Description
The main issues that we tackle are the lack of public interest on rule of law, the dysfunctional framework of teaching civic education, the openness towards extremism and the lack of the media capacity and autonomy to publicly report these derailments. Expert Forum will work with three Romanian and one Norwegian partner with the purpose of increasing the degree of awareness on the importance of rule of law and to consolidate the capacity of essential groups for the stability of the democratic mechanisms (teachers, magistrates, students or journalists). We will develop teaching skills for a community of teachers and support them to disseminate the information to the students, with the help of the Norwegian partner. We will organize training sessions in order to connect magistrates and journalists in order to consolidate their capacity to fight against bad governance and a series of 7 public debates about rule of law in the context of geopolitical instability with students all around the country.
Summary of project results
The main objective of the project was to raise the general public awareness and the degree of accountability regarding the importance of the rule of law and also to consolidate the capacity of certain essential target groups (teachers, magistrates, journalists, students) to uphold the stability of the democratic mechanisms. The project tackled topics such as: the lack of interests towards the key mechanisms of the rule of law in the region (the project was started during the Ukrainian - Russian conflict); the low quality of teaching civic education in Romania combined with the appetence of the youth towards extremist speech and behaviour; the need to consolidate instruments to fight corruption, including by developing a sustainable mass media. The objectives of the project were reached through: (1) Training activities (School for Democracy) - 18 teachers were trained how to teach active citizenship in a non-formal manner, adapted to the actual and real needs of the society, and then assisted in organising ten dissemination sessions, for 300 students, at local level. The main result is the fact that the young participants understood how the local administration works in a practical way, and had the opportunity to express their needs in direct meetings with mayors and local councillors; (2) Debates and screening on topics related to the rule of law, in Bucharest and in other important cities throughout the country (the film screenings were organised in partnership with Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu - director of “De ce eu?” movie). 500 people (including policepersons) participated in debates on the fight against any type of abuse, exercised by heads of institutions, politicians and magistrates against those working in the public or private system; (3) Six seminars with almost 50 judges and journalists, exchanging expertise and experiences on anticorruption and public procurement frauds; (4) Drafting four rapid response reports related to postal voting law and anticorruption institutions.
Summary of bilateral results
The partnership with the county Governor of Sogn og Fjordane (Norway) helped exchange experience and expertise regarding the public participation and access to information. The Vice-governor visited Romania twice, first in 2015, for the School of Democracy training, and then in 2016, when Mr. Haraeid was a speaker for two School of Democracy dissemination events in Bucharest and Timisoara, together with representatives of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery and the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue. He also met with the Vice-prefect of Timis and Prefect of Bucharest and with Societatea Timisoara – a well-known local non-governmental organization. The debate was focused on how the Norwegian State involves citizens in the decision-making process and the mechanisms through which citizens can access public information in Norway work, as well as the practices of these two topics in Romania. During the meeting with the teachers and students in Timisoara, the same topics have been tackled and debated on. The event was attended also by the vice-mayor of Timisoara, Mr. Dan Diaconu. The agenda included relevant institutions for the activity of the Governor, a fact that would allow and encourage future partnerships. In this direction, the promoter managed to continue the activities started during this project by receiving a grant from the Bilateral Fund. Therefore, a team of four experts from Export Forum visited Oslo and Sogn of Fjordane, including the governor’s office, and produced a report covering good practices in Norway. This report can be accessed at:
http://expertforum.ro/en/democracy-from-the-fjords/. As a result of both projects, a few opportunities have been opened: exchange of information between the Governor and Romanian institutions about party financing and the on-line portal
www.oep.no, managing data from public institutions.