High School and University Students Redesign Parks in Timisoara
Impressing Norwegian Experts with a Multipurpose Approach
Several teams of students from Timișoara took part in an ideas competition on remodeling parks in the city with multifunctionality in mind, as part of the project "The Culture of Parks - Parks of Culture," coordinated by Politehnica University Timișoara. The solutions proposed by the young participants impressed the Norwegian guests who provide the project's funding.
Politehnica University Timișoara is an institution actively and significantly involved in raising awareness among young people about the importance of green spaces in the city and providing sustainability solutions, including community green spaces, through the work of university researchers. To that end, the project "The Culture of Parks - Parks of Culture," which the university promotes alongside two Norwegian institutions - the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) - has undertaken a series of activities such as round tables and workshops, where many Romanian and Norwegian experts have sought collaboration and development solutions for new projects in the city on the Bega River.
The Norwegian experts visited the central parks in Timișoara to analyze their multifunctionality and, at the same time, acted as the jury for a competition of ideas that could be transformed into concrete projects, aptly named "Reshaping our Parks - Planning for Multifunctionality." This event, aimed at both high school, and university students, invited participants to reconsider the existing green spaces in the city, making them multifunctional or proposing new urban multipurpose spaces for a resilient and sustainable city that meets the needs of its citizens.
Twenty-seven young individuals, organized into eight teams, took part in the competition, presenting ideas that impressed the jury: https://youtu.be/FcNsEBY58Zw. The quality of the presentations was also due to the support of mentors, including Mirela Szitar Sîrbu - university lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and City Planning of Politehnica University Timișoara, Georgeta Iovănel - teacher at "Grigore Moisil" Theoretical High School, Daniel Urlea - teacher at "Nikolaus Lenau" Theoretical High School, Otilia Milutinovici - teacher at Primary School No. 19 "Avram Iancu", Adina Grozăvescu and Elena Bărbușu - teachers at Logos Theoretical High School, Cristina Curea - teacher at "C.D. Loga" National College, and Cristian Berar - lecturer at "Regele Mihai I" University of Life Sciences in Timișoara.
The creativity and dedication of the young participants were rewarded with prizes worth a total of 3000 lei, granted by two of the event sponsors: SC BB Imo SRL Arad si SC Auto Schunn SRL.
It is worth mentioning that the project "The Culture of Parks - Parks of Culture" has received a grant of 242,517.26 lei from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants program. The EEA and Norway Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, and Norway towards a greener, more competitive, and inclusive Europe. The grants serve two main objectives: reducing economic and social disparities in Europe and strengthening bilateral relations between the donor states, 15 EU states from Central and Southern Europe, and the Baltic states. The donor states closely cooperate with the EU under the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). From 1994 to 2014, the donor states contributed €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes. Between 2014 and 2021, EEA and Norway Grants have reached €2.8 billion. For more information, please visit https://eeagrants.org/ and https://www.eeagrants.ro/.
For further details about the project, please contact the project director, Dr. Eng. Rareș Hălbac, Ph.D., at rares.halbac-cotoara-zamfir@upt.ro or visit the project's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084241691085
