Description (EN): Bridging the differences between the public administrations on the opposite sides of the border is the main challenge of the region since there are inevitable cultural and institutional distinctions. The road proposed by the project is to promote common values in order to build trust between decision-makers from the counties of Arad and Bekes and the staff of the county councils, create the conditions for them to work together in identifying the problems faced by organizations and the population in both counties and boost the activity of the Arad Bekes Joint Committee. The main overall objective is to enhance joint institutional capacity to provide better services in Arad and Bekes counties by facilitating cooperation of county level decision-makers and promotion of common heritage.The local administrations from the two counties have a tradition in working together since the Cooperation Agreement was signed in 1990 and renewed in 2003. The collaboration became more consistent with the establishment of the Arad-Bekes Joint Committee in 2007. The created structure had three work groups focused on 1. Territorial planning and infrastructure, 2. Human resources, culture and health and 3. Environment protection, sports and tourism. The two administrations acknowledged that cross-border relations are just as indispensable as relations with the neighbouring counties in their own counties, in their aspiration to overcome the economic and social divide imposed by the border. The meetings involved councilors and high ranking staff. The results of the collaboration were a series of projects developed with EU funding, meetings and cooperation in other domains (e.g. water supply).The changes expected from the proposed project refer to the scope and depth of the activity of the Arad-Bekes Joint Committee. The changes occurred in the responsibilities of the local administrations and the new problems surfaced in the time passed suggested the necessity to reorganize the existing Committee and the concurrence with the objectives of the Romanian Hungarian Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 presented the opportunity to make the reorganizing process the subject of the present project. Broadening the activity of the Committee will imply reorganizing the work groups on five main proposed topics: risk prevention and disaster management, tourism, health, culture, heritage and cross border relations, transport and infrastructure. Deepening the activity will mean participation of the personnel of both local administrations to a greater extent and the involvement of a large base of stakeholders in the problem identification and solution finding process.The expected results will be a large institutional and personal collaboration base, reflected in better understanding and more accurate identification of shared problems, joint finding of efficient solutions, acknowledgment in the general public of the common values and joint efforts and last but not least, set an example of best practice along the border with local public administrations and the general public as main beneficiaries.The project proposes the following objectives:1. Improvement of the activity of the Arad-Bekes Joint Committee. The reorganization process will start with the meeting of the councilors and staff from the two county councils for a study tour in Bekes. During the event, the participants will visit relevant sites in Bekes county and will held meetings to revise the statute of the Committee and establish the members for each work group. Each work group will meet twice during the implementation period and will invite representatives of relevant institutions. Each meeting will consist of a site-visit, a short conference followed by discussion and a work-lunch. During the meetings, the participants will discuss current issues but will also establish the topics and identify the panel for future meetings. The Hungarian partner will develop a county brand with the input and knowhow transfer from the Romanian partners, as Arad County already has a brand. Also, the content and design for two promotional brochures will be agreed. Towards the end of the implementation period the assembly of the Joint Committee will reunite in Arad County to finalize a two-year action plan for the Arad - Bekes Joint Committee, stating frequency of future meetings, topics of discussion and guests.Venues for the future meetings and activities of the Committee will be created: one meeting hall renovated and equipped; 1 office renovated; 2 storage rooms renovated.2. Promotion of common cultural heritage. An editorial work group coordinated by Arad County Library will prepare a Dictionary of Local Culinary Treasures that will be printed in 400 copies in Romanian and 400 copies in Hungarian and will consist of articles related to local dishes and culinary traditions, identified, proposed and selected by the three partners. The book will be distributed to libraries, county councils, town halls, tourist information centers.The Hungarian partner will prepare a travelling exhibition to raise awareness about Hungarian that will be displayed both in Arad and Bekescsaba.The project builds on the historic cooperation between the two counties and ensures better cooperation and understanding in the future, in the interest of improving public services. The objectives of the project, as they were designed, have meaning and impact only if the two county councils work together, with the involvement of the Arad County Library, a key partner in the promotion of cultural heritage and a herald of future involvement of county level institutions in the activity of the Committee.The implementation of the project will lead to an unprecedented level of cooperation between counties situated on different sides of a national border.The proposed general budget for the project is 217.500 Euro
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Expected Outputs (EN): The main result of the project is the action plan for the Arad Bekes Joint Committee, which implies the cooperation of the two county level decision making institutions during the implementation of the project and also lays the foundation for cooperation at least two years after completion of the project. In the purpose of promoting common cultural heritage, a third partner was involved, the Arad County Library. Three county level institutions will cooperate for the accomplishment of the activities set in the project. The planned meetins will involve other institutions relevant for the discussed topic and, further on, the work groups will identify during the implementation period other partners to be involved in their activity. These stakeholders/groups will be invited to the meetings and to contribute to the process of identifying problems and finding the solutions.
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