Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Antreprenoriat Social – Day 1

Prima zi de training din cadrul scolii de vara “Impreuna pentru Schimbare Sociala” e pe cale sa se incheie. Spun “e pe cale”, intrucat participantii inca joaca sangeroasa schema strategica numita “mafia”, insa atat Razvan cat si eu ne-am retras sa ne pregatim interventiile de maine. Aseara am avut petrecere multiculturala, cu foarte multe lucrusoare frumoase, gustoase si adeseori alcoolice aduse de participanti din toate regiunile tarii. Azi insa am inceput cu mult avant, cu un prim training in dezvoltare comunitara tinut de Mugur Ciumageanu si Raluca Sfetcu. Am reusit sa stabilim destul de multe lucruri de ce inseamna o comunitate si am reusit sa navigam cu multa delicatete prin hatisurile dialogului intercultural, punand pe tapet si uneori depasind prejudecati clasice legate de etnia roma. Continue reading ‘Antreprenoriat Social – Day 1′

Obama and the World: A Sham?

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAhb06Z8N1c&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamaroadblog/gGxyFs[/video]

I have openly declared my admiration for Barack Obama before (here and here). I have always been very much preoccupied with the prospects of changes in American foreign policy – especially with respect to its ties with Europe and global organizations. I remember disagreeing with Antal Daniel, a Blogactiv blogger, on this issue. While I’ve always felt that Obama as president would mean a total shift of paradigm in world affairs, both this article written by Obama himself a year ago and his recent visit to Berlin make me think twice before claiming this. The story with the visit goes pretty much along these lines: Obama was more of a rock star than a politician, with extatic crowds of 200000 people cheering for him, and with a speech that reminded everybody of the messianic figures of the American nation (i.e. Kennedy and Reagan). Continue reading ‘Obama and the World: A Sham?’

EU Enlargement and its Corrupt Offspring

Interesting pronouncements from the European Commission coming in today for Romania and Bulgaria. It looks like the Commission will once again criticize the lack of progress in fighting corruption and in the administration of justice in the EU’s newest members. However, it looks like Bulgaria will be chastised worse this time, due to mismanaging European funds (basically financing political campaigns from offshore bank accounts instead of giving Sapard money to Bulgarian farmers), with two huge operational programmes most likely to be interrupted in Bulgaria. When it comes to Bulgaria the allegations of their deputy prime minister against the Commission for leaking off information to the media (the Bulgarian official saying it is this tip-off that will affect Bulgaria’s image abroad, not the corruption itself) seem to me most strange. Continue reading ‘EU Enlargement and its Corrupt Offspring’

Dinu Patriciu Invests in Education

I was reading these days various articles about Dinu Patriciu – the wealthiest Romanian citizen alive and the 426th richest man in the world! Although I am writing this entry in English, I don’t plan to develop on the profile of this extremely interesting man too much for my non-Romanian readers. You can read more about him here and here. Suffice it to say he is a very controversial guy… doing business in oil and gas (he is the owner of Rompetrol – a European leader in oil and gas), doing business with state-owned companies much to his personal advantage, being tainted with politics and all sorts of fraud/ corruption allegations (he even spent a couple of days in custody, if I remember correctly), and so on. I don’t plan to comment on any of these issues. I just want to point out two aspects: Continue reading ‘Dinu Patriciu Invests in Education’

Antreprenori sociali de viitor

afisantrepsoc164 de aplicatii. Atat am jurizat ieri si azi. A trebuit sa alegem numai 20 de participanti, care vor interactiona timp de 5 zile la Predeal si vor gusta un pic din ceea ce inseamna antreprenoriatul social. Vom fi alaturi de ei in sustinerea proiectelor dezvoltate in echipa in timpul scolii de vara Impreuna Pentru Schimbare Sociala. In cursul zilei de maine vom publica si programul final al scolii, intrucat am primit confirmari de la cativa invitati foarte faini. Ca o remarca generala, aplicatiile au fost foarte interesante in sensul ca din ce in ce mai multi tineri sunt implicati in activitati extrascolare care ii dezvolta si care ii expun unor valori mai bune si mai utile decat cele inspirate de scoala. Si asta se simte in felul lor de a gandi. Pe de alta parte, mi-a parut din nou rau sa vad aplicatii alcatuite in graba (daca nu iti doresti pe bune sa participi, de ce te mai obosesti?), si lipsa totala de pragmatism in propunerea de idei/ proiecte concrete de dezvoltare comunitara. Oricum, au fost cel putin 60 de aplicatii extrem de bune, insa din pacate doar 20 au putut merge mai departe. Lista completa a aplicantilor o gasiti aici!  Felicitari tuturor celor care au alcatuit aplicatii bune si multumesc mult oamenilor minunati care m-au ajutat sa promovez acest proiect.

65% bloggeritza!

Ca tot nu am mai scris eu de multicel pe blog, se pare ca inca nu sunt total dependenta de aceasta meteahna placuta mintii. Dar ma indrept intr-acolo :)

65%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

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Via Sorin Tudor

Guvernul si tinerii: o comunicare batranicioasa

Din experienta mea de lucru cu autoritatile romane din domeniul tineretului, pot spune ca lucrurile s-au schimbat foarte mult in bine in ultimii ani. Cel putin la nivelul comunicarii cu beneficiarii pe proiecte/ initiative precise, desi la nivelul strategiilor si procedurilor interne (a birocritizarii lor excesive, mai precis) mai este mult de lucru. Si totusi, azi mi-am dat seama ca atat Autoritatea Nationala pentru Tineret cat si Agentia Nationala pentru Sprijinirea Initiativelor Tinerilor comit cateva greseli de neiertat in domeniul comunicarii publice de anvergura. Continue reading ‘Guvernul si tinerii: o comunicare batranicioasa’

Mi-am pierdut telefonul/ Lost phone. Please help!

In urma cu o ora am izbutit sa imi pierd telefonul.  Nu am nici un numar de telefon, asa ca, daca stiti ca va aflati in agenda mea, va rog mult dati-mi un mail cu numarul vostru de telefon la corina.murafa@gmail.com. Maine imi recuperez cartela si ma puteti gasi la acelasi numar de telefon ca de obicei.  Multumesc!

I’ve lost my phone. I have no contacts left, so if you believe you’re on my agenda, please drop me an email at corina.murafa@gmail.com. I’ll get the sim card back tomorrow, so you can still reach me at the same number. Thanks!

Romania – A Mystery

Sometimes I wonder why I still find Romania so fascinating… It still beats me. One morning I come across some great initiatives, like the International Development Design Summit at MIT, meant to mainstream technological research and create innovative solution for the world’s poorest countries. Few know, but 90% of the world’s research ande development investments are targeted at serving the wealthiest 10% of the world’s population. And in Romania we can’t even speak about innovation as a key approach to development, let alone about real R&D and we are failing at making even baby steps in so many other fields. And still, the very same morning I receive a brilliant blog entry from the New York Times which reminds me that Romania is eclectic and fascinating, that there are dozens of things that work here and are so passee anywhere else in the world, that we are charming and have great potential. So yeah, I still adore Romania. Half instinctively, half rationally I guess.

Scoala de vara de antreprenoriat social. Aplica pana pe 20 iulie!

afisORICUM iti lanseaza o provocare noua! Ai intre 16 si 26 de ani si vrei sa inveti cum sa produci schimbare sociala durabila? Vrei sa faci parte din prima generatie de antreprenori sociali romani? Inscrie-te pana la 20 iulie la scoala de vara “Impreuna pentru Schimbare Sociala”! Este incurajata participarea tinerilor apartinand minoritatilor nationale.

Agentia de Monitorizare a Presei si Asociatia ORICUM pentru Educatie lanseaza prima scoala de vara dedicata antreprenoriatului social din Romania. Programul “Impreuna pentru Schimbare Sociala” se adreseaza tinerilor cu varsta cuprinsa intre 16 si 26 de ani, cu potential de lider, implicati in comunitatile din care fac parte, creativi si dornici sa invete mai multe despre metode inovatoare de aduce schimbari pozitive in comunitatile lor.

Timp de 5 zile, in perioada 26 – 30 iulie, 20 de tineri apartinand romani, dar si apartinand minoritatilor nationale, se vor aduna la Predeal, la prima scoala de vara dedicata antreprenoriatului social din Romania. Organizatorii cauta atat promovarea antreprenoriatului social prin training-uri, exemple practice si un incubator de proiecte, cat si stimularea dialogului intercultural prin incurajarea participarii tinerilor apartinand minoritatilor nationale.

Participantii la scoala de vara vor lucra in echipe cu scopul generarii de proiecte bazate pe principiile antreprenoriatului social. Proiectele rezultate in urma scolii de vara vor primi feedback si monitorizare, urmand ca autorii lor sa participe in toamna la un workshop de prezentare a proiectului, iar autorii celui mai bun proiect sa primeasca finantare de start-up pentru implementarea ideii lor.

Puteti afla mai multe detalii despre program pe pagina dedicata acestuia: http://www.antreprenoriatsocial.ro. Tot aici puteti completa online formularul de aplicatie pentru a participa la “Impreuna pentru Schimbare Sociala”. Deadline-ul pentru primirea aplicatiilor este 20 iulie.

“Impreuna pentru Schimbare Sociala” este un program finantat de Uniunea Europeana, prin programul “Tineret in Actiune”, si de Open Society Institute.