SDG 17. Partnerships to achieve the Goal

• The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest

• Highlands III – Collective Approach of Research and Innovation for Sustainable Development in Highland
• ReCoNnect: Research Communication for active learning
• Benefits and constraints of joint decision making in Romania. From public participation to collaborative Environmental Impact Assessment

The University of Bucharest has direct involvement in developing national government and regional non-government organisations’ SDG policy. Some of the forms of direct involvement include:

• In July 2021, Decision No. 372 was published in the Official Journal on the appointment of the Advisory Council for Sustainable Development members, including Professor Emeritus Angheluță Vădineanu. The Commission has a key role; thus, according to Article 2 of Decision No 114/2020, it is actively involved in drafting documents, providing advice, etc., in actions supporting the implementation of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2030.
• The expertise of the teaching staff of the University of Bucharest determines their co-optation in the teams of elaboration of studies, some of them associated with development objectives. An example of this is the participation of Ionuț-Bogdan Dima, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the UB, in preparing the Occupational Analysis Report. Sustainable development expert.
• The Center for Research in Systems Ecology and Sustainability (CESSU) of the University of Bucharest, in partnership with IUAV University of Venice, Veneto Innovazione S.p.A, Leibniz University, Climate Protection Agency Hannover Region, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Ministry of European Funds – Romania, University of East Anglia UK, The Estonian Environment Agency, Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation UK implements the IRENES project – Exchanging knowledge and experiences for Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in territorial environmental and energy policies. The project aims to “exchange experience and best practice on the complementarity and synergy of renewable energy exploitation and multiple Ecosystem Services (ES) at territorial level and to feed the results of these activities into Structural Fund programmes and policy instruments through action plans to be developed. Thus, IRENES aims to identify the dysfunctions in current policy instruments regarding using renewable energy sources with ecosystem services, including environmental, social, economic, and governance issues related to the provision of ES flows. Through the active engagement of the institutions involved in the management of the ERDF, in coalition with technical partners and with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, including economic actors and local communities, IRENES will promote a multi-stakeholder social co-learning process through coordinated action planning between EU regions and study areas.”

The University of Bucharest and the members of the academic community initiate and participate in cross-sectoral dialogue about the SDGs. Some examples include:

• Members of the academic community have reunited in four workshops thematically organised around the SDGs to discuss the premises of a University Strategy for Sustainability. The conclusions of these workshops were used to create the first draft of the strategy. The list of workshops includes:

1. February 2, 2023: Energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
2. February 16, 2023: Protecting the environment and biodiversity;
3. March 10, 2023: Social responsibility;
4. March 24, 2023: Inclusion and diversity in sustainable development policies;

• The University of Bucharest hosted, at the initiative of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences, in partnership with the Centre européen “Robert Schuman” in Scy-Chazelles (France), with the financial support of the European Program “Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values – CERV”, the European Conference for Transforming Education “Promoting transversal competences of young people in the new EU and the perspective of the UN SDG 2030 vision“. The event addressed themes related to post-pandemic professional integration and social inclusion, emphasizing the importance of education and soft skills assessment to enable social transformation and collective resilience.
• The University of Bucharest was represented at the 10th edition (10-14 October 2021) of the Balkan Geophysical Society Congress by Prof. Florina Tuluca, professor at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics. Lect. Florina Tuluca, President of the Balkan Geophysical Society, moderated the panel on Recent advances in mapping the Geosciences to the 17 United Nations Sustainability Goals.
• Representatives of the University of Bucharest participated in May at the Global CIVIS Days 2023 event hosted Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. The event included several open sessions, one of which was dedicated to how CIVIS aspires to be a sustainably connected alliance that enables free exchange and intensive cooperation. The programme included activities dedicated to all hubs of the alliance, namely: CIVIS Hub 1- Climate, environment and energy, CIVIS Hub 2-Society, culture, heritage, CIVIS Hub 3- Health, CIVIS Hub 4- Cities, Territories and Mobilities and CIVIS Hub 5- Digital and Technological transformation.
• At the conference Education for a Sustainable Future: Building Capacity for Climate, Environment and Energy Problem Solving, participants explored the challenges and opportunities facing higher education today in addressing the “alarming issues” on the agenda of the World Economic Forum, generating constructive analysis and ideas for innovation in the field of sustainability to solve today’s societal problems.
• The University of Bucharest is a signatory of the Diversity Charter, an initiative that “proposes to its signatories a collaborative platform for action, debate and exchange of best practices around diversity management“. By signing the Diversity Charter, UB recognizes and promotes social diversity, a fact already demonstrated by the actions carried out in recent years in this direction.

The University of Bucharest is part of several international collaborations on gathering or measuring data for the SDGs. Examples include:

• The University of Bucharest, together with the University of Oslo, the West University of Timisoara and the National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, is implementing the ClimaLAND project, which aims to “complete the global picture of geomorphological responses to recent climate change, focusing on two contrasting but equally sensitive environments: the Romanian Carpathians and the Danube Delta“. In 2023, two field campaigns were conducted The aim of the snow measurement is to understand better the winter conditions that favour the cooling of the ground and, thus, the preservation of permafrost.
• Starting in 2022, RCSES is implementing the European project “Bio Knowledge Agora: Developing the Science Service for European Research and Biodiversity Policy Making”/ BioAgora. It aims to connect the results of biodiversity research with the needs of policymakers through a dialogue between academia, other knowledge holders and policymakers. The project’s primary outcome will be the development of a platform of scientific services in support of biodiversity conservation that will coordinate processes and initiatives at the science-policy interface at the European level. The consortium managing the project funded by the European HORIZON program consists of 22 partners from 13 European countries.
• The Center for Research in System Ecology and Sustainability (CESSU) of the University of Bucharest, together with other partners in Romania and abroad, is implementing the international project IDES – Improving water quality in the Danube river and its tributaries by integrative floodplain management based on Ecosystem Services. The project team aims to improve water quality management by developing and implementing a transnational integrative ecosystem services approach. According to the project presentation, “the IDES tool should enable key national actors in water quality management to identify the most sustainable measures without neglecting the needs of other sectors.”
• At the beginning of the academic year 2020, the University of Bucharest signed the opening of the funding for the project entitled Strengthening the Ecosystem and Biodiversity Research Capacity of the University of Bucharest through e-science and Technology – Lifewatch Romania, which aims to “strengthen the research capacity of the University of Bucharest’s stations along the Danube (Orșova, Brăila, Sfântu Gheorghe), as well as the Sinaia zoological station, by developing new laboratories or equipping existing ones with additional equipment. Our vision is to create open research entities that will allow the University of Bucharest to be associated with the research infrastructures that are now being set up or, as in the case of LifeWatch, have already been established at the European level. As it was conceived, the project responds to the need for technological alignment of research infrastructures in Romania with those existing at the European level as part of the efforts to coagulate cross-border research entities capable of concentrating and mobilising material and human efforts to solve pressing problems (for example, those related to the management of natural capital), as well as basic research. At the national level, the project aims at developing a high-performance computing infrastructure, together with a distributed data-generating infrastructure (laboratories, modules, submodules) to ensure the integration, storage and analysis of data as well as their distribution to stakeholders for the assessment of natural capital and the impact of anthropogenic activities on socio-ecological systems. The project is proposed as a key element in the LIFEWATCH (LifeWatch, E-Science European Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research) infrastructure. Specifically, the project will provide advanced analytical, inter- and trans-disciplinary integration, and modelling capabilities to support: a) the development of knowledge on the dynamic and complex relationships between Biodiversity/Natural Capital and social and industrial metabolism; b) the elaboration of development scenarios; and c) the grounding of sustainable development strategies and policies in broad spaces and timeframes.”

The University of Bucharest is a member of several consortia and university networks, among whose objectives are those related to initiating and promoting action to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the UB is part of the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN), a network that aims to collaborate for the sustainable development of the Black Sea region and the protection of the environment, as well as historical and cultural monuments (art. 2, BSUN Charter). In October 2022, the University of Bucharest hosted the BSUN-BUA International Congress “Dialogue and Cooperation in the Black Sea and Balkan Regions“. The congress brought together in Bucharest more than 100 global experts on topics of strategic interest, representatives of the Romanian Government, ambassadors, rectors, representatives of academia and public and private institutions in the field, who participated in discussions on the challenges of cooperation in the Black Sea and Balkan Regions.

The University of Bucharest partners with many non-governmental organisations, with various objectives: organisation of placements, internships, volunteering, research, educational and research projects, projects to promote sustainable development in the community and others.

• Between 3-10 April 2023, the University of Bucharest organized, as part of the project “#UB4friends“, supported by the Embassy of the United States of America and the American Councils for International Education, in the context of the project “4/4 for friends”, a series of activities that aim to recognize the involvement of volunteers in the service of their fellow human beings. These activities included, among others, cleaning green spaces, information sessions on gender equality, activities to prevent school drop-outs and support actions in foster care centres.
• In the context of the Service-Learning: Cross-sectoral collaboration of practices for the development of student life skills and socially engaged universities ERASMUS+ Project, University of Bucharest, together with 5 other European universities and 1 NGO, collaborate to achieve the following specific objectives, highly relevant for several SDGs:
• To empower partners and students in their learning process and projects.
• To define and map current Service Learning (SL) projects in each country to promote and inspire future SL projects.
• Encourage teachers and educational leaders to become familiar with the theoretical and practical aspects of the SL method in order to adapt and transfer SL innovation projects to other universities.
• Making SL education visible, involving students, academic staff, university decision-makers, and social and civil society organisations within universities and their local areas to create innovative SL education projects.
• Long-term implementation of SL within universities.
• Share practices on SL with an innovative European dimension, share key steps to implement SL projects in universities (agreements, administrative process, structure, guide content) and improve visibility.
• To capitalise on the information and knowledge acquired during the two years of the project and to disseminate the project results.
• Transfer innovative SL methodologies within the universities and to other interested universities, share data and exchange reports from each work package to disseminate good practice and SL methodology.
• The French-speaking master programme “Médias, développement, société ” of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences has developed the project (platform) Consum’Actor, which aims to promote sustainable development. In the academic year 2021-2022, the Consum’Actor project promoted international brands such as Green N Kool (Madagascar) Sisters Republic (France), representing two non-governmental organizations involved in civic activities, AJPE (Guinea) and SODIAPLAST (Guinea), two other organizations fighting environmental pollution in West Africa. More details about the 2022 edition of Consum’Actor can be found on the platform under Consum’Actor 3.0– 2022 Edition.

Within the University of Bucharest operates the Institutional Sustainability Service, with the Sustainability and Social Impact Office, created out of the UB’s concern for managing and promoting actions carried out for sustainable development and social responsibility. The responsibilities of the members of this office include monitoring, collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data necessary for the annual sustainability reports and for reporting to various international rankings. Additionally, they organize events and activities to promote the principles and objectives for sustainable development within the academic community.

The University of Bucharest started publishing Sustainable Development Goals Tracking Reports in 2020. The latest report (the fourth one for 2022-23) is available here. Reports are published both in Romanian and English.

The University of Bucharest runs a variety of programmes and courses that educate students and, by extension, the community about sustainable development goals.

• The UNESCO Chair (Interculturality, Good Governance and Sustainable Development) at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest is part of the UNITWIN network, which aims to support higher education through collaboration with NGOs, foundations and organisations from the public and private sectors.
• Many of the CIVIS courses, developed in the following five areas: Health, Cities, Territories and Mobilities, Digital and Technological Transformation, Climate, Environment, Energy, Society, Culture and Cultural Heritage, cover themes that address sustainable development objectives and are accessible to all students of the University of Bucharest. There are also two micro- programmes in place: Civic Engagement (CE) and Global Awareness (GA), that offer courses relevant to the SDGs.
• The UB’s sustainability website also contributes to educating the members of the academic community and the wider public, as it brings together numerous actions towards the goals, references to specific courses and other relevant events. The page can be accessed here.

The University of Bucharest has dedicated courses (full degrees or electives) that address sustainability and the SDGs.

Examples of full degrees:

• Sustainability of socio-ecological systems, Master’s Degree Programme at the Faculty of Biology
• Environmental policies for sustainable development, Master’s Degree Programme at the Faculty of Biology
• Environmental policies for sustainable development, Master’s Degree Programme at the Faculty of Geography
• Applied geobiology in the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, Master’s Degree Programme at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics

Examples of specific courses:

• Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geography
• Environmental Ethics and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Philosophy
• Education for Sustainable Development, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
• Policies for a Sustainable Economy, Faculty of Business and Administration
• Political Ecology, Faculty of Political Science
• Risk, Safety. Governance and Humanitarian Intervention, Faculty of Geography

Additionally, Within the CIVIS alliance, the University of Bucharest is one of the three universities (together with the University of Tübingen and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) that organise micro-programmes – personalised learning pathways open to all students enrolled at one of the 11 member institutions. Currently, two such micro-programmes are in place: Civic Engagement (CE) and Global Awareness (GA). Through the CE micro-programme, students have the opportunity to actively contribute to civil society by acquiring theoretical content (learning) and then applying it in response to an identified social need (service). Through the GA micro-programme, many global issues, such as energy, climate change and the environment, are addressed using the perspective of cross-border collaboration. Enrolled students have access to dedicated courses at all three organising institutions, benefit from innovative learning methods and have the opportunity to collaborate in international teams. Starting with 2024-25 academic year, a new micro-programme was launched: Micro-Programme: Equitable and Just Digital Society: Developing Interdisciplinary Skills and Knowledge – CIVIS – A European Civic University.

The University of Bucharest has dedicated outreach educational activities for the wider community.  One form of community outreach is done in the form of sharing information with the wide public was through the UB Dose of Science, a series of conferences that since 2022 approached subjects relevant to the SDGs:

• Episode 18: “PISA tests and what they show about Romanian education”, with psychologist Dragoș Iliescu, professor at the UB Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences
• Episode 17: “The use of stem cells in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine”, with researcher Sorina Dinescu from the UB Faculty of Biology
• Episode 16: “On riverside areas and their role in preserving biodiversity and protecting the environment”, with professor Geta Rîșnoveanu from the UB Faculty of Biology
• Episode 15: “<We are what we eat>: the microbiome and the health of the whole body”, with Grațiela Grădișteanu, scientific researcher at the Faculty of Biology of UB and ICUB
• Episode 14: “Innovative solutions for the management of solid municipal waste deposits”, with Florina Țuluca, lecturer at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics
• Episode 13: “Cybernetic security, digital citizenship and right to privacy on the internet”, with Paul Irofti, associate professor at the UB Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
• Episode 12: “Excessive Use of Antibiotics and New Approaches in Treating Infections”, with Researcher Alina Maria Holban, Lecturer at the Faculty of Biology
• Episode 11: “Rip Currents, the Hidden Danger on the Romanian Beaches of the Black Sea”, with Researcher Florin Tătui, associate professor the Faculty of Geography
• Episode 10: “Artificial intelligence and digital mental health”, with psychologist Ioana Podina, associate professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of UB
• Episode 9: “Dinosaurs and their world”, with prof. Zoltán Csiki-Sava, PhD, palaeontologist and teaching staff at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics
• Episode 8: “The secrets of metal ions and the intrinsic beauty of molecules” in a presentation of acad. Marius Andruh, PhD, professor at the Faculty of Chemestry;
• Episode 7: “About science and pseudoscience”, with associate professor Dana Jalobeanu, Faculty of Philosophy;
• Episode 6: “Death and loss in the twenty-first century”, with lector Adela Toplean, Faculty of Letters;
• Episode 5: “Network analysis: what is it and what is it for? “, with Professor Marian-Gabriel Hâncean, Faculty of Sociology and Social Assistance;
• Episode 4: “Pollution, a continuous threat”, with researcher Cristian Mihai Adamescu, director of the Centre for Research in System Ecology and Sustainability;
• Episode 3: “Education in a pandemic context”, with Professor Lucian Ciolan, professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Bucharest;
• Episode 2: “Climate change. The great challenge of today”, with Professor Alfred Vespremeanu-Stroe, professor at the Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest;
• Episode 1: “Vaccination and scepticism among Romanians”, with Professor Cosima Rughiniș, professor at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work;

UB also carries outreach activities in the form of CIVIS Open Lab projects by which the University contributes to the development and implementation of initiatives that provide solutions to address community challenges and needs. In the academic year 2021-2022, 3 projects have been funded in the three main areas of development: Sustainability and Urban Resilience, Education and Culture and Research and Digital Transformation. The projects were carried out in partnership with various stakeholders (associations, research Centres, universities, schools, town halls, and companies), which allowed for wider dissemination of actions that also targeted community education. The three projects are:

• The “People and Trees Project. Management solutions of the Băneasa Forest for sustainable urban development and resilience” aimed to substantiate management measures that promote sustainability, ecosystem services and community well-being in the urban environment.
• The “Science for resilience project. Research for local sustainable development aimed to carry out new multidisciplinary scientific research in the UNESCO International Geopark Tara Hațegului” project – a development territory created and managed by the University of Bucharest, together with local partners.
• The “Learning Content Accessibility Services and Support for Children/Teens from Vulnerable Groups” project- aimed to create, with the help of students and specialists from the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Bucharest, a support system for children/teens from vulnerable groups and to set up a Learning Content Accessibility Centre equipped for young people with disabilities.