Project No. 2SR-1.2-1
“Common Strategy for Sustainable Territorial Development of the cross-border area Romania-Bulgaria”
(10.02.2012-10.02.2014)
Romania ? Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013
Priority axis
“Accessibility - Improved mobility and access to transport, information and communication infrastructure in the cross-border area”

Key area of intervention:
“Development of information and communications networks and services within the cross-border area”

PARTNERS:

Lead Partner:  The Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism ? MRDT: www.mdrt.ro

Partner 2: Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works: www.mrrb.government.bg
Partner 3:  Romanian Association for Electronic and Software Industry- Oltenia Subsidiary: www.aries-oltenia.ro
Partner 4:  The Center of Consultancy and Project Management ? Europroject: www.europroject.org.ro
Partner 5: National Administration for Land Reclamation: www.anif.ro
Partner 6: District administration ? Pleven: www.pleven-oblast.bg
Partner 7:Human Resources Development Agency: www.hrda.ruse.bg
Partner 8: Business Support Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises ? Ruse: www.bsc.ruse.bg
Partner 9: Agency for Sustainable Development and Eurointegration ? Ecoregions: www.asde-bg.org
Partner 10:  Bulgarian Association for Alernative tourism: www.baatbg.org
Partner 11:  Veliko Tarnovo Municipality, Republic of Bulgaria: www.veliko-turnovo.bg
Partner 12: Association of Danube River Municipalities “Danube”: www. adodunav.org

ABOUT THE PROJECT

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

• In order to limit the territorial disparities and to ensure the competitiveness it is essential to elaborate an integrated planning document for the cross-border area, drafting a common territorial strategy, based on the diagnosis of the area, tackling the specific problems of the region and proposing territorial development policies in order to ensure a coherent and synergic approach of the two riversides of the Danube.To achieve this planning it is necessary to establish a set of strategic objectives, to identify directions for action, prioritize actions, to establish policies and programs for cross-border area, with relevant actors and revealing taking into account human, financial and those related to time framework.
• To provide a clear picture of current situation, to identify the trends in the area in order to have a prospective approach and provide a basis for the investment, it is absolutely necessary to create an updated database and its interpretation, by emphasizing territorial dynamics, that is accessible to all stakeholders, whether central or local government employees, educational institutions and research or business.
• In order to ensure the implementation of actions set out in the strategy it is essential to identify and develop monitoring tools and to establish responsibilities. These monitoring tools will lead to folding strategy needs and the potential border area.
• The rationale of this objective is to implement the territorial Strategy through strategic pilot projects in the eligible area of the programme and in this manner to validate and verify how the Strategy can be implemented.
• To ensure effective decisions and to build the conditions for territorial competitiveness, the cooperation of all relevant actors is essential, as territorial development strategies need to be completed by functional areas, not administrative limits, overcoming the factors of division and transforming cultural diversity in a feature bringing added value. Border areas require attention and development to ensure continuity of flows and need cross-border cooperation.
• Making a diagnosis of the area surveyed by formulating a clear picture of existing situation with identification of potent strategy that will support and highlight problems that need solving are essential elements in the formulation of cross-border strategies.
  Also, comparing the current situation, both in territory under study and comparing with neighboring territories, identifying inter- and intra-regional disparities helps to indicate the measures needed to ensure sustainable and balanced territorial development.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

• Management and communication
• Management and coordination;
• Communication, dissemination and promotion;
• Development of a Regional Brand & Marketing Plan.
• Development of a common methodology and monitoring system for territorial development
• Preparation of the common methodology for territorial analysis and diagnosis;
• Preparation of the common methodology for strategic planning process and monitoring;
• Training and working meetings for efficient use of the CBA methodology;
• Preparing complementary instruments for territorial monitoring and development.

• Development of common resources for territorial planning analysis and strategy
• Assessment of internal equipment and training needs for setting up databases and processing:
• Acquisition of necessary hardware equipments and software for territorial data bases:
• Elaboration of a harmonized common territorial and land cover database for the Ro-Bg CBA.
• Analysis and diagnosis of the current situation in the cross-border region
• Preparing of a common and harmonised cartographic support of the CBA:
• Territorial analysis and data collection:
• Elaboration of specialized thematic studies:
• Identification of problems and territorial disparities:
• Identifying needs and potential in the relevant areas of the CBA;

• Elaboration of the Romanian-Bulgarian Cross-Border Region Territorial Development Strategy and policy recommendations
• Developing and elaborating the Ro-Bg CBA TDS
• Building partnership for the TDS
• Public consultations and environmental assessment of the TDS
• Subcontracting of specialised services
• Drafting an Action Plan
• Drafting a Green Paper of the CBA
• Approval of the TDS

• Developing and implementing pilot projects in the Romanian-Bulgarian cross-border region
• Integrated territorial pilot projects developed at county/district and municipality level
• Meetings:
• Integrated pilot projects:
• Developing and implementing sectorial /thematic pilot projects  area:

- Education and human resources
- Economy

- Agriculture and Land improvement

- Tourism
- Transports and infrastructures

• Sectorial pilot projects:

TARGET GROUPS

• Central and local public administration represents the bodies with responsibility in spatial and urban planning in Romania and Bulgaria, so they have a key role in implementation of the territorial strategy.
• Taken into account the financial potential from the private area, in order to increase the budget for some public interventions.
• Its represent one of the most important target groups, which can offer innovative ways for the future development. Also, the relationship with the universities is crucial in strengthen and promoting the region identity.
• They represent a key point in ensuring the success of the project, their interest being to develop their areas.

THE CROSS-BORDER IMPACT OF THE PROJECT
The project would ensure a coherent and integrated approach of the lower stream of the Danube, an area that includes one of the longest borders in Europe, with a 610 km frontier out of which 470 km on the Danube, a structuring element at European level. Furthermore, the project would ensure continuity and would set the basis for a transnational development strategy for the entire Danube. The project, drafted at NUTS III level, addresses an area of 71 930 sq km out of which 54.66 % is Romanian territory.
The project contributes to attaining the objectives of the Operational Programme for Cross-border cooperation 2007 ? 2013 Romania-Bulgaria by mobilizing people, communities and economies from the Romanian ? Bulgarian cross-border area in order to develop common projects of cross-border cooperation by using the resources of both countries. The strategy aims to create a common framework, a common vision for a territory that has common characteristics and challenges.  Furthermore, the strategy ensures the connection of these areas to development areas, avoiding those problems rising from communication barriers and marginalization. At the European level, the European Territorial Agenda approved in 2007, and the Green Paper of territorial cohesion, launched in 2008, mention new forms of partnership and territorial governance as important directions for action, a need for overcoming the problems posed by distance and by diving lines and that territorial disparities should be overcome and conditions that foster competitiveness should be created.  
The implementation of the project will ensure the overcoming the natural and border limits, the connections between the development flows and the integration of this area in the EU development corridors, and it will be created a basis for investment, for investors, ensuring the territorial development and competitiveness conditions.

EXPECTED RESULTS

• Evaluation reports on social, economic and territorial cohesion, on economic competitiveness and environment of the cross-border area
• A common Territorial Development Strategy for a coherent and synergic approach of the two riversides of the Danube to increase territorial cohesion and ensuring conditions for economic competitiveness of the cross-border area and an Action Plan.
• An operational common territorial data base and cartographic support for the Romanian-Bulgarian cross-border area, a common set of indicators and a common methodology to monitoring the territory
• A Territorial Observatory to monitoring the development of the cross-border area.
• Implemented sectorial pilot projects in the field of economic competitiveness-business environment, education-human resources development, agriculture-land improvement, transports-infrastructures and tourism
• Information and knowledge largely disseminated among the main stakeholders of the Romanian-Bulgarian cross-border area.
• A brand for the Romania-Bulgaria Cross Border Region commonly promoted at European level.

INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY

• Elaboration of a  strategy and a communication actions plan
• Organizing the kick-off  and closure meeting
• External promotion of the project results thorough events
• External promotion of the project results thorough marketing and publicity materials
• Public consultations in order to ensure the transparency