Romanian Rural Areas Research Articles

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE ROMANIAN RURAL AREA. DEVELOPMENTS AND TRENDS IN THE POST ACCESSION PERIOD

Known for its role in the development of a country, in people’s behavior and way of thinking, education holds an important position in the society. In other words, education is the basis for supporting culture, individual training, and also for the evolution of humanity. In Romania, the educational system has experienced important structural changes, both at national and local (regional) level. The structural changes have been manifested with different intensities by areas of residence, by urban and rural areas respectively. In this context, the present approach aims to carry out a diagnosis analysis of the education system in the Romanian rural area in the post-accession period.

Influence of Environmental Perception on Place Attachment in Romanian Rural Areas

This study analyzes aspects of place attachment in rural areas, as an element of social stability that determines attitudinal and behavioral patterns within a harmonious relationship between human beings and the environment. A higher level of place attachment generates efficient behavior patterns for the improvement of the problems caused by pollution and the degradation of natural environments. In the second section, we set out to measure the forms of manifestation of place attachment in rural areas and to identify effective strategies that can contribute to increasing the intensity of this phenomenon. We set out a study of the causality between environmental perception and place attachment. We carried out an investigation based on a questionnaire to determine the forms of manifestation of place attachment and environmental perception. We tested a statistical model to confirm or not the determining relationship between the two social phenomena. Our study also offers an original interpretation of environmental perception and explains the degree of intensity with which this phenomenon is felt at the individual level. The practical importance of this study lies in the fact that it offers a strategy proven by sociological analysis, which can be applied to stimulate an increase in intensity of the manifestation of feelings of place attachment, which ultimately leads to the spread of pro-environmental attitudinal and behavioral patterns.

Emigration and Common Agricultural Policy in Romanian Rural Areas: An Analysis of Patterns of Inefficiency

Romanian rural areas have suffered a significant permanent emigration since the early 1990s and the European Union by the Common Agricultural Policy has tried to slow down this negative phenomenon. The main research question was to assess if the Common Agricultural Policy has been a leverage of socio-economic development in Romanian rural areas reducing the permanent emigration from the countryside since 2010 to 2020. The quantitative approach has used the Data Envelopment Analysis and the Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis in order to assess the patterns of inefficiency due to an excess of some variables impacting to the permanent rural emigration.

The evolution of European funds in the rural development of Romania

European funds ensure the increase in the standard of living for those who live in rural areas by developing not only the rural economy, but also the entire rural area. Through this article, the authors highlighted the evolution over time of the European funds allocated in the rural development of Romania, with an emphasis on the development regions and the stages of creation of the European funds. The evolution of the European funds over time allowed the conclusion that the problem of the inability to manage the investments from the European funds allocated to the rural development of Romania persists. In the opinion of the authors, it is necessary to continue the identification of solutions, tools and models for monitoring and evaluating the impact of European funds on rural development, as well as the level of absorption of European funds by Romanian rural areas. Romania’s rural development can only be ensured by increasing the impact of European funds.

COVID-19 Pandemic Affects Children's Education but Opens up a New Learning System in a Romanian Rural Area.

(1) Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the educational system in Romania faced major challenges. Online knowledge development was necessary and mandatory during this time; (2) Methods: our study included a group of 140 preadolescents and used a phenomenology qualitative method to investigate if the novel online teaching, implemented in a hurry during the pandemic without any previous teacher training, managed to replace face-to-face teaching; (3) Results: The students have expressed their joy for online courses, as long as they are kept interactive. Even though they feel nervous and worried when it comes to evaluation, the students claim they feel capable to learn all of the learning materials. Most of them are pleased by classes and do not get bored during them, feeling constantly motivated to actively participate in dialogue; (4) Discussions: Despite the lack of teaching-method standardization, our learning providers succeeded in accomplishing their tasks during online courses. Even in remote rural areas, they managed to assure the means for these children to access and take part in online courses; (5) Conclusions: our learning system must offer teachers the possibility to emphasize online education using adequate training programs aiming to develop technical and online pedagogical skills.

Decision-making factors for job choice in Romanian rural areas. Employment on the strand of options, capabilities and access.

Rural area represents the population with a high work capacity, but with less employment opportunities than in urban areas, so in order to have a decent job 5 (five) needs are referred to: working conditions should be safe, both physically and mentally, people should have access to medical facilities, health, working hours should be ones in which you can rest and have time for family and compensation should be acceptable for the work done. The employment opportunities that people have differ depending on the environment they come from, so in rural areas the job opportunities are discrete, as it is the quality in work, both of them depending strongly on the area characteristics - whether it is developed or underdeveloped- and by its infrastructure, always considering that agriculture is most increased activity in these areas. The study aims to map and depict the occupational situation of people living in Romanian rural areas, coping with limited job opportunities, compared to those living in towns and cities, as well as how people in rural areas choose their jobs, how the labour market has influenced them to find a suitable job and where they can get or acquire the skills they need. As people in rural areas choose to migrate, the population is an ageing one and over time, villages will depopulate and the labour force and human resources will shrink.

Life cycle assessment of sheep cheese production in a small dairy factory from Romanian rural area.

The paper aims to analyse the life cycle of sheep milk cheese production, to investigate supply chain of cheese and to suggest improvements for minimizing the environmental impacts associated with this agri-food product. The functional unit chosen was 1kg of sheep milk cheese. Modelling of the production process was performed based on real data obtained from a cheese production company in Romania. Two methods (CML and ReCiPe), included in GaBi software, were used for the environmental impact assessment. The following impacts: abiotic depletion potential elements, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, global warming potential, human toxicity potential (included in CML method) and climate change, fossil depletion, freshwater eutrophication, particulate matter formation, photochemical oxidant formation, terrestrial acidification (included in ReCiPe method), were calculated. Results highlighted that energy production and diesel consumption are the main activities which contribute to the environmental impacts associated with cheese product. Emissions from diesel production and consumption contribute to global warming potential with 11.70% and 82.36%, respectively. Wastewater treatment mainly contributes to freshwater eutrophication with 43.58%, followed by raw milk production (37.52%), diesel production (12.34%) and others. The results of this study showed that the values for most impact categories decrease when the energy is obtained by renewable sources compared to the energy produced by conventional procedures. It was concluded that, in order to reduce the environmental impacts associated with sheep cheese production, the energy used in the process needs to be more environmentally friendly.

The impact of agricultural reforms on rural families in Romania

Assessing the socio-economic and demographic impact of the reforms in Romanian agriculture, since 1990, on rural families, is one of the important components in the new context of the CAP, which includes new perspectives on the concept of rural family. From subsistence to sustainability, it implies the medium and long term objective of the main reforms in Romania's agriculture after the December 1989 Revolution, which were mainly represented by the start of the process of transition to market economy, by benefiting from the advantages of land rent and maybe the most important reform is Romania's accession to the EU. This paper aims to conduct an analysis of the evolution of the Romanian rural area in its many facets, focusing on the main reforms in post-December Romania agriculture, as well as the concepts of rural development in terms of sustainability and multifunctionality. In the context of a Romania that, since the accession of the EU, being considered perhaps the most important reform is the reform of agriculture, which is in the process of implementing the European model of agriculture and rural development. In order to demonstrate how the rural areas have been changed across the years, an empirical study has been assessed. It shows that there is a representative relationship between the farmers' productivity and incomes, proving how the economic prosperity of the rural citizens is determined by labour effectualness, while multiple reforms have been reshaped families' welfare.

Agritourism—A Business Reality of the Moment for Romanian Rural Area’s Sustainability

The agritourism activity can be a characteristic reality of the present, considering rural area’s sustainability, being at the same time a business reality for rural entrepreneurs and a “must have” for rural communities that have tourism potential. It is a form of tourism, through which the tourist can receive a qualitative product at a reasonable price, but also a field that can ensure sustainable development over time, being at the same time environmentally friendly. The purpose of this scientific paper is to identify the aspects that make agritourism “a possible business reality of the moment”, for Romanian rural area’s sustainability. We take into account the following areas: Bran-Moieciu area—considered “the oldest” in terms of agritourism experience, and Apuseni Mountains area, with a great inclination and potential for this activity. The study conducted for these two areas is focused on several aspects: the degree of involvement in agritourism activities, considering the number of years and managerial experience, the analysis of the types of activities/experiences offered by agritourism structures, the identification of the main reasons/motivations for the orientation towards agritourism and the manner in which this field is perceived. Aspects related to the marketing-finance part of the agritourism business are also taken into account: customers, distribution channels, financial sources, shortcomings observed by agritourism business owners and possible action directions so as to improve the activity/agritourism product. Agritourism may be “a possible business reality of the moment” for the studied areas and not only, but in the future, the entrepreneur/farmer must be constantly updated because of the changing situations that appear on the market, be able to make sustainable decisions for his/her own business, which in the future will ensure its viability and obviously its long-term profitability and development, and in the same time rural area’s sustainability.

Experiences of community-based tourism in Romania: chances and challenges


 Purpose
 
 The purpose of this paper is to analyse community-based tourism (CBT) initiatives in the post-socialist rural Romania in terms of the holism of the tourist project and the implementation of the local participation. The paper focusses on chances and challenges of CBT.
 
 
 
 Design/methodology/approach
 
 Once the main objective was established, three research interests arose: How and why tourism played a significant role in the economic and social development of the rural local community? How has the local community participated in the starting and maintenance of the CBT projects and who played a key part? How can the level of success of the CBT implementations be qualitatively measured? Qualitative methodologies (interviews, on-site observations, informal discussions) were applied to survey the four case studies.
 
 
 
 Findings
 
 Natural and cultural features ensure a versatile potential for touristic exploitation of the Romanian rural area, but the villages are endangered by post-socialist economic and social transformations. Innovative approaches of CBT in rural areas ignited by charismatic leaders with entrepreneurial spirit develop based on the existent social, natural and cultural capital, but on the other hand, endeavours can be vulnerable because of hindering local municipalities or sustainability issues.
 
 
 
 Practical implications
 
 The findings facilitate recommendations in favour of effective CBT ventures.
 
 
 
 Originality/value
 
 Learning about the contribution of CBT to a sustainable development of rural regions with no/little tradition of private entrepreneurship can contribute to the revitalization of rural areas facing post-socialist challenges.
 

A quantitative analysis on Romanian rural areas, agritourism and the impacts of European Union’s financial subsidies

The European Union's specific financial subsidies have supported pluriactivity development in farms through agritourism. By allocating specific funds aimed at encouraging farm diversification and increasing farmers' income, the European Union seeks to reduce rural marginalisation due to emigration, which is a central target of the Common Agricultural Policy. Thus, this research aims to quantitatively assess the impact of these financial subsidies on the growth of Romanian agritourism, determine the socio-economic variables that have affected this, and assess whether agritourism has lessened permanent emigration from Romania. The results reveal that the GDP levels and the number of employed people have influenced the direct role of financial subsidies allocated by the Common Agricultural Policy and aimed towards agritourism growth. The analysis also showed a few significant factors impacting rural emigration. Agritourism is indirectly connected to population density, suggesting that, over the time of investigation, less populated areas showed significant growth in agritourism. This research realises its novelty by investigating if agritourism serves as a socio-economic protection in rural Romania and by assessing which specific aids—decoupled payments or rural development supports—allocated by the Common Agricultural Policy― successfully restrict permanent emigration and marginalisation in rural areas.

Analysis of the impact of the allocation of European funds on rural development in Romania

Rural development within the European Union has been a continuous evolution of rural space through which it has responded to the needs and challenges of the European Community. Thus, the European Union has created and implemented the Common Agricultural Policy, and rural development is its second pillar. In the case of Romania, agriculture and rural development is a priority sector in terms of economic and social growth, due to the large area occupied by rural areas, but also due to the large area of agricultural land that is found on the territory of Romania. This article is intended to be an objective analysis of the impact that European funds have had on the development of the Romanian rural area regarding the allocation of these funds. At the same time, the degree of absorption of the National Rural Development Program (NRDP) was analysed.

Experiences of community-based tourism in Romania: chances and challenges

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse community-based tourism (CBT) initiatives in the post-socialist rural Romania in terms of the holism of the tourist project and the implementation of the local participation. The paper focusses on chances and challenges of CBT. Design/methodology/approach Once the main objective was established, three research interests arose: How and why tourism played a significant role in the economic and social development of the rural local community? How has the local community participated in the starting and maintenance of the CBT projects and who played a key part? How can the level of success of the CBT implementations be qualitatively measured? Qualitative methodologies (interviews, on-site observations, informal discussions) were applied to survey the four case studies. Findings Natural and cultural features ensure a versatile potential for touristic exploitation of the Romanian rural area, but the villages are endangered by post-socialist economic and social transformations. Innovative approaches of CBT in rural areas ignited by charismatic leaders with entrepreneurial spirit develop based on the existent social, natural and cultural capital, but on the other hand, endeavours can be vulnerable because of hindering local municipalities or sustainability issues. Practical implications The findings facilitate recommendations in favour of effective CBT ventures. Originality/value Learning about the contribution of CBT to a sustainable development of rural regions with no/little tradition of private entrepreneurship can contribute to the revitalization of rural areas facing post-socialist challenges.

A COMPARISON AND INTEGRATION BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR THROUGH SUSTAINABLE ECONOMICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROMANIAN RURAL AREAS USING BEE ALGORITHM

The article is focused on presenting a comparison of the public sector with public administration policies and private sector with economical strategies with the purpose of better integration between the two with case study on the European funds in beekeeping and how by studying the bee behavior we too can develop our society to achieve better results. The scope of the article is to show an overview of the European policies into state members with focus on sustainable economic development of Romanian rural areas. This is part of the authors’ research from the last 10 years with focus on public, economic and social development and represent initial results of their yet not published work.

The WHS Designation—A Factor of Sustainable Tourism Growth for Romanian Rural Areas?

The presence of World Heritage Sites has been frequently used as a mean of tourism promotion and increased attractiveness. However, previous studies showed contradictory results regarding the territorial impact of World Heritage Sites, and very few researchers discussed their impact in Eastern Europe. This paper examines how the presence of World Heritage Sites in rural localities influenced the tourism growth and sustainable development in Romania after 2000. Independent Sample t-test was used to analyse the evolution of tourism and sustainable development indicators between 2001 and 2016. The results suggest an absence of a positive effect induced by World Heritage Sites in rural areas. It seems that, by itself, the brand has not enough power to sustain tourist attractiveness if it is not endorsed by national, regional, and local initiatives. These findings lead a discussion about how certain sites managed to induce a sustained tourism growth while others failed to do so.

RESEARCH REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION, DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF AGRITOURISM ON ROMANIA'S RURAL AREAS BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015

Based on more than 25 years of research in the field of agritourism, the current work represents a pertinent, realistic and critical analysis of the main factors favourable to the implementation and development of agritourism and rural tourism in Romania. Firstly, we examined the main natural and anthropic tourist resources which constitute the country s tourist treasures, and we concluded that Romania has rich, varied and attractive tourist resources that have not been fully exploited and promoted so far. Secondly, we carried out an evaluation of Romania s implicit agritourist and tourist potential, as a future tourist destination, based on all its tourist resources and on 12 evaluation criteria. The results have shown that quality-wise, the value is high to very high, leading to the idea that Romania may satisfy to a large extent the potential clients numerous expectations and requirements. Lastly, we carried out a SWOT analysis regarding the level of implementation, development and impact of agritourism on the Romanian rural areas during the researched period. The aforementioned SWOT analysis led to a very clear and precise conclusion. Agritourism activity, in the areas where it was implemented and developed, had a very strong and favourable impact not only on the economic and tourist framework of localities, but also on their social, cultural, spiritual and even ecological framework.

School-Community Partnership - an effective tool, useful for environmental community development of Romanian countryside

<p>This paper presents the theoretical and practical implications of school - community partnership in community development of Romanian rural environment by conducting a content analysis of the addressed topic. In most Western countries, the trend of opening the school to the community is obvious. Because the resources for education are falling, the partnership can be an effective tool for better management of local resources, a way of attracting new resources for school, and harnessing the school resource in benefit of the community. Also, to ensure good quality education is necessary for every school to achieve a genuine partnership with its community. Under this partnership it is natural to find their place all social categories and all interested institutions in the development of education: human resources of the education system, students enrolled in schools, students families, government institutions and NGOs. In rural areas, the school is the most powerful institution, vital for community development. The school must be open to the needs of the rural community to identify those areas where it can develop community partnerships: alternative leisure activities for children and youth, activities of road education, health, helping the elderly and poor families, involvement in humanitarian campaigns, etc. The role of the school, parents and local authorities is very great, and the development of an active partnership between these participants in Romanian rural areas would reduce school dropout and integrate children with special educational needs. Schools that have developed genuine partnerships within the local school shows that the benefits are significant.</p><p> </p><p>Keywords: school-community partnership, dropout, integration, community development</p>

Advantages and Limits for Tourism Development in Rural Area (Case Study Ampoi and Mureş Valleys)

Abstract Rural areas have been modified during centuries of agriculture practice and, in the last decades, of other economic activities like mineral extractions and processing industry, including also touristic activity. A challenge for ensuring sustainable development in rural areas is to cover the development needs of the community. Tourism has been indicated as a good development strategy for Romanian rural areas. The article is presenting the advantages and limits in supporting touristic activity in the framework of Leader approach at the level of a Local Group of Action in Romania, Alba and Hunedoara Counties. Leader approach is offering limited support for rural area in order to encourage cultural activities, architecture rehabilitation, valorizing natural landscape and rural tourism. Through its direct and indirect impacts, tourism attracts significant foreign exchange, investment and know-how and stimulates the local economy, with a significant multiplier effect on many other areas of the economy. In the same time, it has to be paid a great attention to the effects generated upon the rural communities by the tourists’ activities. Certainly, tourism development should be considered with all financial, material and human efforts that have to be done in order to support it. Tourism development in rural area should be strategically planned and its negative effects on nature and social-cultural environment of tourism areas should be limited.

The plight of Romanian social protection: addressing the vulnerabilities and well-being in Romanian Roma families

To adhere to the European Union, Romania was obliged to adopt the entire range of international human rights laws for children's rights, disability rights, women's rights, minority rights and non-discrimination. However, Romania's practice of human rights falls behind the letters of these laws, especially for populations exposed to intersectional vulnerabilities (e.g. being both Roma and child or woman). The introductory sections of this article describe the cumulative vulnerabilities faced by the Roma, and discuss the main anti-discrimination policies and international treaties adopted in Romania in the context of recent EU developments, including the strategies for the Roma Decade. The main body of the article discusses the barriers to effectively addressing the rights of the Roma in Romania. Using available (yet scarce) ethnically segregated data, we draw attention to the multiple risks faced by Roma families in Romania confronted with traditionalism, poverty, violence, lack of services and proper housing, and other risks. By exploring the attitudes of social workers and other care-staff towards Roma beneficiaries in Romania, the authors seek to understand what contributes to the failure of anti-discrimination laws and policies in that country in protecting those most exposed to poverty. Looking at the poverty and other vulnerability indicators of the Roma in Romania, we acknowledge the social distance that exists between the disadvantaged Roma living in Romanian rural areas and their helpers. We consider the current status of anti-discriminatory social work practice in respect of the Roma population in Romania. The evidence considered regarding the plight of the Roma in Romania leads to the conclusion that policies should (a) elaborate more on bridging the gap between professionals and their beneficiaries and (b) translate anti-discrimination policies also into codes of conduct designed to more effectively protect and empower victims such as the Roma children and women who receive the services of professionals such as social workers.

Achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Romanian Rural Area by Integrating Information Technologies: an Interdisciplinary Approach

Achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Romanian Rural Area by Integrating Information Technologies: an Interdisciplinary Approach