy per se is also non-functional

Proof of that is the fact that the European Union enjoys more trust among the young people than the local institutions. Nevertheless, the young generation is not very familiar with the complex way in which the EU functions. And all boils down to education, as Razvan Petri says.

Răzvan Petri: “Unfortunately young people don’t know how institutions function and this somehow contributes to the confusion regarding the functioning of Romania’s political mechanisms. Sadly, civic education is taught only in gymnasiums and that’s not good because as young people become eligible voters, they don’t remember very much about the system. The situation is even more complicated when it comes to the European Union, which is a very intricate and complex mechanism. The situation is not made clearer by the local politicians, and some may even benefit from the complexity of the EU mechanism and can blame Brussels if things go south.”

          The disappointment or even the despair caused by the flawed functioning of the Romanian institutions, which lead to deep social and economic issues explains the young people’s preference for an authoritarian regime, says Răzvan Petri.

Răzvan Petri:” They no longer want the political parties in Romania, they no longer want what we have now and from here stems their tendency to endorse an iron fist, which may intervene and solve the problems. And young people may rush into that. They want a change and they want it now, unlike the older people, who understand the situation better. They want someone to step in, make a stand and solve the problems, someone who says: ‘enough is enough, we are going to put an end to this political non-sense, we are taking over from here.’ And this is where the anti-system parties come in, pledging to solve all the issues Romania is currently facing. So many young people are attracted to these parties not for their political platforms or the messages they convey, but because of their pledge to come up with solutions. They promise a change and a fair retribution to those who failed in their attempt to offer a better alternative for a young generation.

This failure is implicitly recognized by the young people who are planning to leave Romania and try their luck abroad, because of these issues pending solutions for years.

Răzvan Petri:” Among the first four options regarding their problems, we find two that are economically-related: the limited employment options and the poor education quality.

Young people in Romania are some of the poorest in Europe, if not the poorest, and that has been proved by the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat. Data released by this institution shows that roughly 30% of these young people are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. These phenomena are visible and young people are fully aware of them. The problems mentioned that have not been addressed for many years now, have worsened and that turned Romania into a country with some of the highest income inequalities. Our country is presently ranking fourth in Europe in terms of income inequalities. The scarce opportunities offered by their country, has made many of these young people to consider the idea of permanent or temporary emigration. And even if some opportunities have been made available of late, they haven’t yet reached the level so that we can say that young people here can get here a standard of living similar to the Western world.”  

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According to a study carried out by Save the Children Romania, one out of three Ukrainian children, refugees in this country (38%), declared that they are less happy since they left their country of origin. 57% of the children surveyed said they were either very unhappy or somewhat less happy. 23% of them do not go to school, although there is a possibility that they attend an online school. 87% said they preferred physical presence at school, and 60% said they could make friends in the host country in a physical school setting. Three-quarters of children said they did not have access to services they would like, such as places to practice hobbies, meet friends, or spend free time. This is where non-governmental organizations intervene, such as Save the Children Romania, which manage crisis situations very well. We asked Gabriela Alexandrescu, the executive president of the organization, what services these entities can offer, whose importance, especially in times of crisis, is crucial:

“Non-governmental organizations can play a crucial role in the protection of refugee children, especially in the context of a large flow of people, as is the case with people who have taken refuge from Ukraine. First, they can quickly mobilize resources and intervene immediately to provide humanitarian assistance. Organizations can also provide assistance and support in many ways, including by providing shelter, food, medical care, access to social services, and education. They can also provide psychological counseling services to help children cope with the trauma and difficulties they face. In addition to immediate assistance in response to a crisis situation, non-governmental organizations can provide integration programs and create safe, inclusive spaces for refugees in communities. Most of the time, refugees mainly need information, guidance, counseling to access their rights and available services, such as accessing the education system, medical services, jobs, in the case of parents, and also accessing emotional counseling services. At the same time, through the training offered to specialists, organizations can share their own experience, thus improving the quality of services offered and increasing their efficiency, for the benefit of children, for example. Non-governmental organizations can lobby and advocate. They can significantly contribute to improving the lives and protection of refugee children. For example, following the war in Ukraine, Save the Children Romania quickly initiated a comprehensive humanitarian intervention. We have already reached 340,000 people, including 170,000 children, we have worked in 10 border crossing points, in 5 asylum centers, in three mobile camps for refugees and in three transit zones. In these places, we set up safe spaces for children, covered immediate needs, emotional support, provided vital information for children and adults, and then, to support the integration process in the medium and long term, we set up eight counseling centers, where we offer counseling, information, case management, psycho-social support, activities for children and adolescents, material and financial support. So, organizations can do a lot”.

One of the most vulnerable categories of children are those without parents, whom the organization Save the Children has targeted:

“This is, indeed, one of the most vulnerable categories of children in difficulty. It is very difficult to be a refugee and not benefit from the presence and protection of your parents. However, Romania also has procedures to immediately protect these children. From our experience (we have been working in this field since 1994) the number of refugee children without both parents is small, but there is a considerable number of refugee children who come from single-parent families. This experience for them is deeply emotional and worrying, because these children are in an extremely vulnerable situation and are exposed to major risks. In this situation, of children without one or both parents, the priority for Save the Children was to provide children with support and protection, ensure their safety, and provide them with the necessary resources to cope with difficulties. It is essential that we act quickly, effectively, to identify the most appropriate solutions for each individual child and to work with local authorities to ensure that these children are properly cared for and protected. Special attention must be paid to them, and to ensuring their rights and the safety of these children”.

There are many voices in society who are outraged by the care, sometimes excessive, they say, for refugee children, at the expense of Romanian children. Here is what Gabriela Alexandrescu answers to them:

“We understand and respect the concerns expressed, especially in the current context of our society. It is important to emphasize that our mission is to come to the aid of all children who are vulnerable, regardless of their origin. Since our founding in 1990, we have been committed to providing assistance and support to all children, including refugees, in accordance with our humanitarian values and international standards. It is essential that we focus on solutions that ensure the well-being of all children, regardless of circumstances, and that we work together to create a safer, more inclusive environment for all members of our community. At the same time, we believe it is important to communicate constantly, to provide clear information so that society as a whole understands how the programs work and that, in general, a program or project with a specific target group or a certain disadvantaged category is not implemented at the expense of other disadvantaged categories. For example, we got involved in supporting the population and children of Ukraine, and what could be more vulnerable than the case of children fleeing wars, bombs and death? So we got involved in helping them and developed programs, but without interrupting what we were doing in Romania to reduce infant mortality, to ensure mother and child health services, for our children’s access to education in poor communities, for protection against violence, and for the protection of children without parental support. I think people need to realize that the most terrible thing for children is war, the most terrible thing is not to have their place, their home, their family. They need to understand that these people need our support further, because it is a vulnerable situation for them in their country”.

A consortium of non-governmental organizations consisting of the Resource Center for Public Participation (CERE), ActiveWatch and the Internet and Technology Association has recently released the third edition of the State of Democracy Report. Analyzing situations that occurred in 2023, the authors of the document conclude sharply: “Democracy has been slowly dying”. Even if we did not see a spectacular development compared to the past years or to other countries in our region, the trends of narrowing the civic space and attacks on civil liberties continued, slowly but surely.”

This conclusion is completed by Oana Preda, expert in advocacy within CERE.

“The decline that started a few years ago basically went on and we’ve already gotten used to it. The fact that we have become accustomed to it is a bad thing in itself, because it lowers our vigilance. That’s why we insist on reporting all these slippages whenever we see them and putting them in the annual reports that give us the big picture. As usual, we follow some themes that we will consider relevant for the quality of civic space and democracy in general.

One first aspect highlighted by the State of Democracy Report is freedom of assembly. In a year in which Europe was marked by numerous protests on various issues, in Romania the atmosphere was somewhat calmer, which did not prevent the authorities from being overly cautious. Here is Oana Preda again:

“We started the year 2023 with a project to amend the Criminal Code, a project initiated by the prime minister at the time, Mr. Nicolae Ciucă, which include a provision for a prison sentence of up to 7 years for disturbing the peace and public order. We considered this to be a danger, a potential for abuse and intimidation against people who would, for example, want to participate in protests or public demonstrations, not in disturbing the public peace. Fortunately, after efforts by civil society and the media, the initiators withdrew that draft amendment. But it took us some effort and we should be vigilant and on alert, because these things end up on the politicians’ agenda when you least expect it. Beyond the legislative framework, although 2023 was a year poor in protests and street demonstrations, we could still see an overzealousness of law enforcement worthy of a better cause. The year began, for example, with the intimidation of potential activists, people who did not make much noise and who were allegedly standing in solidarity with the victims of the war in Gaza. The media reported that many of them were either invited to police stations or visited at home, and advised not to participate in protests and street demonstrations or post things on Facebook and , if possible, not even talk about the war.”

As it had happened before, in 2023 the freedom of the press was threatened due to financial reasons: either the money was insufficient to support a journalistic endeavor, or it was provided under certain conditions that would prevent the natural manifestation of that endeavor. The editorial offices of the Gazeta Sporturilor and Libertatea publications were forced to radically change their teams and editorial policy following unnatural interference by the employers. Also, the independent journalist Emilia Șercan, who exposed plagiarism in many doctoral theses signed by politicians, was further harassed as a result of her investigations. Oana Preda has more:

” I don’t want to generalize, but a good part of the press was basically bought many times with public funds. For example, in 2023, the parties spent almost 121 million lei on press and propaganda. Which explains why a lot of information that could affect the image of the parties in power stays between us or just in our bubble. We saw in 2023 how editorial independence was sacrificed for profit. And we have the cases of the dailies “Gazeta Sporturilor” and “Libertatea”. We also have the example of the journalist Emilia Șercan, with the file that would have shed light on the abuses suffered in 2023. It was suddenly classified, without any explanation. As I was saying earlier, these things explain a little bit why this information stays here, between us.”

Moreover, access to public information, regulated by a law that has been in place for many years, was hampered in 2023, Oana Preda said on the occasion of the launch of the Democracy Report.

“An extremely important tool for journalists, but also for activists, is access to information of public interest. To our colleagues from the FILIA Center (feminist organization), who requested information regarding the cases that had as their object sexual offenses against minors, the Prosecutor’s Office replied that, in order to receive this information, the person who requested the information had to prove that it was a member of the organization and to bring a power of attorney that they had the right to request that information. We have another answer received from the General Secretariat of the Government by our colleagues from the Center for Public Innovation. The request had been for the list of persons in the position of Secretary of State and Councilor of State. The information was not provided on the grounds that it would contain personal data. These are just two examples that show that institutions are becoming more and more inventive in taking advantage of all kinds of exceptions that the law provides. Therefore, colleagues who systematically monitor certain categories of information, now no longer receive the data they used to receive. We don’t realize it, but these things happen slowly.”

Precisely because the situation has been deteriorating without note, the vigilance must increase not only from the civic associations, but also from the rest of society.

Romania has a shortage of soldiers. The state is about to call on young people to opt, in the near future, for a paid voluntary tour of military training with the Ministry of Defense.

The authorities are currently working on updating the legislation on preparing the population for defense. A draft law initiated in 2019 by the general defense staff and put into decisional transparency in 2022 is in the interministerial approval circuit. It proposes that people between 18 and 35 years of age, regardless of gender, with permanent residence in Romania, be able to voluntarily participate in a basic military training program of a maximum of four months. They would be able to learn how to handle different types of weapons, to participate in outdoor orientation, decontamination, or first aid courses. During this time, they would benefit from free accommodation, equipment, and food, and would receive a monthly allowance similar to military staff at the rank of soldier, of about 3,000 lei (600 euros). At the end of the program, a bonus representing three gross average salaries is included. Students could also do internships to gain basic knowledge in the military field, upon request, during university vacations. All those who follow a voluntary training program would either be part of the available reserve of the Romanian Army, or could enter a selection to become professional soldiers with a contract of employment in the armed forces.

Military officials insist, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu reinforces: neither is it about returning to the mandatory army, nor – despite the tense geopolitical context – is the country preparing for any war. But – specialists add – they must prepare for defense! Here is Marcel Ciolacu:

“Every country must prepare for the worst, but one must not focus on the context of the war in Ukraine and think that there is a danger from Russia to Romania! There is no danger in that sense, but we really need a normal country, and then you have to anticipate certain things, like this paid voluntary system, where people train and learn the basics of the art of defense. It’s the right approach, but it didn’t have to be crammed in in the context of a border war, so that Romania would understand from this news that, alas, war is coming upon us! No war is coming!”

The law on voluntary military service has the deadline for adoption in Parliament in June. Romania currently has a deficit of both active military personnel and reservists. It would rely, if necessary, on approximately 70,000 active military personnel, compared to over 300,000 in the 1990s, and on a reserve in a natural aging process composed mainly of those who performed mandatory military service until 2007, the year it was suspended. In an interview for Radio Romania, reserve Lieutenant General Virgil Bălăceanu, president of the Association of Reserve Officers from Romania, explains why we ended up in this situation:

“States like Poland have intuited, ever since the suspension of compulsory military service, the need for a fresh, young, and permanently trained reserve force. On the other hand, in Romania, with the suspension of compulsory military service, the reserve no longer mattered. The political measures are late at this stage, and I will give you an example that is conclusive. Poland adopted the Voluntary Reservist Law in 2009, when it suspended compulsory military service. Romania implements such a law ten years after the suspension of compulsory military service. And now we are witnessing a two-year delay in the arrival of the law for training the population for defense, which has a provision regarding voluntary paid service with the same delay, which is irresponsible. Things are due, somewhere, to the misunderstanding by political leaders, even by the military leaders of the Romanian army, after the suspension of the compulsory military service, that the reserve is not necessary, the reservists are no longer so important. We are now in the 12th hour, and only the dignified and responsible position of General Vlad, the head of the Ministry of Defense, triggered a process that should have been triggered two years ago.”

Out in the street, the opinions of young people are divided. Here’s what they answer to the question of whether, if necessary, they would go to battle:

“-: It’s my country and I would probably go, but only because of that.

-: I would be going, because it’s my country, they are my ancestors, I can’t not go.

-: If I was called, yes.

-: No, I wouldn’t go, I would find solutions to ʹskip the processʹ. Mainly, I’m afraid of war, that’s all.

-: Honestly, I would like not to, but now, no, I have to.

-: I would do anything to help humanity!

-: I am a Romanian citizen, isn’t it normal that we all participate?

-: I don’t necessarily want it to happen, but if necessary, yes, but personally I would rather go for something more pacifist.”

According to a recent opinion poll conducted by Avangarde, the majority of Romanians, 71%, say that the Romanian armed forces would not cope if the country were attacked. Asked if they are willing to undergo military training, 37% of the general population agree, 57% do not. On the same question, 14% of 18- to 35-year-olds are in favor, while 77% are against. On the other hand, 69 out of 100 Romanians believe that the North Atlantic Alliance would jump to help, knowing that NATO membership offers Romania the strongest security guarantees in history. Specialists in the military field draw attention, however, to the fact that, although Romania is part of the Alliance, the latter does not respond, in case of danger, as if it were a call to the emergency telephone number 112, intervening in a few minutes.

The largest online recruitment platform, e-jobs, came, at the beginning of January, with new figures and statistics on the labor market. According to e-jobs, almost 40% of the jobs posted last year targeted entry-level candidates (between 0 and 2 years of experience), while over 28% targeted candidates with an average level of experience. Only 8.4% of the jobs were addressed to seniors, those with more than 5 years of experience, and 2.6% to managers. In contrast, in 2023, 370,000 jobs were posted on the platform.

Entry-level candidates were not only the most sought after, but they were also the ones who applied the most . More than half of the nearly 12 million applications last year were for what experts call entry-level jobs. For the fourth consecutive year, the 18-24-year-old category remains the second most active age group, not far from first place, occupied by those between the ages of 25 and 35. It is also the segment that had an upward trend in the second half of 2023 compared to the first, while the applications from candidates aged 25-35 had a slight decrease in the other months compared to the beginning of last year. Most entry-level applications were for retail, call-center, services, IT or telecom, banking, tourism, advertising/marketing/PR, and the food industry.

Ana Călugăru, Head of Communications at e-jobs Group, describes the labor market last year as follows:

In 2023 we had a tempering of the labor market, in terms of jobs. We are talking about a decrease of about 12% compared to 2022, we are talking about 370,000 newly posted jobs in the platform, for which almost 12 million applications have been collected. From this point of view, we had an increase of more than 10% in applications compared to 2022. We saw that the most recruitment was in retail, services, outsourced services, construction, tourism. It was a year which, towards the end, put quite a lot of pressure on employers in IT, food, agriculture and construction, because the tax breaks for employers were removed, and this of course will put a financial burden on employers who will not deduct it from the net income of the employees. We haven’t seen the same increases as in 2022, wage increases, but we have seen them for key positions, the employing companies had to increase wages to secure those employees.

In an economy as tumultuous as the current one, forecasts for 2024 lean heavily on caution. Senior employees are in no rush to change jobs, while employers think twice before putting a job on the market. Added to that is their low willingness to allow remote jobs. Ana Călugăru explains:

“For 2024 the year starts in about the same vein as 2023. There is quite a lot of caution in the market from employers, and that’s probably how things will look until the middle of the year; everyone looks at the economic signals to see exactly what moves they can make. No one wants to take a chance, however they are still hiring, in the first part of January we had over 20,000 jobs posted, so there are opportunities in the market. If we look at the remote jobs, we see the lowest level of them posted in recent years. (…) So employers are no longer so willing to hire remotely. However, candidates are willing to engage in this way, only that the trend in the market is, however, to return to office work.

For 40+ candidates it may take longer this time to find a new job. The offers for them are not pouring in, and if they are thinking about a professional reconversion, the advice of professionals in the field is to be very careful about what decisions they make. In addition, it is possible that, in the new field, they start from a junior position. Here is what Ana Călugăru, Head of Communications at e-jobs Group, says about it:

Those who want to get a job and are over 40 should know that it may take a little longer this year than in previous years to find a job, because there are not as many offers on the market. It can take even half a year to find the right job. If it is about a career reconversion, here, again, a lot of patience will be needed, to orient themselves well enough towards the field they want to choose, and to understand that it is possible that they start from a junior position. Of course, they should always pay attention to what new jobs appear on the market.

Civic spirit in the city is not only manifested in the sense of expressing dissatisfaction or reporting to the authorities when things are not going well. For example, the Cișmigiu Civic Initiative Group is mobilizing the neighbors of Blocul liric, a block of flats adjacent to the famous Bucharest park, to form a community by composting. As a result, a composting station consisting of three special boxes where food waste is collected, left to mature, and then turned into fertilizer was recently placed in the inner courtyard of the block. Alex Oprița, the coordinator of the civic initiative group in the block, believes that, by doing work together, neighbors can socialize and then relax together. Here is Alex Oprita.

“As early as 2017, we started taking care of the blocks courtyard. Its the one in the inner courtyard and the one in front. We also brought plants, and tried to think of it in a way that is as resilient as possible to climate change, to require minimal watering and a minimal level of intervention. Probably a good part of the compost will still go to public spaces, neighborhood gardens, and the other part will go to those who compost and want to take home part of the compost for houseplants, it being a natural fertilizer very beneficial for plants.”

After the placement of the crates for collection and ripening, the composting lesson followed, held by Gabriela Iordan, project coordinator of the Compost Academy and the Mărțișor Community Orchard.

“Composting, that is, the selective collection of vegetable remains from the rest of the waste that we generate at home from our daily consumption, makes each fraction much cleaner and easier to reach the area where it can be transformed again into materials for the process of production. Regarding the separate collection of plant residue in the urban area, where we do community composting, we encourage a very simple recipe. We separate the skins from vegetables, fruits, spines, coffee grounds, tea residue, or house flowers, which we shred well at least once a week. Then we bring them to these bins where the community takes their vegetable scraps. It is an environmentally friendly process, because we no longer generate waste in landfills that are non-compliant and should be closed anyway. And, secondly, plant debris turns into a natural fertilizer that we use in both planters and block gardens as a vitamin and mineral supplement for plants and trees to support life.”

Currently, seven composting stations similar to the ones near the Cișmigiu park operate in other communities in Bucharest blocks of flats. But the phenomenon is somewhat more extensive, including neighborhoods with family houses. Here is Gabriela Iordan.

“There are a lot more compost bins of this type out there right now, and obviously people are starting to get various containers for individual composting at home, especially where they have a patch of land and can put there these vegetable scraps to be turned into compost in a few months. But really, for community composting in a block of flats in particular, it is more difficult, and then the community composting stations are dedicated to some micro-communities from the block, but not only from that block, but also from the area, people who want to compost in the area and do not yet have such a station. We really wanted to expand the network. In the Compost Academy project we will even offer a prize for a community that wants to open a station. The more the better. People who compost start to ask themselves certain questions, to reduce food waste. It is very important to understand that composting does not solve food waste. We need to sort out food waste before composting, meaning from our shopping list and the amount we actually cook and consume. Community composting refers, as I said, only to the remains of vegetables and fruits, coffee grounds and, at most, crushed vegetable and fruit peels.”

Alex Oprița, from the Cișmigiu Civic Initiative Group, tells us how easy or difficult it is to coagulate a community around projects like this.

“Its not simple. I would like to say that it is simple, but it happens that way because we actually live in a society where we are not encouraged to socialize with our neighbors, with the people around us. Everything happens so fast that we realize we dont find enough time to meet even our close friends or family. And thats exactly why its not easy to bring people together. Here, in the Lyric Block of Flats, it happened over time. We had a series of community events, from gardening, ornithology, various activities that happened around the neighborhood, which we have been doing for 5 years now. A key point, I think, was that, since the beginning, we have had a block communication channel, we made a Facebook group, and gradually, gradually the neighbors appeared. There we started interacting with each other, getting to know our neighbors face to face, greeting each other, and exchanging words. And the workshops organized for the community are a very good opportunity to bring the neighbors together in another way, not only in the work-related one.”

Currently, there are 10 neighbors who collect scraps for compost at Blocul Liric, the surprise being the fact that the tenants of the neighboring blocks, hearing about the composting station, started coming here with their own food scraps.

A capital with big pollution problems, Bucharest is also deficient in the number of square meters of green space. And this situation actually reflects the current state of legislation in the field. For example, for several years there has been no functional register of green spaces, although in 2011 a document of this type was developed. The General Council did not vote on it, however, due to numerous methodological problems, and the fact that it does not actually provide any protection for green spaces. It is rather a consultative document, without legal value, says Victoria Carasava, project coordinator at Art Fusion, the non-governmental organization that initiated a civic petition for the urgent adoption of the Register of Green Spaces. Here is Victoria Carasava.

“We, in October, started a campaign for the urgent restoration of this register, prepared as required by law, in order to be voted on by the General Council of Bucharest and to have administrative value. From October until now, more than 5,000 Bucharest residents have signed our petition. We hope that, in the future, as many Bucharesters as possible will sign this petition and show City Hall that the lack of green spaces in Bucharest is a real problem. And, in parallel, in addition to this petition, we submitted an open letter to Bucharest City Hall (BCH), currently signed by 29 civil society organizations and local civic initiative groups. And, together, through these two approaches, the open letter and the petition, both submitted in December to the BCH, we hope to finally receive an answer from town hall and the Mayor General, in order to make this process a little more transparent and to see exactly what are the deadlines that the city hall is working with regarding the restoration of this register.

What would be the problems with the current registry, and what does civil society hope will be fixed by a new document? Victoria Carasava also answers.

“The current register did not show what is the real quantity and quality of green spaces at the level of Bucharest. Trees appeared in this register in places where they never existed. Certain premises were indexed which, by law, should not have been part of the register. In addition, there was another very serious problem. At the time this first register was made, it was not budgeted to be updated, because the Green Spaces Law tells us that this register is a dynamic tool, which inventories all the green heritage of a city and must reflect absolutely every qualitative or quantitative change occurring in these green spaces.

Unfortunately, it seems that the development of this register will take longer, because it depends on the green spaces law and the urban planning code, normative acts now under parliamentary debate for the adoption of some amendments. Some of these amendments even address the possibility that some privately owned green spaces can change their status and become functional residential areas. Which would mean a reduction of the already limited green space, several ecological organizations believe, as well as the Mayor General. Until then, however, even the Central City Hall remains on hold.