Romania/ 3.4 International cultural co-operation  

3.4.3 European / international actors and programmes

Romania is an active member of several expert groups of the Council of Europe (CDCULT, CDPAT, Europae Archeologicae Consilium and CDMC). Romania is also part of several regional agreements, projects and partnerships, such as the Council of Ministers of Culture of South-Eastern Europe, following the signature of the Copenhagen Charter (2005), the Central European Initiative, the Danube Cooperation Process, the Stability Pact in South-eastern Europe, the South-eastern European Co-operation Initiative - but also in other areas, in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Europe. As a follow-up project in the framework of the Charter, Romania proposed the establishment, under Ministry of Culture and National Heritage's Centre for Cultural Studies and Research, of a Regional Observatory for Cultural Diversity (based in Bucharest) aimed at becoming a virtual network of researchers and policy-makers from each participant country of the Charter of Ministers of Culture from South-Eastern Europe.

In the field of the preservation of national mobile heritage, The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage was the implementation authority regarding the PHARE Project 2006/018-147.03.19: Integrated information management for the protection of mobile cultural heritage and cultural objects. The main purpose of this project was to increase the capacity of ministries and subordinate bodies, involved in the protection of movable cultural goods, to combat illegal trade and export, and theft, destruction and falsification of these cultural goods.

Romania was involved in European co-operation projects through its participation in the Culture 2000 Programme (the list of projects financed through Culture 2000 is available under http://www.cultura2007.ro/eng/document.php?doc=18) of the European Union and is involved currently in the Culture 2007-2013 Programme. The Cultural Contact Point for Romania for "Culture (2007-2013)" operates within the Consultancy Centre for European Cultural Programmes (actually the Centre for Research and Consultancy on Culture). In 2008, the financed projects were in the domain of multiannual projects of cooperation (developed between of 3 and 5 years), projects of cultural cooperation (up to a maximum of 24 months), projects of literature translation, and the support of European cultural organisations (21 organisations from Romania). The list of funded projects is available under the following weblink: http://www.cultura2007.ro/files/proiecte%20RO_2008_print.pdf.

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage cooperates with the International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP) and in 2009 hosted the reunion of INCP and also participated at their meetings.

Another programme was developed with The Norwegian Fund for Romania and Bulgaria. Through the EEA Financial Mechanism, administered by the Romanian Ministry of Public Finance as National Focal Point, 40 projects developed by Romanian companies, organisations and institutions were selected to receive grants. In addition, another 47 projects developed by Romanian NGOs in different priority areas have already received funding under the first round of the EEA NGO Fund, operated in Romania by the Civil Society Development Foundation and its partners: Carpathian Foundation and Environmental Partnership Foundation. The EEA Financial Mechanism (EEA Grants) makes available EUR 50.5 million to Romania in project assistance, of which EUR 48.5 million represents Norway's contribution. Projects developed by Romanian public entities and NGOs are supported through this mechanism in four priority areas: protection of the environment, human resource development, health and childcare and conservation of cultural heritage.

The EEA supported projects in the cultural field  in the area of human resource development (Cultural Centres - Leaders in Community Development Through the Promotion of Cultural Heritage), and also in the field of conservation of cultural heritage (Conservation of the Historic Landscape of the Saxon Villages in Transylvania, Conservation and Restoration of the Ethnographic Heritage in ASTRA Museum – Sibiu Woods, Restoration and Revitalisation of the Butchers' Fortress in Baia Mare, Restoration of Traditional Hydro-Powered Technical Equipment within the Maramures Museum, Restoration of the Gabroveni Inn in Bucharest, Restoration of the Fifth Gate of the Vanubian Citadel Fortification in Alba Iulia). Information is available in The EEA Norway Grants Brochure and under http://www.norwaygrants.org/en/ and http://www.norvegia.ro/.

Another project was developed in Sibiu, which was selected as European Capital of Culture for the year 2007 (along with Luxembourg). An ambitious architectural restoration and rehabilitation programme was developed, in order to prepare an adequate infrastructure for the events on the project's agenda. The Centre for Research and Consultancy on Culture carried out a study on The impact of "Sibiu – European Capital of Culture 2007" - the economic agents in the Sibiu region and "Sibiu – European Capital of Culture 2007". The economic indicators for the first study were the turnover/sales figures, investment, workforce and profitability. The conclusions indicated that there was a positive economic impact for the companies in Sibiu and in the city's surrounding area, especially in the fields of tourism and transportation. The results of the second study "Sibiu – European Capital of Culture 2007" indicated a high level of knowledge and satisfaction regarding the programme as well as an attendance that reached 5% of Romania's population. As for the economic agents, the companies that invested the most in the programme operate in the fields of hospitality, tourism and transportation (http://www.culturadata.ro/Cercetari%20finalizateEN.html).

Romania hosted the 2006 International Francophone Summit, in recognition of both its cultural heritage and regional importance. The International Francophone Summit was held in the Year of Francophonie and was the first summit after the adoption of the Charter of the Francophonie.

Romania has a National Committee for UNESCO, as country with several sites included on the world heritage list. The UNESCO country office, UNESCO-CEPES (the European Centre for Higher Education / Centre Européen pour l'Enseignement Supérieur), was established in September 1972 with a view to promoting co-operation in higher education among Member States of the Europe Region (the countries of Europe, North America, and Israel). The activities of the Centre are focused, foremost, on higher education in Central and Eastern Europe and the Director of UNESCO-CEPES also serves as the Representative of UNESCO in Romania. Since September 2003, UNESCO-CEPES have been a consultative member of the Follow-up Group of the Bologna Process (BFUG), which is responsible for the implementation of the Bologna Process goals.

The Romanian ministries and bodies responsible for implementing and monitoring the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions are: the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the National Committee for UNESCO.

International Cooperation agreements signed in 2011:

• collaboration programme in the fields of science, education and culture between the government of Romania and the government of the Republic of Moldova for the period 2011-2016 signed on 12 April 2011 in Chisinau

International Cooperation agreements signed in 2010:

• collaboration programme in the fields of culture, science, education and sport between the government of Romania and the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the period 2011-2016 signed on 18 November 2010 in Pyongyang. 
• exchange programme for science and technology, education, culture and sports between the government of Romania and government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for the period 2010-2014 signed on 5 May 2010 in Luxembourg;
• executive Programme between Romania and the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on cooperation in culture, science, education and sport for the years 2010-2013, signed on 8 April 2010 in Hanoi; and
• exchange programme in science, technology, education, culture and sports between Romania and the Flemish government in Belgium for the years 2010-2011, signed in Bucharest in 2009, valid until 2011.

International Cooperation agreements signed in 2009:

• the collaboration programme in the fields of education, science, culture, media, youth and sports between Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria for the years 2009 - 2012, signed on 11 December 2009;
• programme of cultural cooperation between Romania and the Republic of China for the years 2009-2012 signed in Bucharest on 15 September 2009;
• cooperation Agreement between Romania and the government of France on film productions in Romania for 2009-2012, signed in Cannes on 18 May 2009;
• cultural and scientific cooperation programme between Romania and the government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2009-2012, signed on 16 April 2009 in Bucharest; and
• agreement between Romania and the Republic of Poland on cooperation in science, education and culture for the years 2009 to 2012.

International Cooperation agreements signed in 2008

• cooperation programme between Romania and the Republic of Turkey in the field of Education, Culture and Arts, Media, Youth and Sports, signed in Bucharest on 3 March 2008;
• collaboration programme between the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Romania and the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia for 2007-2011 signed on 18 March 2008 in Ljubljana;
• cooperation programme in the field of education, science, technology, culture, communication, youth and sports between Romania and the government of Algeria for 2008-2011, signed in Algiers on 2 April 2008;
• programme for education and cultural cooperation between Romania and the Republic of Korea for 2008-2011, signed in Seoul on 11 September 2008; and
• cooperation programme in the field of culture, education, youth and sports between the government and the Mexican government, signed in Mexico City on 3 December 2008.

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