Civic groups in Bucharest
An overview of civic initiatives in the capital-city
Christine Leșcu, 25.10.2023, 02:00
Representatives of nine civic action groups and initiatives have recently met in Bucharest as part of an event organized by the Center of Public Participation (CERE). Having reached its third edition, the event was aimed at facilitating dialogue between local authorities and citizens and helping the latter voice their concerns. Silvia Boeriu, head of PR at the Center for Public Participation, told us more.
“These are mostly informal groups made up of people concerned with such phenomena as city pollution, the ever-shrinking green areas in cities, the fact that most residential districts lack playgrounds and so on and so forth. Two major topics this year are extended areas in parks such as IOR or Grozăvești parks in Bucharest. Right now, stretches of land have been reclaimed by the state and their status is unclear. They are mostly derelict, closed to public access and, more importantly, unsafe. We have other initiatives that seek to bring such civic action groups together. As part of an online project, bucureștiulcivic.ro, we will launch a map featuring several initiatives in Bucharest and providing details about groups and their activities. Anyone who wants to support such a group or wants to solve a problem in his/her district can get thus get in touch with the right people”.
One such informal group militating for an older problem of Bucharest is clustered around one of the capitals periphery districts, February 16. Unfortunately, the groups initiatives and concerns remain unanswered, Adriana Pascu told us.
“We set up the group in 2019. We tried to make our voices heard, but the authorities have been ignoring us for over 30 years. Our goal is to defend our rights and ensure a decent lifestyle for our citizens. We are all taxpayers in District 1, but we get nothing in return. Infrastructure is lacking, we still have dirt roads in some areas. For over 50 years we lack utilities, infrastructure, playgrounds, public transportation and others. […] Our officials have done absolutely nothing. On the contrary, our district has become a landfill. The public authorities and local police are doing nothing to remedy that. […] All our actions, our petitions and notifications, our participations in council meetings, have been in vain. This shows a lack of interest towards us, residents of this city”.
Whereas residents of February 16 district are still struggling to make a difference, the Favorit Intiative in Drumul Taberei district has a more successful story. For many years, the residents here have managed to persuade the authorities to rehabilitate a residential compound and turn it into a community centre, equipped with a cinema as well. More details from Tudor Chira, a member of the Favorit Initiative.
“I think its this bond between us. It is an intergenerational group including youngster and seniors. The fact that we live there and every day we pass by, and we can imagine, each and every one of us, how fine that would be and how beautiful this centre we wanted for ourselves would look like, with that, we created, in time, a bond with the people in the neighbourhood, with the authorities, with the civic network in Bucharest, which gives us a fresh impetus to move on. The mere fact that were being asked about the project, that we receive the visit of colleagues or friends living in other districts, who show up to see how far we went with the project, all that supports the motivation of the people in the group. I have a bunch of very special colleagues who simply never give up.
As for the organizers of the civic initiatives fair, they never gave up either. They invited the representatives of the sector municipalities for a debate, but also the representatives of Bucharests general administration, with the capital city prefect, Rareș Hopincă, among them.
“We, from a historical point of view, deemed it all wrong that the public space belonged to nobody. That is why were faced with the big problem of the litter being randomly thrown away, that is why the pollution we have is very big, that is why, if you will, all lakes across Romania are teeming with plastic bags, as people are utterly wrong thinking public space belongs to nobody. That is totally wrong. The public space belongs to everybody and we need to understand that quite all right. It is a change in mentality we all need to help implement, we, but also the authorities and the civic society, and persuade everybody that, looking after that square meter of public space nearby our blocks of flats, nearby our house or the street, that means a leap forward for us. “
Another step forward is the authorities dialogue with the citizens, and it is at this point that weve always had big problems. Notwithstanding, in the 10 years since CERE has been encouraging civic activism, people have learned how to mobilize and persevere. With details on that, here is Silvia Boeriu.
“Bucharest has got a lot of resources as we speak. Groups are more connected; they know how to more efficiently use the pubic participation instruments by means of which they can reach the authorities more rapidly. Now, it is no less important for their voices to be heard by the authorities. The latter seem to be more open, given that they got used to the fact that people are perseverant, that they go and claim their right to live in a city that should also be one we would all like to live in. They are more open, they are somehow more careful, all the more so as we re getting closer to the electoral campaign. But on a general note, peoples voices are still being heard with difficulty, especially those particular initiatives that need a budget or a clarification in court. “
Although communication with the administration remains difficult, citizens have learned they should never give an inch. They are perseverant and also stands to gain from that, were it only for the fact that, as part of a civic initiatives fair, representatives of the local authorities have begun to show up.
