On 15th April, DANUrB+ and DANUBIAN SMCs projects were disseminated at the “Waters for Sustainable Communities” Conference. Mihaela Hărmănescu and Angelica Stan from the PP - UAUIM ("Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism), were invited to ”Initiatives in Romania” panel to introduce the two projects that outline the relation between professionals and local communities, educational programs, and initiatives along the Danube.

The event took place in Bucharest between 14th and 15th April, 2022 and was organized by the Rețeaua Apele Unite ale României in partnership with OAR Național, OAR București, and the Department for Sustainable Development.

The conference is the first moment of the Biennial "Water for Sustainable Communities", a European event festival, with the aim of raising awareness of the value of the river and its relationship to the city and the community. The event brings together architects, planners and representatives of local public administrations, stakeholders interested in social / cultural / urban projects, but also business and entrepreneurship.

The two-day meeting highlighted:

• Premises for collaboration in order to determine solutions for capitalizing on water as a source of urbanity, in the context of ensuring water management for the benefit of communities;
• The relationship between water and the city, the importance of the river as an identity element, the river-built heritage relationship;
• Principles / solutions of urban intervention (water retention and modern solutions for rainwater systematization in the city, use of green infrastructure elements in urbanism, river collection, development with low impact).

https://rowmania.ro/conferinta-ape-pentru-comunitati-durabile/

The common aim of the conference is:

• To propose a vision regarding the role of the architect-urbanist in capitalizing on the river for the city. Is this role relevant to the professional body of architects? Is it defined?
• To extract some principles of inclusion of the notion of hydrographic heritage in the thinking and practice of urbanism, including on the basis of the examination of some examples of good practice.
• To propose the local public authorities an integrated flood risk management guide and practical ways to include nature-based solutions in project development.
• To outline a realistic answer to the question "What do we do with Dâmbovița and the chain of lakes of Bucharest?"

You can watch (in Romanian) the videos from the conference here:

1st day video: https://fb.watch/cqakJJzwfm/

2nd day video: https://fb.watch/cq8h8fXF-T/

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Project co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF and IPA).