Reþeaua ONG pentru Prevenirea Dezastrelor - Asociaţia ALMA-RO

the public administration is minimum. Although the law allows for the
participation of NGOs representatives in the Committees for Emergencies
meetings, the only NGOs present before the implementation of a project has
been the RedCross. As a result of the project, another organization was
accepted to the Maramures Commission for Emergencies, namely the
Association EcoLogic which we believe is a success example that may be
replicated in other counties and communities throughout the country.
The role of partnerships in this project was to maximize the results of the
planned activities. Each of the selected organizations activates in a disaster risk
area: risks of flooding and industrial accidents in the Galati County, risks of
flood and landslide in Suceava County, risks of landslide, floods and industrial
accidents in the Maramures County, and the risks of climate change effects in
the City of Bucharest. The work on thematic networks based on information and
knowledge exchange between different organizations active in different
regions of the country was possible given the expertise of the project partners
(on water protection, biodiversity, climate change, and energy, forests etc.); this
way we also managed to work with local authorities and communities, and
disseminate information as activities of the NGO network for Disaster
Prevention at the local level. The ALMA-Ro Association through its expertise and
experience in environmental and networking action and especially in projects
with central public authorities facilitated the connection between the
environmental NGOs and public administration, which is a field of action with
huge deficits in Romania.
Unprecedented in Romania, the project activities brought into discussion a
specific approach of disaster risk management, which contributed to a
considerable improvement of the initial situation, especially at the local level.
The focus was not centralizing the action to the public authorities, but a more
inclusive approach to involve more interested actors. NGOs involvement was
seen as an opportunity given the degradation of the environment and the fact
that this year the public authorities already faced crisis of natural disaster
nature. This way it was achieved an actual opening of public administration to
the cooperation with the civil society with the aim of avoiding a profound social
and economic crisis. A relation was created between public administration and
environmental NGOs and hence and improved visibility and efficiency of their
activities in the community. On the long run, given the possibility to replicate,
the project can produce a change in the way public authorities perceive the
cooperation with NGOs on environmental protection.
Moreover, the local communities also gained increased awareness on the way
they can create and preserve a safe way of life on the long term and achieve
a common goal - community sustainable development.
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