The Federation of Associations of Energy Utility Companies (ACUE) has completed the “Social Dialogue for a Green Country” project, co-financed from the European Social Fund, through the Administrative Capacity Operational Program 2014 – 2020, the organization’s representatives announced on Monday, in a press conference. The total eligible amount of the Social Dialogue project for a green county is of 390,944 lei, of which 98% is non-refundable funding. The eligible non-refundable amount granted by the European Union through the FSE is of 306,500 lei.
The main objective of the implemented project is to strengthen the capacity of ACUE and other social partners, non-governmental organizations and citizens of Ilfov County to get involved in formulating and promoting local development, by improving the culture of social dialogue and knowledge, aligning with European principles , the promotion of active citizenship, the effective use of training/ consultation/ dissemination tools and mechanisms, to contribute to the introduction of common systems and standards in local public administration.
“The energy transition must be done, and the energy transition implies, in addition to a series of policies that have a realistic implementation calendar, with early preparation and sustainable actions, a change in behavior at the citizen level. (…) We are after 30 or so years of democracy, very few compared to other western states, and the culture of dialogue and collaboration between institutions and citizen – is a two-way street. Both the authorities must go to the citizens, but the citizens must also understand their role in a more active way. In the course of this project we somehow tried, through various training sessions, to learn first of all how to dialogue, to take opinions in a constructive way, because we also assume our part the fact that, maybe we don’t always know, at the level of a social dialogue partner, to meet the authorities with concrete solutions and to support them in finding the right solutions for each community, that is, to help them identify the particularities of each community. On the other hand, this increase in the quality of the opinions received from civil society depends, of course, on the way the state, through its various bodies, organizes and requests and integrates the points of view,” said Daniela Dărăban, executive director of the Federation ACUE, according to Agerpres.
Also Ana-Maria Turbatu, executive director of the Environment and Mobility Directorate within CJ Ilfov, mentioned that the central objective of this project was to strengthen the community’s ability to get involved in local development.
“Today we met to streamline the results achieved in the implementation of the Social Dialogue for a Green County project, in which the Ilfov County Council was an active partner. This project had a central objective, that of strengthening our community’s ability to get involved in local development, promoting a culture of social dialogue and knowledge, with particular attention paid to aligning with European principles and promoting active citizenship,” said Ana-Maria Turbatu, executive director of the Environment and Mobility Directorate within CJ Ilfov.
She emphasized that the objectives of the European Green Pact “call us all to act for a sustainable and carbon-free economy”.
“We saw this initiative as a special opportunity to align ourselves with European directions and to get involved more deeply in our local development. (…) We managed to create a Good Practice Guide that will not only serve as a tool essential for non-governmental organizations and social partners, but will remain as a lasting imprint of our efforts in strengthening social dialogue and citizen participation. In addition, we have formed a dedicated working group that will continue to carry forward the activities started within this project, thus ensuring that this initiative will not stop here, but will continue to produce results,” added Ana-Maria Turbatu.