The Sustainable Romania Project, launched in 2019, with a total value of about 25 million RON, of which 22 million RON are non-reimbursable European funds, has been concluded with all the objectives achieved and results appreciated at the highest international level, Laszlo Borbely, coordinator of the Department for Sustainable Development, announced on Friday.

“When we started this project we had a National Sustainable Development Strategy and many ambitious plans. During the implementation period we have managed to achieve all the objectives we set out to achieve. Romania is now seen as a provider of expertise on the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The results of the project have been appreciated at the highest level, both through the distinction awarded to us by the United Nations for innovation in the public system and in other renowned international forums such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development or the World Bank. We must be aware that we are closing a chapter, but the road continues and we still have a lot of work to do to successfully implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. What is important is that we now have a functioning institutional framework, a national set of indicators and other important tools such as sustainable development experts and the Romanian Sustainability Code,” said Laszlo Borbely, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES.

The project “Sustainable Romania – Development of the strategic and institutional framework for the implementation of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Romania 2030”, co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Administrative Capacity Operational Programme 2014-2020, has been implemented over the last 4 years by the Department for Sustainable Development, within the General Secretariat of the Government, together with partners – the National Institute of Statistics and the Regional Association for the Development of Entrepreneurship Oltenia, the press release said.

According to the cited source, among the results of the project are: an action plan and a monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy; a communication plan – information and awareness-raising actions such as TV spots, online banner campaigns, content development and increased presence on social networks, newsletters, numerous promotional events and workshops, including the creation of an exhibition pavilion, used in three editions of the European Sustainable Development Week, and a coherent statistical database.

A new set of national sustainable development indicators were also developed and are available on the Sustainable Romania Aggregator, 50 public opinion barometers and an adequate institutional framework for the implementation and monitoring of the SNDDR 2030 through the establishment of sustainable development units in central and local public authorities, the training of their staff in sustainable development and the development of the institutional capacity of the Department for Sustainable Development of the Romanian Government.