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WatchBear & AdvoCity – Bears and People for common future
Working together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe
About project
The project aims to improve community involvement in the area of the ecotourism destination ‘’Băile Tușnad and Surroundings’ (ro: ’Băile Tușnad și Împrejurimile’; BTI) in public decision-making processes in the context of harmonious coexistence between man and bear through participatory tools and watchdog activities. The basic problem is that Băile Tușnad lacks the strategy for evaluating and monitoring prevention methods against the damage caused by the brown bear, and the capacity of the local mayor’s office is not sufficient to include local civil society, NGOs and tourists to the problem-solving process.
The project proposes solutions to this problem through activities such as mapping the current situation and proposing factual solutions for local people on how to evaluate, monitor and improve the effectiveness of damage prevention methods; making available to the public a visitor’s point on bear-bear coexistence; organizing and actively involving the public in an advocacy campaign to develop a local damage prevention strategy; implementing brand and event regulations in the town.
Within the project an online watchdog platform (mobile app) will be developed to serve as a communication and monitoring tool in the context of environmental issues. At the same time, an offline platform (thematic conference) will be organized in 2022 and 2023 within the TusnadEcoBearFest event, dedicated to the promotion and awareness of human-bear coexistence with the involvement of professional and civil society. During the project 4 video spots will be implemented about human-bear coexistence in the target area including its challenges but also its solutions. Extracurricular activities will be implemented targeting middle schools around the BTI ecotourism destination, as well as in the TusnadEcoBearFest events in September, coordinated by the partner Vox Iuvenitutis, which brings significant experience and expertise in non-formal education, and in mobilizing the younger generation. The City Hall of Băile Tusnad provides indoor and outdoor spaces for the implementation of activities, offers experience and expertise in developing the strategy and contributes to citizen mobilization. The applicant benefits organizational development through communication and public relations training, volunteer management and exchange of thematic experience.
The Active Citizens Fund Romania programme is funded through the EEA Grants 2014-2021. The overall objective of the Grants is to reduce economic and social disparities, and to strengthen bilateral relations between 15 beneficiary countries and the Donor States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). The programme is administered by a consortium composed of Civil Society Development Foundation, Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation, Resource Center for Roma Communities, PACT Foundation and Frivillighet Norge, acting as Fund Operator designated by FMO – Financial Mechanism Office of the EEA and Norway Grants.
The objectives of the Active Citizens Fund Romania are to strengthen civil society and active citizenship and to empower vulnerable groups. With a total allocation of 46,000,000 euro, the programme pursues a long-term development of the civil society sector sustainability and capacity, stepping up its role in promoting democratic participation, active citizenship and human rights, while strengthening bilateral relations with organizations from the Donor States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
PROJECT TEAM
IMECS ISTVÁN – Project manager
- ensures project management and internal evaluation;
- aims to achieve the objectives of the project within the time limit;
- sets the tasks of each member of the project team for a given period according to the implementation schedule.
PILBÁTH GÉZA-ATTILA – Project assistant
- provides support to the project manager in his activities;
- participates in the preparation of reports and other documents to be produced within the project.
MADARAS ELENA-SIMONA – Financial officer
- participates in the preparation of financial reports and other financial documents to be produced under the project;
- manages the financial resources allocated to the project together with the project manager.
GÁL LASZLÓ-BENJAMIN – Scientific coordinator
- coordinates and participates in the implementation of specific field activities.
SIPOS CSONGOR – Activity coordinator
- coordinate and implement extracurricular activities.
Press communication:
Mass-media appearances:
Communication material:
Press conference invitation:
Mass media coverage of the #TusnadEcoBearConf:
Presentations at TusnadEcoBearConf:
An information point with an exhibition hall about human-bear coexistence at Băile Tușnad for tourists and locals set up as part of the project entitled “WatchBear & AdvoCity – bears and people for a common future”.
Facebook page: Tusnad Eco Bear Cave
TusnadEcoBearWatch is an online WatchDog platform that serves as a communication and monitoring tool in the context of improving human-bear coexistence in the town of Băile Tușnad.
TusnadEcoBearWatch is an online platform in the form of a simple application, which can be used without registration using just a nickname to remain anonymous. In this way, problems can be reported without unwanted consequences for the person reporting the problem. Problems can be reported in text format or via photos and videos. Every report will receive a response/solution from the administrators. In this way, this platform becomes a simple and effective WatchDog tool, the reported problems and their solution being public, anyone can check how and how quickly a problem was solved.
The mobile app is developed as part of the project “WatchBear & AdvoCity – Bears and People for a Shared Future” has hit the Android Play Store and Apple App Store under the name Bear Watch.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.ti.bear
– as a part of the TusnadEcoBearWatch app promotion campaign
ABOUT THE PLATFORM:
A conference about people and bears, about coexistence.
The aim of the conference is to bring together the diverse views, skills and experiences of invited experts to contribute science-based proposals to improve the quality of human-bear coexistence as part of future urban and national policies. It will also contribute to the assessment of the current scientific status of the brown bear population in Romania and raise awareness of the gaps in human-bear coexistence for the benefit of the local community. The intention is to create a tradition by involving young people in scientific work and to provide a platform for national and abroad researchers to present their results.
László Gál, Scientific Coordinator
and the organising team.
INVITATIONS
In Romanian
In Hungarian
In English
PRESENTERS
BOOK OF ABSTRACTS AND PROGRAMME: Download HERE
MEDIA COVERAGE:
Székelyföld studio – https://www.facebook.com/szekelyfoldistudio/videos/600942648332455
3szék.ro – https://www.3szek.ro/load/cikk/152320/lehetseges-e-a-medve-es-az-ember-bekes-egyuttelese-konferencia-es-fesztival-tusnadfurdon?fbclid=IwAR1CwwJd6rwroEdBuFLhU8oMNLot5fFqPB6dywiN7pUtbkagbLFL4pmvk8o
Informația Harghitei – https://informatiahr.ro/convietuirea-intre-oameni-si-ursi-subiect-de-dezbatere-la-baile-tusnad/?fbclid=IwAR0FVM7QhFLDSeTsqaq-XTVtojPbWls7lHPaY0SKmQPJ_rixhSgEC7W0KPM
Forest Mania – https://forestmania.ro/conferinta-tusnad-ecobear-a-fost-inventat-tomberonul-anti-urs/?fbclid=IwAR31mx6dSJSnBLqgWDHnvjdz0wr1EYyhZxPd1kYlzeJBR946m9RswEuYOZc
Hargita Népe – https://hargitanepe.ro/tusnadecobear-a-medvekerdesre-kerestek-megoldasokat/?fbclid=IwAR2d5TzZKYw_oH9691GOLFXczy4Uc56eAmqtzi0EOkMQg7vFyhn09GIHc50
Székelyföld TV – https://www.facebook.com/szekelyfoldtelevizio/videos/1821800941347712
Erdély TV – https://www.facebook.com/erdelytv/videos/613287663735782
Transtelex – https://transtelex.ro/zold/2022/08/30/medvekonferencia-tusnadfurdo-osszefoglalo
Thematic presentations on bears and climate change (Junior Ranger teams – active community involvement)
The Junior Ranger teams represent the next generation of the target area, and the students in the teams are the most committed to protecting the environment for their generation. The Junior Ranger teams come from middle schools in and around the ecotouristic destination of Băile Tușnad: the town of Băile Tușnad, and from the following villages: Tușnad, Sânsimion, Cozmeni, Sântimbru and Sâncraieni (7 schools in total). By involving Junior Ranger teams in project activities, the direct and indirect involvement of the local community can be successfully achieved. The aim of the activity is the following: based on the thematic presentations given to each Junior Ranger group, the teams will give a presentation in their middle school based on the topics discussed. In this way, the information passed on to the Junior Ranger teams is disseminated to hundreds of students at school, who then pass on the information received to their local communities through relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, etc. In order to achieve the desired impact, the project partner will deliver 1 presentation per school per year and the Junior Ranger teams will deliver 1 presentation per school per year.
PPT Presentation – Sipos Csongi
Project implemented by:
The project is implemented by ACCENT GeoEcological Organization in partnership with Association VOX Iuventutis and the Mayor’s Office in Băile Tușnad and benefits from a 149.465 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily represent the official position of the EEA and Norwegian grants for 2014-2021; visit www.eeagrants.org for more information. More information about Active Citizens Fund Romania at www.activecitizensfund.ro.