ROA CLUJ: REKO TYPE SUSTAINABLE MARKETING NETWORK IN ROMANIA

The trend of sustainable consumption induces a change in the marketing strategies, applying a marketing type that promotes the culture of quality, and employs the principles of eco-rationality in choosing the tools of interaction with the consumers. The originally Finnish REKO (abbreviation of the Swedish “Rejäl Konsumtion”, meaning “Fair Consumption”) model of alternative food network (AFN) is a perfect example of implementing the principles of sustainable marketing. This survey focuses on ROA (Roade Online din Ardeal; Fruits/Harvest from Transylvania online), a REKO type direct marketing network, based in Cluj -Napoca, Romania. The aim of the study is to assess the chances and challenges of this type of AFN in the Romanian context. For this, we analyse the opportunities and impediments of development, and the cost and benefits of the AFN for the involved producers. The objective of the survey is to reveal the potential contribution of AFNs to sustainable production, marketing, and distribution of local products. The applied qualitative research is based on (1) an interview with a coordinator of the investigated initiative, (2) a survey among the involved producers, (3) participant observation as consumer, (4) informal discussions with the AFN stakeholders , and (5) secondary data analysis . As conclusions, we can state that Romania holds significant resources for the implementation of AFNs due to numerous favourable circumstances, such as the rising demand for qualitative local and regional products, and the willingness of consumers and producers to get involved in direct marketing networks. However, grassroot initiatives of direct marketing face administrative and legal challenges. The lack of real support of public policies, the weakly developed idea of self-government, and not firmly established in practice, confine the short food supply chains to a niche phenomenon.

SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCE AND WELLBEING CONVERGENCES FOR PLACE-BASED APPROACHES

The present article is a conceptual and bibliometric radiography of ‘the new trinity of governance’ (Joseph & McGregor, 2020) that includes sustainability, resilience, and wellbeing from the viewpoint of territorial approaches. First, the paper makes theoretical consideration s of the three concepts by analysing their definition and characteristics. Second, the study proposes a bibliometric analysis of the three well-established concepts, taking into account the papers that include the relations between all three in a single framework. Third, we developed a content analysis considering only the most relevant papers in the proposed study area as we try to highlight the main theoretical and empirical implications of overlapping sustainability, resilience, and wellbeing from the viewpoint of place-based strategies and planning as reflected by current scientific research. The results show the prevalence of four major directions of research which include the three concepts as pillars for the theoretical and empirical approaches: 1) nature-centred assessments, 2) safe and sustainable human activities and critical services, 3) participative governance for planning human settlements, 4) individuals’ and communities’ culture and identities. Finally, the missing link that can transform all these convergent, but still diverse, perspectives is identified as being the capabilities theory of Amartya Sen. To accomplish this role, the classic theory was reinterpreted in a broader sustainability-related approach that takes into consideration the equity and wellbeing of individuals and communities, but also the equilibrium between nature and human development. Conclusively, if managed wisely, the new integrative approach could mark a paradigm shift that might push forward new ways of planning and governing sustainable, safe and liveable territories.

POLITICAL BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL IDENTITY IN EARLY MODERN CENTRAL EUROPE: THE WESTERN FRONTIER OF TRANSYLVANIA DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

The last decades have witnessed an increased interest in the research of territorial delimitations in late medieval and early modern Europe. A significant part of the academic debate has been focused on identifying and defining the process of transition from medieval frontiers, perceived as vague areas of contact, to modern linear borders. The aim of this article is to analyse the organization of the western confines of the Transylvanian Principality during the decades in which this state was formed, from the Ottoman conquest of Buda (1541) until the ratification of the Speyer Peace Treaty (1571). Throughout this period, the territorial delimitation of Transylvania from the Ottoman Empire and Habsburg Hungary was an ongoing process, marked by both military confrontations and diplomatic negotiations. Through a critical reassessment of the most relevant Romanian and Hungarian literature on this complex subject and the analysis of new data from official and narrative contemporary sources, I have tried to identify which were the most important political and military events that shaped the western borderlands of Transylvania. A fundamental objective of my research is to provide an accurate definition for the western region of the Transylvanian Principality, contributing thus to the general debate on the nature of frontiers/borders in sixteenth century Europe.

GENERAL FEATURES OF ROAD CRASHES IN CLUJ COUNTY, ROMANIA. SPATIALITY AND CAUSALITY

Road crashes have become a serious issue, and their negative impact, both socially and economically, has been subject to policies and programmes worldwide as well as a research topic for numerous studies in various fields. The present study aims to identify and demonstrate the persistence of certain features related to the occurrence and location of road crashes in Cluj County, Romania, which is a territory recording a constant high road crash incidence in the last decade. We used descriptive statistics to illustrate the key features of road crashes occurring in urban and rural areas, by road type, within the administrative territory of Cluj County, Romania. The analysis was focused on four main aspects: causes, effects in terms of persons injured and deaths, occurrence by road type, and location within and outside urban areas. The years 2019, 2009, and 2018 were considered as reference moments for the values recorded for all indicators in the analysis. Results showed a general trend of decrease in road crash incidence in 2019 compared to 2009, which was also confirmed by the absolute and relative increase in the period 2018-2019. The most significant decrease was found in the number of deaths, especially in the case of road cras h e soccurring on national roads and urban streets, where the incidence is still quite high. However, when ranked considering the number of crashes caused, we noted the persistence of certain categories of triggering factors for the high incidence of road crashes related to both drivers and pedestrians. Road safety is very much related to the behaviour of all participants in traffic and not so much to the road infrastructure and quality, although road capacity may be a triggering factor for drivers’ behaviour. Further measures are needed to enhance road safety and meet the European target of halving the road crash number and fatalities until 2020 and in the next decade.

The Role of Landforms in the Location of Roman Fortifications in Northern Transylvania (Tihău-Cășeiu Area) and the Production of Place and Regional Identity

By combining the technical and empirical research methods, this article aims at establishing the role of the landforms in the location of Roman settlements and fortifications in Northern Transylvania, Romania, focusing on the Dacia Porolissensis (province of the Roman Empire) border and how (and if) these elements are still present in the local identity. Cartographic methods helped us to achieve the technical part. We used the ArcMap 10.6 software. The result obtained through digital modelling is the morphometric identification of the territorial discontinuities. Considering the qualitative aspects, the used methods were the traditional ones: analysis, synthesis, induction, and deduction. These methods enabled us to better understand how these settlements influenced the regional identity. The results of the study are emphasizing the strategical importance of the landforms in establishing the Roman castrum, and it demonstrates how (or if) the associated settlements remained present in the locals’ mentality and influenced the regional identity.

The Cossacks’ Bordering Process in the Civil War. Filmic Representations.

The Russian Revolution(s) and the Russian Civil War represent topics revisited by the recent Russian media and film-making. Mikhail Sholokhov’s novel And Quiet Flows the Don as a masterful case of fictionalisation of historical events is the basis for four subsequent film adaptations. Whereas the destiny of the Russian Cossacks is a generous theme, we would like to focus on the filmic representation of Cossacks’ bordering process in the Civil War. Two Soviet film adaptations and two post-Soviet ones present in different manners the impact of the shifting borders on people’s lives during the Russian fratricide war. Tzar’s abdication had caused confusion in the midst of the Cossack population loyal to the state father figure, while contributing afterwards to a territorial identity construction and a fight to obtain and maintain the autonomy of the Cossack region. Soviet and post-Soviet directors’ approaches of the geographical, mental and cultural borders during the Civil War in the Cossack region offer insights into the debatable loyalties and multiple sides shifting. The analysis of the four film adaptations is focused on concepts such as questioned loyalty, divisive Cossack territorial identity, nuanced and shifting identity and active/ passive territoriality. We argue that the Cossacks’ territorial identity and their bordering process is differently reflected in subsequent film adaptations of the novel.

Borders and Territorial Identity in Moldovan ASSR: Transnistria and the “Bessarabian Question” b e t we e n 1918 and 1940

Bessarabia’s unification with the rest of the Romanian historical provinces in order to create the Greater Romania in 1918 opened up a dispute between the new state and Soviet Russia. The loss of its previous gubernia to the detriment of Romania, combined with a series of strategies imposed by its tremendous internal transformation, made the Soviet Union to reconsider its western borders. This article provides an overview of the formation of the Moldavan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR) – the political ancestor of contemporary Dnestr Moldovan Republic or Transnistria – and then proceeds to analyse its role as propaganda and political tools inside the USSR. In such context, Transnistria will be studied as borderland of Greater Romania in order to better understand its socio-political profile in accordance with Soviet policies. The main aim of this paper is to give an objective account of the events from the historical perspective and to reassess the socio-political engineering which the MASSR underwent from its creation in 1924 up until its union with Bessarabia in 1940.

Romanian Territorial Claims during World War I under the Gaze of the Russian Press

The article analyses the approach of the Russian press towards the Romanian territorial claims during the World War I. It is ascertained that the territorial issue was important in Romania’s attitude towards war, as the unification of historical and ethnic Romanian territories was essential for the national affirmation of Romania as a state. In this regard, the Russian press pointed towards the territories under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a major priority for the formation of Greater Romania. The goal was to attract Romania on its side against Austro-Hungarian and German offensive on the Eastern front. We scrutinize the Russian press’s approach towards Romanian territorial claims based on three distinct periods: 1) during Romania’s neutrality; 2) during Romania’s participation in the war as Russia’s ally; 3) After the Bolshevik revolution, when Russia withdrew unilaterally from the war. The emphasis on Romania’s territorial claims is shown mostly in the first period, with one exception – the Bessarabian issue is little or not mentioned at all. Within the second period, the Russian press almost lost sight of the Romanian territorial claims. Finally, the Bolsheviks, who proclaimed self-determination as the main approach to territorial issues, were those who denied Romania any claim for “disputable territories”, just because it opposed Bolshevization. During this latter period, the Bessarabian issue becomes the spear of Russian informational attacks against Romania, following the Union of this historical Moldavian territory with the Motherland.

“And the Image of the Emperor [...] I Have Torn Itinto a Thousand Pieces.” Mental Frontiers in the Năsăud Region at the End of the Great War

The First World War and the events concluding 1918, namely the unification of Transylvania with the old Kingdom of Romania, changed not only the geographical frontiers of the former Austrian-Hungarian province, but also the mental ones, which are less evident from the official documents of the era. The purpose of our exploratory study is to use edited archival documents, memoirs, and parochial chronicles in order to reconstruct the local context in which the transition from the ‘old’ to the ‘new order’ unfolded. The study focuses on a clearly delimited geographical area with a distinctive historical evolution: the region of Năsăud. Using the memoirs of veterinarian Pavel Tofan as a case study, we focused on identifying the symbolic gestures which mentally transformed the inhabitants of this region from loyal subjects of the Emperor in Vienna to Romanian citizens, loyal to the King of United Romania.

MAKING SPACE AND NATION MEANINGFUL THROUGH BORDERS AND THEIR REPRESENTATIONS IN ROMANIAN GEOGRAPHY TEXTBOOKS, DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Lately, in Romania and abroad, research about the hidden agendas of educational discourses circulated by school textbooks has become richer. This research focuses on the process of bordering that took place in 1918 and the creation of Greater Romania and on the new borders and their representations in Geography school textbooks before and after that year. These representations are considered in the form of both text and images. First, I describe these representations and, secondly, I uncover and explain their intentions in the respective historical and geographical contexts. As History and Geography have been always viewed among the most influential subject matters in school, I employed visual methodology and discourse analysis to study Geography of Romania school textbooks – officially accepted products. The research material is made of Geography school textbooks. From a temporal perspective, my research material includes textbooks that were circulated starting with 1902 and in the 1930s. In addition, I assessed the degree to which Geography education was politicized. Results showed that, in the first half of the 20th century, the wished-for or newly-established and contested borders of Romania generated a lengthy and argumentative discourse about state borders and about the history and geography of the territories inhabited by Romanians. Ethnocultural identity concepts and conceptions of national identity were provided for the young and not only. Geography of Romania school textbooks were not apolitical, but reinforced a socio-spatial consciousness, based on the natural and anthropic features of the borders and on how they were represented, revealing the social practice of the educational discourse about border areas.