the open network magazine

The Open Network for Community Development | www.TheOpenNetwork.ro | Iasi, 7000812, Str. Pantelimon 32, Et 5, Apt. 8 | (+4)0727 85 06 91

The Open Network Magazine 1 / 2012

The Open Network Foundation The Open Network for Community Development is a non- governmental organization founded in April 2012 by Romanian

and Flemish partners who wished to ensure visibility, synergy and sustainability for all Romanian-Belgian partnerships

established in the field of community development (some active already since 1989), as well as to develop the network

through collaboration and exchanges of experience with other national and / or international organizations focused on

community development in a broad context.

What we aim to do

- Actively involving communities to achieve sustainable commu-

nity development, with and for the people;

- Activation and mobilization of community members, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We will ensure infor-mation and lobbying for resources, trainings, regular dialogue and exchanges, thereby involving the community members in the shaping of European and national policies, as well as in the imple-

mentation and monitoring of national legislation;

- Implementation of actions in a democratic, transparent, repre-sentative and inclusive way, ensuring a transparent consultation process, information strategies and promotion of best practices in areas such as: education, leadership, health, community de-velopment, building up civil society, culture and heritage, environment and waste management, agriculture, sustaina-ble tourism, entrepreneurship;

- Coordination and collaboration within the undertakings of Romanian-Belgian organizations representing sustainable com-

munity development.

What are our areas of expertise

The Open Network is capitalizing the expertise and know-how of Romanian-Belgian partnerships accumulated over 20 years of

action in the following areas:

Community Development - Education – Culture and heritage -

Health - Youth - Gender Equality – Civil society – different

socio-cultural organizations - Entrepreneurship - Social In-

clusion - Social Economy – Environment and waste manage-

ment - Agriculture – Sustainable Tourism.

How we will we work

The Open Network promotes and facilitates the implementation of

community development best practices by:

- Exchanges of experience at national and regional level

through courses and workshops;

- Development of projects in partnership at local, regional, na-

tional and / or international level;

- Access to Bank of materials (online collection of all kinds of

actions and educational resources);

- Network of regional trainers (with a national coverage).

| The Open Network for Community Development

Timeline of the

Romanian-Belgian open network of cooperation

1989 - Belgian committees adopt Romanian villages after the fall of the communist regime; first humanitarian actions of ADR

Vlaanderen in Romania;

1999 - Vzw Geel Roemenikomitee, LCM, Somepro and other Bel-gian and Romanian partners create FDAAM - the Foundation for the Development of Mutual Help Associations, an NGO meant to

replicate the model of mutualities all around Romania;

1999 - Set-up of the first mutuality in Romania: the Slatina-Timis Mutual Help Association, otherwise known as ADAM Slatina-Timis or ADAMS (this pilot project will soon develop into an incu-batory of social and health alternative models of services, at local

and regional level, based on solidarity, with and for people);

2002 - creation of ADAM Cluj; working point in Focsani in 2007;

2004 - creation of AGLT - the Association of Local Youth Groups from Romania, with the support of SOMEPRO and the Flemish Government; continuous development of GLTs (Local Youth

Groups) and Training of Trainers, in order to grow a youth move-

ment in Romania, at grassroots level;

2006 - 2012 - development of OLF (Local Women Organiza-tions) and OLB (Local Men Organizations) - grassroots organiza-tions, formal or informal, with a gender focus, developed around

ADAMs or CLSes;

2007 - creation of ADAM Moldovita;

2009 - 2011 - implementation of the CLS project, by FDAAM (Local Health Councils are being developed all around the country with the purpose to improve the health situation in local communi-ties and collide stakeholders for the elaboration of locally relevant

health-policies);

April 2012 - ADR Vlaanderen, SOMEPRO, Glabbeek Commit-tee, Vzw Geel Roemenikomitee, ADAMSlatina-Timis, Europanet and other partners founded The Open Network for Community Development - the NGO that will ensure the continuous develop-ment of existing initiatives (ADAM, CLS, OLFs, OLBs) and the start of new ones, for a sustainable community development

through international partnerships.

Page 2 | The Open Network for Community Development


Structures and members The Open Network works as a national umbrella organization, connecting Romanian NGOs and informal groups established at lo-

cal, regional or national level. Here are few of them, differentiated by their activity field:

- [Youth, Education, Culture] AGLT- Association of Local Youth Groups - www.aglt.org;

Europanet Association (Iasi county) - www.europanet.ro;

Proiect Pro-Europa Association (Vatra Moldovitei, Suceava county);

- [Health] Mutual Help Associations: ADAM Slatina-Timis (Caras-Severin county), ADAM Moldovita (Suceava);

Local Health Committees: CLS Taut (Bihor county), CLS Vinatori (Arad county), CLS Viscri (Brașov), CLS Stremț

(Alba), CLS Homorod (Brașov county), CLS Vidrașău (Mureș), CLS Lădeşti (Vâlcea),

CLS Bordeşti (Vrancea), CLS Cerchejeni (Botosani); CLSes in the Slatina Timis region,

county Caraș-Severin: Goleț, Verendin, Sadova Noua etc.;

- [Gender] Men Organizations: OLB Moldovița (Suceava county), OLB Slatina-Timiș, Goleț, Armeniș, Luncavița-Verendin,

Jamu Mare, Oțelu Roșu (Caraș-Severin); OLB Bordești (Vrancea);

Women Organizations: OLF Moldovița (Suceava county), OLF Bordești & Dumitrești(Vrancea); OLF Bacău;

OLF Berbești (Vâlcea); OLF Slatina-Timiș, Goleț, Armeniș, Luncavița-Verendin, Jamu Mare,

Oțelu Roșu (Caraș-Severin);

- [Local Development] ADL Cehu Silvaniei (Association for Local Development); SMHO Foundation.

Although different, all these structures have in common their establishment as a result of a Romanian-Belgian partnership and their

orientation towards the needs of local communities.


Regional trainers The regional trainers are key players in maintaining a functional relation and com-

munication between The Open Network and its constituents from local level (be it

formal or informal groups), as well as between the local communities and their

Belgian partners.

Each regional trainer keeps an eye on the development of existing GLTs, OLFs

and OLBs, ADLs, CLSes and ADAMs in his/her region and starts up new ones,

scales up and promotes best practices, disseminates information resources, trains

and coaches local volunteers by organizing regional workshops, facilitates meet-

ings between the Romanian and Belgian partners and reports to TON on all these

matters.

To enable them to successfully meet their tasks, The Open Network organizes

yearly Training of Trainers and National Contact Days, providing the right context for an interactive exchange of experience and an

adequate capacity-building.

Besides this, The Open Network trainers are using an online platform (the Bank of Materials—

www.bancademateriale.wordpress.com), specially designed to facilitate their access to information and educational resources, cov-

ering all areas of community development. Thereby they can download and use all sorts of guides, manuals, handouts, multimedia

materials and project toolkits on health, education, youth animation, social assistance, gender, social inclusion, active aging, advo-

cacy, community capacity building, environment protection and more.



Interested to find more about our models of practice in the field of community development?

Do not hesitate to contact us and we shall bridge your connection to the closest trainer from your region to move things further.

Good news we’ve got to share Since it’s official launch, a lot of developments took place within The Open Network. Here’s a brief record of the main happen-ings.

National Training of Regional Trainers| Moldovita, April 28, 2012

The Open Network trained

its first regional trainers,

from 14 different ares,

whose task would be to

facilitate the cooperation in

and between the Romanian

communities from their re-

gion by delivering regional

trainings, doing local visits

and coaching the development of local initiatives. Therefore, the

14 regional trainers will provide regional capacity building, ena-

bling local volunteers to achieve a sustainable community devel-

opment.

Health for all Re-gional Seminary | Caransebes, April 30, 2012

The Mutual Help Associa-

tion Slatina-Timis, in part-

nership with the Caranse-

bes municipality and Bel-

gian partners, organized the regional seminary on "Health for All"

in Caransebes. The meeting was attended by GPs, representa-

tives of the Emergency Municipal Hospital and of the Romanian

College of Physicians, members of Belgian partner organiza-

tions, as well as one very special guest: the Ambassador of Bel-

gium to Romania, His Excellency, Mr. Philippe Beke. The semi-

nary attendants touch-based on topics such as "Examples of

local health centers in Belgium ", "Hospital Management in Bel-

gium " and "Home nursing ". The seminary favored the presenta-

tion of The Open Network in front of stakeholders from the re-

gion, who declared themselves opened to future collaborations,


Good news we’ve got to share


Partners’ Meeting | Cehu-

Silvaniei, May 7, 2012

On May 7th, 2012,

representatives of

local authorities,

partners from

Dilbeek (Belgium)

and local civil society organizations (Association for Local Devel-

opment Cehu Silvaniei, Down Syndrome Association) met each

other and established the areas of their future collaboration.

Therefore, the Townhall from Cehu Silvaniei engaged to allocate

a space for the creation of a Community Center for Social Ser-

vices, already expected to host one itinerant campaign to pre-

vent chronic diseases. The members of the Association for Local

Development (ADL, in brief) advocated for the establishment of

a working point with Caritas Alba Iulia (details of the collabora-

tion were to be established through a future working meeting in

Oradea). At the end of the meeting, on behalf of the Committee

of Dilbeek, Mrs. Hilde Maes handed to Ms. E. Nagy the sum of

6000 euros to buy a minivan for the benefit of the Down Syn-

drome Association (the same transportation activities will serve

to ADL).

You too should read! | Vatra Moldovitei, May, 2012

The reading promotion campaign launched by the Association

Proiect Pro Europa proved to have tremendous national impact,

as it got involved more than a 1000 youngsters, passionate

about reading and personal development, as well as many

schools from all around the country, youth organizations and

various municipal libraries and cultural institutions.

Throughout the campaign, 4Kids, the local youth group of the

association, organized reading and creative writing workshops

for children and young people from Ciumarna, Valea lui Stan

and Vatra Moldovitei, combining game activites, passion for

reading, fun group activities and quality pass-time with friends.


The Ambassador of Bel-gium visits ADAM Cluj | Cluj, May 28, 2012

On May 28, the Ambassador of

Belgium to Romania, Mr. Philippe

Beke, was visiting our colleagues

from ADAM Cluj. On this occa-

sion, Liliana and Brandusa show-

cased the service offer of the

Health Shop and the prevention campaigns organized in the city.

This was a good opportunity to say “Thank you, Mr. Ambassa-

dor” for promoting the Association’s activities in relation to the

private sector, the more since it impacted on the attraction of

new funds for ADAM projects’ direct benefit.

National teaching symposium |

June 2012

The Association Proiect Pro Europa initiated

and coordinated the National Teaching Sym-

posium, inscribed as an activity within the

framework of Scoala Altfel (en: School, just

differently) – a governmental program focused

on promoting non-formal education, piloted in

public schools, from 2 to 6 April 2012. The

completed works of the Symposium produced by beneficiaries of

the non-formal education program were published in a volume

which allowed to showcase examples of good practices and im-

pact studies of specific activities carried out in schools across the

country, as well as the log file of students who were directly in-

volved in the program.


Building Bridges project meeting | Turnhout, June 20-24, 2012

Between 20 to 24 June 2012, in Turnhout, Belgium, 25 participants - staff and learners (from Romania, Belgium, Italy, Turkey,

France, Slovakia) have had their second meeting in the framework of the Grundtvig project "Building Bridges - promoting lifelong

learning supported by intergenerational exchange of experience", financed by the European Commission. The program of the meet-

ing focused on highlighting the Belgian experience in terms of social volunteerism and community development interventions at

local and national level, all having in common an intergenerational approach. Also on this occasion was launched the project web-

site (www.europanet.ro / building bridges), made by Matteo Sperantza and Malin Sofrone, EUROPANET learners. The purpose of

the project website is to collect materials (case studies, photos, articles, news) and disseminate them to all parties, thereby expand-

ing the international learning experience.

The national project coordinators have established the dates for the following project meetings, one in Slovakia (17-21 October) and

another one in Italy (22 to 25 May 2013). Not lastly, all partners discussed the possibility of organizing bilateral meetings that will

enable them to set up new projects.



ADR-Vlaanderen meets the province of East

Flanders | Belgium, June 16, 2012

The province of East-Flanders, Belgium, organized on June

16th a World day. During this meeting all local groups of volun-

teers involved in projects of international solidarity, and support-

ed by the province, could present their projects to all the people

attending this meeting. Most of this projects are situated in the

South, but ADR-Vlaanderen and local groups of Kruibeke, Aalst,

…, were asked to present their projects in Romania. The Pro-

vincial Executive responsible for the support to this groups of

volunteers, stressed the importance to reflect on the projects,

together with all groups involved.

Principals of the provincial policy are: the integrated approach,

cooperation between various actors and the attention to the

strengthening of civil society and building a social movement,

both locally and internationally.

Jozef Goebels, president of ADR-Vlaanderen and of The Open

Network, had the opportunity to present in this meeting the pro-

jects ADR is working on in Romania. This projects conform per-

fectly to the principles of the provincial policy.

A journalist present at this meeting suggested to Jozef Goebels

to write a book about his experiences in more than 20 years of

cooperation between Flanders and Romania!

SPEAS—AGLT summer camp | Baisoara, June 25-

29, 2012

2010 was the year when SPEAS was onset - a volunteer training

project designed by the Association of Local Youth Groups

(AGLT) to facilitate the development of activities for children and

youth with disabilities. Over time, the project results were very

satisfactory: volunteers were trained and GLTs have partnered

with centers for children with disabilities which led to monthly

activities indoors. But things did not stop there. In the summer of

2011 AGLT was contacted with the request to send the first vol-

unteers at a camp for children with disabilities, organized by Dan

Baciu. Summer camps continued to be organized in the same

location: the resort Baisoara.

The first camp this year (25-29 June) was attended by 5 children

with physical and mental disabilities, three of them accompanied

by parents, and 3 leaders AGLT. The camp theme was "Pirates

and hidden treasure" and the children had to fulfill various tasks

for the weekend to become real pirates. The activities were very

diverse and creative: active games, competition, beauty salon,

fort building, puppet shows, photo sessions, dances, massage

and more, with results above expectations. AGLT accomplished

its mission: children more than happy, impressed parents and

leaders once again proud to be part of AGLT!

Projects for small scale farming | Suceava region,

July 2012

The Open Network starts up new regional development projects

in the area of Suceava, Moldovita, Vatra Moldovitei, Ciumarna,

Paltin, aiming to assess the potential of small agricultural pro-

duction, enhance the socio-economic inclusion of small produc-

ers and increase their associativity. The project will be devel-

oped during 2013-2016 and will build the agricultural brand of

the area mentioned above with the launch of home-made organ-

ic products.

Regional Meeting | Valea Chioarului, July 7, 2012

Our regional trainer, Portik Laszlo, organized his first regional

meeting on July 7th, in Valea Chioarului. The meeting was

attended by the mayor of the municipality, Burde Ioan, by the

family doctor and local coordinator of Romanian-Belgian initia-

tives, Dorca Dan, as well as by other representatives of the local

community. The meeting kicked off with a presentation of The

Open Network foundation and of its objectives. The representa-

tive of the Belgian partner committee, Van Hecke Freddy from

Afflighem, was most interested in the development of tourism

activities in the area.

Following the discussions, our regional trainer could find out that,

in what concerns the social sector, the local community and their

Belgian partners have developed a social program rather well

articulated and well accepted by the locals (goods vouchers - 10

RON for food and 10 RON for clothes - were issued for people in

need assistance). In addition, the Belgian partners continue to

offer packages of subsistence in disadvantaged villages, but will

need support from other stakeholders (mayor and councilors,

doctors) to extend and adapt the program to other localities. The

local community is considering working with consulting compa-

nies to implement other social projects (eg.: setting up an eco-

nomic store, establishment of a mediatheque etc.). Other topics

that were brought in discussion: how to motivate volunteers in-

volved in RO-BE exchanges, how to promote the community as

a brand, what are the possibilities to collaborate with other or-

ganizations / communities of The Open Network. A new meeting

was planned for August 1. Also on this date will be set and if the

Belgian partners join the program Afflighem Fee for Service.

Entrepreneurship and intercultural summer-

camp | Vatra Moldovitei, July 2012

The Association Proiect Pro Europa organized throughout the

summer holidays a comprehensive program for children and

young people - school and summer camp on multicultural educa-

tion - which included: creative workshops and traditional crafting

(painted eggs, painting on glass, making of traditional masks,

cooking), trips and workshops with local artisans (stone and

wood carvers), day trip to the monasteries of Bucovina

(Moldovita, Sucevita, Bogdana, Putna, Dragomirna, Humor, Vo-

ronet), hiking and travel by horse-drawn cart.

The camp program also included: games of self-awareness, to

encourage active and assertive behaviour among participants,

personal skills development, mini-information sessions on local

history and traditions, carnival and a parade of medieval cos-

tumes; various competitions, barbecue and bonfire.

This year’s camp opened with a group of 16 children from Wal-

dorf School from Iasi who participated enthusiastically in various

and unique recreational activities, in respect for ancestral tradi-

tions of our nation. Camp Location: Ciumarna, in the Vatra

Moldovitei commune, Suceava county, a mountain village, situat-

ed close to the sky and to the beautiful and hospitable people.

YiA project won by APPE - Local Development

Center for Ciumarna | Vatra Moldovitei, July 2012

The Association Proiect Pro Europa (APPE) received approval of

the project submitted in the Youth in Action Programme, Action

1.2, Youth Initiative, and will benefit of a budget of 4950 euros for

the organization of the Local Development Center in Ciumarna,

Vatra Moldovitei. (continue reading on the next page....)



The project proposal, highly credited in the qualitative evalua-

tion, foresaw the arrangement of a multipurpose site at the AP-

PE headquarters, which will include: a Toy Library (equipped

with games, toys, sports equipment, etc.. to be made available

to children during the play-days organized by the youth group of

the association); a small library (school books, encyclopedias,

dictionaries); a training room for the young volunteers of the GLT

as for all young people involved in personal / professional train-

ing; an exhibition space for all competitions and creative work-

shops; space for handmade, recycling and reconditioning activi-

ties. Project implementation period: September 20, 2012 - April

30, 2013.

Building a Youth(full) Life Together | Viscri, July 6

-15, 2012

Between 6 to 15 July 2012, in Viscri –Brasov took place a Ro-

manian-Belgian youth exchange, within the framework of the

"Building A Youth (full) Life Together", ongoing project financed

through the Youth in Action European program. The two groups

of youngsters had the opportunity to learn about each other’s

lifestyle and culture, to interact and to develop activities in the 10

days they spent together. Besides organizing play days for the

children in the village, the youngsters renovated a house that will

now be Viscri’s youth site for activities. The play-days were held

only in the morning and, in the afternoon, the two groups partici-

pated in the renovation of the house (installation, painting, space

planning). The effort was a big one, but two groups’ desire to

work was what made possible the inauguration of the house on

July 14, 2012.

Over the 10 days, there have been organized various activities

aimed at facilitating the mutual knowledge and interaction: wit-

nessing village habits in Romania, Romanian and Belgian the-

matic evenings, and a last evening fire camp, to celebrate the

wonderful time spent together.

Official opening of the ADAM Moldovita Social-Medical Center | Moldovita, August 2, 2012

The Mutual Aid Association A.D.A.M. Moldovita, in partnership

with Moldovita Townhall, officially opened the ADAM Moldovita

Social Medical Center Moldova on August 2nd.

This event was marked by the visit of His Excellency, Ambassa-

dor of Belgium to Romania, Philippe Beke, and organized as it

follows:

- 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.- work meeting at City Hall in Moldovita;

- 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. - visit at the Painted Eggs Museum;

- 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.- official opening of the Social-Medical

Center and launch of the "Building Bridges" (European Commis-

sion funded project supported by the Youth in Action program).


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The Open Network for Community Development | www.TheOpenNetwork.ro | Iasi, 7000812, Str. Pantelimon 32, Et 5, Apt. 8 | (+4)0727 85 06

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