Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania

Population: 55,000

Sfântu Gheorghe is the capital of Covasna County in central Romania. It is situated between the Baraolt and Bodoc mountain ranges on the River Olt. Sfântu Gheorghe’s population is a diverse mix of ethnic Hungarians, Romanians and Roma.

The vision

Sfântu Gheorghe has the vision of a liveable, greener and well-managed city, closely aligned with nature and, where possible, has greater self-sufficiency. The project will raise awareness about the benefits of re-naturing and making Sfântu Gheorghe a more sustainable place. Ultimately the aim is to make Sfântu Gheorghe a front-runner city for the region and an example for other towns to follow.

View point Sfantu Gheorghe

CLEVER Cities plans

Through CLEVER Cities, Sfântu Gheorghe plans to increase the city’s resilience in the face of extreme weather, such as flooding, and improve access to and quality of green spaces for locals to enjoy. The project will focus on the area around the Debren River (a tributary of the River Olt), which is prone to flooding.

Sfantu Gheorghe - Debren river
Sfantu Gheorghe - Houses

The intention is to work with the local Roma community living in the area, to design and implement the nature-based solutions to improve living conditions. Social measures will promote socially inclusive interaction in the new designed area. The installation of new green spaces and playgrounds for children are under consideration in order to fulfil the city’s green aims.

Latest news from Sfântu Gheorghe

CLEVER Cities Sfântu Gheorghe Invests in Environmental Education

1 September 2022

Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania is striving to increase the city’s resilience to natural disasters associated with climate change. Concurrently, the city is prioritizing increasing and improving access to green spaces for local residents. The city is in particular concerned with the flood prone Debren River area, which is home to marginalized communities experiencing a number of social and environmental challenges. Kids living in the area are exposed to a degraded urban environment and have little access to green space.

 

 

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Early Pioneers: CLEVER Fellow Cities blaze possible trails towards the EU Urban Greening Plans

27 August 2021

To help reverse biodiversity loss within and around urban areas, the EU has called on European cities of more than 20,000 inhabitants to develop ambitious Urban Greening Plans in support of its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

 

Through their involvement in CLEVER Cities, the project’s Fellow Cities Belgrade (Serbia), Larissa (Greece), Madrid (Spain), Malmö (Sweden) and Sfântu Gheorghe (Romania) are conducting pioneer work that is already making significant contributions to the EU Urban Greening Plans initiative. So is Quito (Ecuador), the only non-European Fellow in CLEVER Cities.

 

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Sfântu Gheorghe launches its urban innovation partnership

9 December 2019

Sfântu Gheorghe launches its urban innovation partnership

On 18 September 2019 Sfântu Gheorghe launched its urban innovation partnership – a city-wide  informal alliance of  local authorities, community groups, businesses and academics – in order to kick-start the process of co-creating nature-based solutions for regeneration within the CLEVER Cities project.

 

CLEVER Cities partners, the Municipality of Sfântu Gheorghe and the Covasna Environmental Protection Agency, hosted the event, which brought together various local stakeholders.

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Malmö welcomes fellow cities to kick-off in Lindängen

31 May 2019

Malmö Workshop

“Green rush to Lindängen”: this is the vision that the CLEVER Cities team in Malmö (Sweden) has set for its CLEVER Action Lab.  The Malmö team - hosts of the Kick-off Workshop for fellow cities, which took place on 16-17 May 2019 - presented their vision of a peaceful, healthy, biodiverse and proud neighbourhood, with future headlines covering the green rush to visit Lindängen’s buzzing bee hotels and trails of plants from North to South.

Participants from Belgrade (Serbia), Larissa (Greece), Sfântu Gheorghe (Romania) and Quito (Ecuador) also presented the visions for their CLEVER Action labs.

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