Study visit to Alba Iulia (RO)
On September 10th and 11th, Alba Iulia, the Lead Partner, hosted the first study visit of the ACROSS project. The two-day event provided a great opportunity for the project partners to meet in person, learn more about their local context, and discover their good practices.
On the first day, Lucian Morgovan, City Manager of Alba Iulia welcomed the participants, which were followed by the presentation of Public Manager Maria Seemann. She talked about the dynamic development of the city in recent years, with a particular focus on sustainable mobility and energy efficiency projects.
In the morning session, Local Stakeholder Group (LSG) members of the hosting partner presented their CSR activities to the participants:
Iulia Guș - Director of Marketing, Florea Group;
Andrei Avram - President of the National Organization of Romanian Scouts,
Alexandru Drăguș - Program Director of FIRST Tech Challenge Romania; Natie Prin Educatie NGO;
Sebastian Onac - President, Maria Beatrice Center;
Brîndușa Donțu, MBA - Recycled Wood Purchasing Manager, Kronospan.
During the afternoon session, project partners presented some of their good practices which will be further discussed next semester and will be one of the key focuses of future study visits. The day concluded with a city tour where participants learned about the local historical heritage.
The second day started with a Thematic Expert Team (TET) workshop during which partners discussed the main challenges in the relationship between the municipalities and the local companies in the field of CSR as well as possible solutions. The TET session provided great opportunities to share the knowledge and experiences among participant regions contributing to the improvement of policy instruments. After that, a Steering Committee meeting were held, including project, financial and communication management sessions.
After lunch, participants visited two of the previously presented good practices: the Maria Beatrice Center and the Alba Iulia Scout Center. Sebastian Onac, founder of Maria Beatrice Association provided detailed information about the personal situation that inspired the foundation of the Association and the building of the Hospital. He also discussed the partnership between the association and companies to ensure the highest quality of treatment, then showed the building to the interested parties.
After the first tour, project partners headed to the community center of Alba Iulia Scout, where Andrei Avram, President of the National Organization of Romanian Scouts guided the visitors. He shared the story of building the center with the support of companies which contributed to creating a safe, stable and sustainable space for scouting activities throughout the year.
Project Partners gained valuable insights that will help them improve their policy instrument in the field of CSR.
The next study visit, organized by project partner EDC Debrecen, will take place in Debrecen in March 2025.