Tourist function potential assessment for a sustainable development of small towns: the case of Târgu Ocna

The present paper analyses the way that tourist function can be connected to sustainable development perspectives in the case of a small town. Târgu Ocna is a resort of national interest with old tourist traditions, but having a fluctuating line with regard to the turn to profit of its own potential by an appropriate tourist infrastructure. The study comprises, on the one hand, the evaluation of Târgu Ocna tourist identity within the county context, the tourist function and accessibility of tourist objectives within the intra-urban areas and, on the other hand, the analysis of the public perception on the tourist offer and accessibility and the place of tourism within the social-economic urban system. Gaining an insight on these aspects as well as on the local and regional context are premises for the delineation of a comprehensive tourist function development as an element of the overall sustainable development of the town

Post-communist spatial restructuring in Bacău municipality (Romania)

In the last two decades the Romanian urban space faced major dimensional, structural and functional transformations. Our paper proposes the evaluation of urban dynamics in Bacău municipality analysing the overall territorial evolution and the changes of urban function by two opposite and complementary tendencies which fundamentally marked the habitation pattern. On the one hand we refer to the modification in urban form considering the extension of built-up area – often tentacular and without suitable regulations– by sprawl and by adding or captiously urbanising rural neighbour localities. On the other hand we have in mind the multiple phenomena linked to the restructuring and sometimes the dissolution suffered by the constructed area and which results into a heterogenous urban mosaic composed by adding or demolishing buildings or by changing the land use which is reflected in population and buildings densities and in the manifestation of urban flows. Finally, we intend to make a statement on the manner in which there has been or not a changing in the pattern of urban habitation in the post-communist period, taking into consideration the divergent effects of periurbanization, urban sprawl or the restructuring/dissolution of urban space of Bacau municipality

Preventing university dropout: the relation between the student vulnerability features and academic performance in the first year

[ES] Educational services that universities offer to bachelor students are nowadays under the siege of numerous challenges, ranging from financial and institutional issues to fast changing labour market demands. Universities are confronting fast changes and uncertainties, being asked for adaptation, flexibility and higher ability to (re)act and find the best solutions. Within this broad context, university dropout is one particular new challenge that is often overlooked by decision makers and even by the teaching staff. Our study focuses on problems faced by the first year bachelor students of the Faculty of Geography and Geology at the oldest university in Romania, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, students who have benefitted from support from a program financed by BIRD and World Bank, named Romania Secondary Education Project (ROSE). In order to identify and analyse their academic pathway in the first year of study, we tried to correlate a number of qualitative and quantitative using the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The analysis of the results indicates that the prevention of school drop-out should be approached as a continuous process starting from the early years of education. The adaptability to student life depends on the treatment of these inherited and overlooked disadvantages.Marinela, I.; Alexandru, B.; Haralambie, A. (2020). Preventing university dropout: the relation between the student vulnerability features and academic performance in the first year. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):761-769. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.11139OCS76176930-05-202

Towards green resilient cities in Eastern European Union countries

Investing in green facilities is a process of urban renewal that can transform cities by enhancing the quality of life, strengthening the local economy and reducing the environmental impact. Nevertheless, greener cities are not a guarantee for improved adaptive capacity when facing current local or global challenges. In this context, we have taken into account a series of sample cities from Central and Eastern European Union. Using the green cities typology proposed by the European Environment Agency, the present approach studies the statistical relationship between indicators of green infrastructure and different proxies for the resilience capacity and performance. The results distinguish between different types of green cities, indicating which are more resilient and, respectively, which are less resilient. The statistical relationship between the indicators shows that green infrastructures are developed in new urban areas, while the natural areas diminish the flood risk and air pollution and make cities more attractive; however, in older and higher density cities, the green is sacrificed for other uses that are considered more profitable. The conclusions highlight the contradictory characteristics in the territorial distributions of cities in relation to their green infrastructure and resilience features. The present assessment contributes to promoting an integrated vision that could be used in urban planning and in more coherent strategies for sustainable cities

Urban resilience: an instrument to decode the post-socialist socio-economic and spatial transformations of cities from Central and Eastern Europe

A widely used concept, urban resilience, cannot remain a metaphor or just a theoretical view on the ability of cities to overcome perturbations, but it also needs to be operationalized and to become a useful tool in deciphering the complex and very dynamic urban realities. The present study investigates the resilience of 76 selected cities from Central and Eastern Europe from the point of view of socio-economic indicators (socio-economic resilience), as well as from the point of view of morphological and functional indicators (spatial resilience). The methodology is quantitative, based on statistical analyses which link the socio-economic evolution of the cities to the spatial one in order to observe the disturbances. The results show us a territory of Central and Eastern Europe at several speeds. The differences exist because of a differentiated structural change that took place after the collapse of communism (depending on the proximity or distance to the border with Western Europe), but also linked to the existence of different socio-economic resources (Western cities vs Eastern cities of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria), based on their different history and the trajectory taken since the fall of communism

Assessing the Local Environmental Performance in Western Moldavia (Romania)

International audienceThe environmental performance is a result of measurable characteristics emerging from the functionality of integrated environmental management systems based on various sustainable development policies at different administrative levels. This paper aims to quantify some dimensions of environmental performance in terms of outcomes and administrative efficiency for Western Moldavia region, using the latest available data. The obtained results demonstrate the territorial heterogeneity of environmental state, pressure and spatial resilience by highlighting the importance of ecosystems viability (forest cover, land degradation), sustainable local governance (environmental expenditure), energy, water quality, sanitation and environmental health (sanitation services, access to water and sewage, use of renewable energy). If completed in future by integrating other local environmental performance indicators the outcome of this research could become a viable tool for local and regional system of government in establishing policies in order to effectively preserve the environment

Assessing the Local Environmental Performance in Western Moldavia (Romania)

The environmental performance is a result of measurable characteristics emerging from the functionality of integrated environmental management systems based on various sustainable development policies at different administrative levels. This paper aims to quantify some dimensions of environmental performance in terms of outcomes and administrative efficiency for Western Moldavia region, using the latest available data. The obtained results demonstrate the territorial heterogeneity of environmental state, pressure and spatial resilience by highlighting the importance of ecosystems viability (forest cover, land degradation), sustainable local governance (environmental expenditure), energy, water quality, sanitation and environmental health (sanitation services, access to water and sewage, use of renewable energy). If completed in future by integrating other local environmental performance indicators the outcome of this research could become a viable tool for local and regional system of government in establishing policies in order to effectively preserve the environment

Assessing the Local Environmental Performance in Western Moldavia (Romania)

International audienceThe environmental performance is a result of measurable characteristics emerging from the functionality of integrated environmental management systems based on various sustainable development policies at different administrative levels. This paper aims to quantify some dimensions of environmental performance in terms of outcomes and administrative efficiency for Western Moldavia region, using the latest available data. The obtained results demonstrate the territorial heterogeneity of environmental state, pressure and spatial resilience by highlighting the importance of ecosystems viability (forest cover, land degradation), sustainable local governance (environmental expenditure), energy, water quality, sanitation and environmental health (sanitation services, access to water and sewage, use of renewable energy). If completed in future by integrating other local environmental performance indicators the outcome of this research could become a viable tool for local and regional system of government in establishing policies in order to effectively preserve the environment

Urban transitions and resilience of Eastern European Union cities

Urban resilience is related to the capacity of cities to recover from disruptions, to maintain their functions and thrive after a sudden shock or a long-term stress, from economic crisis, from natural and technological disasters or climate change. The present study refers to former communist countries in Eastern Europe which are now integrated in the European Union (including Greece, by reasons of spatial coherence), namely the cities and agglomerations that have more than 500,000 inhabitants. The analysis focuses on the post-communist transitions of these cities reflected in certain socio-demographic, morphological and functional urban transformations, highlighted by indicators obtained by integrating data from different evaluations already carried out at the EU level. The results of multi-criterial statistical analysis reveal the identity of the analysed urban areas and the diffusion processes in resilience approaches from Western EU to Eastern countries and cities by adaptation practices implemented at different rhythms and to different degrees

La résilience urbaine : un outil pour décrypter les transformations urbaines post-socialistes des pays de l’Europe centrale et orientale

International audienc