While Romania struggled, even after it joined the EU, to find a formula to revive some of its villages facing poverty and depopulation, the commune of Ciugud has stood out by managing to combat rural decline in a smart way, EURACTIV Romania reports.
In Romania, despite having a trove of EU funds at its disposal, the central government largely failed to develop a national strategy for rural districts, and villages were either left to rely on tourism, traditions, or agriculture, or take steps towards becoming “smart villages”.
The EU has been actively promoting the “smart village” concept to help Romania and other member countries combat rural decline, according to Euractiv.
According to the Romania Smart City Association, smart villages are communities in rural areas that use innovative solutions to improve the lives of residents, by streamlining public administration and developing the economy based on the area’s strengths, local opportunities and the latest technologies.
Romania’s best ‘smart village’
In Romania, the best “smart village” would undoubtedly be the commune of Ciugud in Alba county, central Romania, which mayors of other areas even visit for inspiration. Ciugud has even become an example of good practice for villages in the Prignitz District of Germany, following a visit of officials from the Brandenburg district at the end of August.
Ciugud’s mayor, Gheorghe Damian, ditched his political party to focus on the commune full-time, now for 21 years and counting. So far, he has invested more than €32 million in the commune’s infrastructure, tourism, green energy, and cultural projects.
But everything started before Romania joined the EU: “We somehow trained with the Phare and Sapard funding, we got the taste of EU funds,” said Damian.
“We would have needed the municipal revenue for the next 100 years to be able to achieve what we have done so far with the help of EU funds. 100 years and one has to account that if you start something and don’t finish it in a few years, it degrades and then costs you even more. And then, the people of Ciugud should have waited another 100 years to enjoy what they have today,” Damian said.
With the help of EU funds, the commune now ranks among the top five richest communes in Alba county in terms of budget revenues.
EU membership has allowed local authorities to no longer depend solely on the will of politicians to get development funding, the mayor said, adding that EU money is ‘the cheapest because it does not depend on the electoral score, how many banners I showed, but on the idea of the project, what I propose and what I do with the actual amounts for the project.”
‘Ciugud to be true’
Back in 2000, the commune counted about 2,600 inhabitants. Now it has 3,600 people so that, overall, around €10,000 per capita has been invested from EU money.
The mayor boasts that in Ciugud there is no housing without utilities (water, sewage, natural gas, fibre optics) and no unpaved streets. Even 26 kilometres of farming roads have been paved.
“Ciugud To Be True” – the commune’s slogan – also applies to electric cars as the area boasts one wind-powered charging station per 1,000 inhabitants. The commune also has smart lighting systems and has started to move its electrical cables underground.
The inhabitants are happy too as they trust the local administration more than the church, which in Orthodox Romania is not an easy feat.
“After all, this is the role of a local public administration: to make people happy through everything it does. The fact that people want to buy a house or a parcel here, to invest in our economic development area, to set their company’s headquarters here, I think is the most thrilling for our local public administration,” the mayor continued.
But the success does not stop in Ciugud as the mayor is also looking to help develop surrounding localities, with which he has already developed partnerships.
“It is not enough for us to do well, we are aware that we have to live in a space where we have to eliminate disparities,” he said.
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