Description
Rural areas from Romania, included in Caras - Severin and Mehedinti counties, have a big potential for promoting volunteering activities but they also have specific needs to use this human resource. Project objectives: To promote active citizenship in order to protect nature and to motivate young people to engage in voluntary activities. The project is expected to increase the involvement of the population living in the project area in volunteering activities designed for environmental protection. The project addresses these challenges and present them to local stakeholders which will be made aware of the importance of volunteering (110 people, including 50 men and 60 women). Beneficiaries (target groups): Young people living in the project area; Stakeholders interested in promoting volunteering activities for environmental protection; Representatives of the authorities in the environmental protection field; Residents in the project area.
Summary of project results
The project was built on the need to protect the heritage of the natural parks in rural areas of southern Banat region. These areas have an important potential, which is not enough explored, for volunteering in order to protect this heritage against the aggressions generated by human activities. The area where the project was implemented was Cheile Nerei National Park. Project aimed and succeeded to promote active citizenship, especially among students in surrounding schools, in order to make them aware and attract them for this type of volunteering activities. First of all, trainings for volunteers were organised. Volunteers were selected from the students that learn in the schools near Cheile Nerei National Park (Oravita and Anina). The trainings were focused on environmental particularities of the area and the monitoring activities that the volunteers will carry on. 41 volunteers were trained. After the training, the volunteers were involved in environmental monitoring and collected alternative/complementary information about the frequent aggressions on the natural heritage. 62 volunteers (older and new volunteers) were involved and 3 monitoring reports were prepared and sent to the local and national authorities. Besides monitoring activities, the volunteers were involved in an awareness campaign at the level of local communities, regarding the importance of volunteering for the protection and preservation of natural heritage. Over 4,000 citizens were directly informed about the importance of preserving the environment. In the same time, the Promoter organised a volunteering campaign that involved local authorities and other parties - 31 stakeholders participated in two workshops on promoting volunteering, developing their own volunteering programmes for nature protection.
Summary of bilateral results