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Description
The project "Active communities in environment protection" answers a clear need of increasing civic participation in the public decision making process that deals with waste management in Cluj County. Environment issues regarding waste management have two main causes: a lack of much needed decisions by the local and county authorities because of electoral pressure and second, a lack of knowledge, motivation and understanding of own responsibility for the local population. This project, initiated by Cluj Community Foundation, builds communication, connection and participation mechanisms for people living in rural communities. Building working groups, with help from a community facilitator, will help create a sense of responsibility in both local decision makers and local population. Citizens will better understand the role of selective waste collection, the role of each stakeholder in this process (private and public), the chain of public decision making on the topic and not least, the importance of one''s example. The project aims to directly involve a consistent number of young families that still live in the rural communities, in working groups as well as in education and awareness campaigns. The selective waste collection at the municipal level in Cluj County is still low. However, things are even worse in the rural communities, where education and information activities were really feeble or not existent. This project will pilot a model of mobilizing and motivating citizens on a less covered topic. This model could be afterwards replicated in all rural communities in Cluj County. Community organizing activities will be doubled by county level advocacy work on: increasing the public decision making transparency, education and information measures for rural population, involving the civil society organization in the public decision making process.
Summary of project results
The "Communities active in environmental conservation" project responded to the need related to the low involvement of citizens in waste management decision-making in rural and small urban areas, where measures on this topic are rather absent. The project focused on two communities with particular challenges, both of tourist interest, located in different areas of the county: Bonțida, in the plains and Baișoara, in the mountains.
European, national, and county policies in the field of waste management were analyzed, and interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the two localities (town hall, church, school, tourist information center, companies, sanitation company). In both localities, data regarding residents'' perception of the most serious environmental problems were collected. Specific problems were mapped that do not have clear solutions provided in the waste management plan at the county level, and new obstacles were identified: the lack of informing citizens about the free collection campaigns, how sanitation services will be paid for according to the principle of ''pay as you throw away,'' and the lack of controlled collection sites for bulky and construction waste.
To facilitate communication between the involved actors and to popularize the subject, local working groups were established, a virtual group on social media was launched, and two educational events were organized. At the end of the project, a flyer about selective collection, circular economy measures, and waste generation reduction was created and distributed in the communities. A document that includes all project conclusions, what works, and especially what doesn''t work in the entire waste collection management system of the county was developed and sent to local administrations in the project area.
The inhabitants of the two localities learned about the importance of reduction, recycling, reuse, and composting of household waste. At the same time, the community foundation assisted the authorities and contract holders with the sanitation company to understand both their obligations and rights under their contract.