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Romania

This page contains specific information about the planning and implementation of smart villages in Romania. The information aims to orient people on policy planning, key contacts and resources on smart villages. However, it neither aims to be fully comprehensive, nor necessarily reflects the official government or European Commission position.

Explore how smart villages are being implemented in Romania.

You can also visit the page of the Smart Rural 21 selected village: Remetea

Key CAP contact(s) :

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania
Website : https://www.madr.ro/

Support for Smart Villages under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

  • A total of 14 Thematic Working Groups were set up in June 2019 to support the elaboration of the National CAP Strategic Plan 2021-2027. Interested stakeholders were invited to submit an expression of interest to join relevant working groups by the end of July 2019. The concept of ‘smart villages’ is most relevant in the context of the Working Group on LEADER.
  • During the same period of June-July 2019 an online questionnaire was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding potential priorities for the National CAP Strategic Plan. The following question was included: “Do you consider that the development of smart villages in rural areas through LEADER would contribute to the sustainable development of rural areas in Romania?” The results of this questionnaire were not publicly available at the time of publishing the content of this page. .
  • A draft SWOT analysis was published on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in May 2020 (with no reference to smart villages).
  • In the more recent updates for the draft interventions published for consultations on the National Strategic Plan, the ‘smart villages’ concept was included under the LEADER Measure. Local Development Strategies will support the ‘smart villages’ concept , which involves smart village development projects aimed at capitalising on the knowledge of local communities to identify solutions using technology and innovation to improve the quality of life in rural areas.
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Further information on CAP & smart villages :

Analysis of Needs for the CAP Strategic Plan 2021-2027 ( 07/2020 ) - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania (Language : Romanian)
SWOT analysis for the CAP Strategic Plan 2021-2027 ( 07/2020 ) - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania (Language : Romanian)
Smart Villages webpage - Reteaua Nationala de Dezvoltare Rurala (RNDR) / National Rural Development Network (Language : Romanian)
“Viziunea Guvernului României pentru dezvoltarea clasei de mijloc la sate” (“The Vision of the Romanian Government for development of the middle class of villages”) ( 03/2016 ) - Cabinet of the Prime Minister Dacian Cioloş (Language : Romanian)
Announcement – Selection of partners for the establishment of Thematic Groups for the elaboration of the National Strategic Plan 2021-2027 - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania (Language : Romanian)
CAP 2021-2027 Working Groups - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania (Language : Romanian)
CAP 2021-2027 Programming documents - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania (Language : Romanian)
Online questionnaire on potential priorities for the CAP Strategic Plan ( 2019 ) - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania (Language : Romanian)
“Thoughts on the implementation of Smart Village Strategies in the Romanian rural context” ( 04/10/2018 ) - European Network for Rural Development Contact Point (ENRD CP) , Highclere Consulting (Language : English)

Key NRN contact(s) :

Reteaua Nationala de Dezvoltare Rurala (RNDR) / National Rural Development Network
Key contact(s) :
Nancy Samargiu (Innovation / Online communication)
Email : nancy.samargiu@madr.ro
Website : https://www.rndr.ro/

Activities of the National Rural Network (NRN) on smart villages

  • The topic of smart villages has been followed by the NRN Support Unit since October 2017, including participation in several Thematic Group meetings of the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD).
  • The website of the NRN includes a short section dedicated to smart villages where local initiatives are shared.
  • The NRN Support Unit is actively promoting the Smart Rural 21 project via social media (Facebook, Instagram) and its monthly newsletters, both in Romanian and English.
  • The NRN maintains a webpage dedicated to smart villages
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Key contact(s) :

Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly
Website : http://mmuncii.ro/j33/index.php/ro/
Ministry of Communications and Information Society
Website : https://www.comunicatii.gov.ro/

Support provided through other national/ regional policies & initiatives

  • Given the high risk of poverty and social exclusion in rural areas, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly have some policy orientations in the National Strategy on Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction 2015-2020 that are also potentially relevant for the ‘smart villages’ concept, such as improving service delivery for the poor with information and communication technologies.
  • The possibility of a national funding programme for smart villages was introduced into Romanian legislation in September 2020 with the publication of Law No. 156/2020 permitting the programming of “smart village solutions” in the 2021-2027 European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds for Romania.
  • The ‘smart villages’ concept begins to resonate across the country through the different networks and ways of implementing it – with a strong digital focus. In terms of policies, the concept is being mentioned in the Partnership Agreement (EAFRD and Cohesion Funds – ERDF, CF, ESF), but still with no clear indication of the implementation procedures for appropriate types of actions.
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Key organisations & contacts

Key contact(s) :

Roxana Pintilescu ()
Email : rpintilescu@adrnordest.ro

North-East Regional Development Agency

A non-governmental, non-profit, public-utility organisation, with juridic statute, which contributes to reducing regional disparities by stimulating the economic, social and cultural development of the north-east region in Romania. All the steps and actions taken by the organisation converge towards increasing the level of prosperity of the region and increasing the quality of life among its inhabitants.

Key activities :

 

Key contact(s) :

George Roșca ()
Email : federatialeader@gmail.com

LEADER Federation

Association of Romanian Local Action Groups (LAGs).

Promoter of a cooperation project on smart villages, involving 23 LAGs.

Key contact(s) :

Sergiu Tara ()
Email : sergiu.tara@acor.ro

Association of Romanian Communes

Established in 1997, the association works to achieve a closer union between Romanian communes. It promotes the ideals and principles set out in the European Charter of Local Self-Government and represents the needs of public administration bodies (mayors) that are its members. It has initiated at Association level a thematic group on smart villages.

Key contact(s) :

Viorel Stoica ()
Email : viorelstoicacd@yahoo.com

Asociatia Satul Inteligent (Smart Village Association)

Emerging private initiative with a network of policy, research and consultancy bodies aiming to build a  smart community

Key contact(s) :

Eduard Dumitrașcu (President)
Email : info@romaniansmartcity.ro

Asociaţia Romana pentru Smart City (Romanian Association for Smart Cities)

An active not-for-profit organisation with over 260 partners and members working to promote and implement the principles and practice of the Smart City concept in Romania and having an increasing interest in Smart Villages and digital infrastructure / services in rural areas.

Key activities :

Technical expertise and advice – support for the design and implementation of digital public services in association with relevant technology / service suppliers

Key contact(s) :

Mark Redman ()
Email : redman.consultancy@gmail.com

Highclere Consulting

Established in 2006, the company provides high-quality consulting, training and public policy analysis services to governmental and non-governmental organisations working on agriculture, rural development and the environment in South-East Europe and beyond.

Keen to understand the grass-roots needs related to the ‘smart villages’ concept and the possible ways of implementing different smart village actions.

Supporting the Smart Rural 21 and partner company in the Smart Rural 27 projects

Key activities :

• research and social sciences;
• technical assistance, public policy analysis;
• networking in rural areas;
• facilitation and training;

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Further key resources

Smart Villages: Revitalising Rural Services
( 09/07/2018 )
A video with Romanian subtitles produced by the ENRD Contact Point summarising what a ‘smart village’ represents from different perspectives.
Language : English, Romanian
Smart Village Strategy of Remetea (Romania)
Municipality of Remetea ( 12/2020 )
The Smart Village Strategy of Remetea has been developed in the context of the ‘Preparatory Action for Smart Rural Areas in the 21st Century’ project funded by the European Commission.
Language : English
The Smart Rural 21 Project & the SR21 villages
Peter Plant , Wiet van Meel , Edina Ocsko , Alberto Alfonso Pordomingo , Szidónia Nagy-Menyhárt - Municipality of Remetea , Torup Ting , Tussenheid Hilvarenbeek , E40 , Apadrinaunolivo.org ( 18/03/2022 )
A presentation on the state-of-play of the Smart Rural 21 project and four of its participating villages: Remetea (Romania) and Torup (Denmark); and the Come Along! villages Oliete (Spain) and Hilvarenbeek (The Netherlands). The presentation was given at the 4th Smart Rural 21 Regional Workshop.
Language : English
Presentation about the Smart Villages LEADER cooperation project
Napoca Porolissum Local Action Group ( 17/10/2019 )
A presentation given at a Smart Villages thematic group meeting of the European Network for Rural Development. The presentation explains how the idea of Romanian Local Action Groups (LAGs) setting up a cooperation project on this theme emerged. In 2020, 23 LAGs from Romania submitted a cooperation project to define the ‘smart villages’ concept and how best  to implement it in rural areas.
Language : English
Smart Village Forum
Asociatia Satul Inteligent (Smart Village Association) ( 01/07/2021 )
A conference was held in July 2021, emerging from a private initiative developing around the ‘smart villages’ concept. The focus of the conference was on the role of digitalisation for a smart development in rural areas.
Language : Romanian
Smart Village project in the north-east region of Romania
North-East Regional Development Agency , LAG Tinutul Zimbrilor ( 04/02/2021 )
Working meeting of the Smart Village project, an Erasmus+ initiative, coordinated by LAG Tinutul Zimbrilor and supported by the North-East Regional Development Agency. The Smart Village project is based on an innovative teaching approach and will result in a research study and a collection of good practices, four textbooks, a set of training materials, and a video game, as tools for acquiring entrepreneurial skills in rural tourism for the elderly.
Language : Romanian
Smart Rural Romania
Highclere Consulting ( 11/2021 – Ongoing )
A webpage dedicated to smart villages at the national level, intended as a knowledge platform and point of contact.
Language : Romanian
Smart Village Kit
Asociaţia Romana pentru Smart City (Romanian Association for Smart Cities) , Ciugud ( 01/2021 )
In association with the village of Ciugud in Alba County, the Romanian Association for Smart Cities has extended its mission and scope of activities to include support for smart villages.  This includes a ‘Smart Village Kit’ and ‘Trusted Supplier Scheme’ for the design, development, implementation, and optimisation of digital public services. Ciugud is one of the pioneer smart villages in Romania and is actively promoting the concept both in Romania and more widely via the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS).
Language : Romanian
Smart Village Ciugud
Asociaţia Romana pentru Smart City (Romanian Association for Smart Cities) ( 01/02/2021 )
Article about Smart Village Ciugud
Language : Romanian
Smart City Guide
Ministry of Communications and Information Society ( 2016 )
The Smart City concept focuses strongly upon promoting public-private partnerships for the integration of IT and other technological innovations into policies / strategies for sustainable urban development.
Language : Romanian
Nod Verde – pilot food hub
NGO ‘Fundatia Civitas’
One of the 15 good practices in the Pilot Project on Smart eco-social villages was from Romania.  ‘Nod Verde’ is a pilot food hub managed by the NGO ‘Fundatia Civitas’ with funding from the ‘Romanian American Foundation’ (RAF) and is indicative of the creative and innovative community development work being undertaken by the third sector in Romania independently of EU-funding.
Language : Romanian
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