KICK-OFF EVENT FOR PROJECT SPRINT – ROMANIA
Date: October 17th, 2024
Our project called “Sustainable procurement in railway industry on the right track: Romania and Norway in collaboration” (acronym: SPRINT) successfully kicked off in Romania on October 17th, 2024. The event took place at Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Business (on the premises of Horea Street, no. 7), starting at 6 PM. The project is funded by EEA Grants and involves a fruitful collaboration between Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway).
The event gathered many interested parties from academia, from industry, but also from the policymakers’ side. At the beginning of the event, Mr. Valentin Toader, PhD, the Dean of the Faculty of Business – who is also an Economics Expert within the team of the project – gave a foreword to the kick-off meeting and ensured the support of the University for all the activities and the achievement of the project’s objectives.
Afterwards, Ms. Daniela Cimpean, PhD – the project manager for the Romanian team – held a presentation of the project’s ambitious objectives, context, activities and expected results. This presentation provided some insightful elements on how the project will contribute to more clarity and delineations to the general topic of green public procurement, as well as the research gaps in terms of policy and practical applications.
Following Ms. Cimpean’s presentation, a representative of the Romanian Railway Reform Authority (translation from “Autoritatea pentru Reforma Feroviara – ARF”) – Mr. Viorel Lucaci (councilor for the RRRA President’s Office) – issued a brief address with words of support for the project, ensuring the policymakers’ involvement in the promotion and development of green public procurement and giving the authority’s perspective on the project. The Romanian Railway Reform Authority has the main role of implementing public policies in passenger railway transportation.
Throughout the remainder of the event, we had words of support from important stakeholders, such as:
Ms. Iuliana Badea – Procurement & SC GCC Site Director at Alstom & Ms. Ofelia Cristina Sasu – Procurement Operations Manager at Alstom. For nearly 30 years, Alstom has been a pioneer, playing a significant role in Romania's transition to modern and sustainable rail transport. From digital rail traffic control solutions, infrastructure, and electrification to metro trains, long-term maintenance of the Bucharest metro train fleet, and electric inter-regional passenger trains, Alstom is actively bringing about positive change in Romania's rail transport.
Mr. Dorin Pop – Representative of Transferoviar Grup – a unified and solid group of companies operating in the railway sector both domestically and internationally. The company's main activity is providing freight and passenger rail transport and shunting services, managing railway infrastructure, and constructing railways, roads, and highways.
Mr. Daniel Borota – Representative of Flexibil – a company with a history of over 50 years, which currently designs, develops, manufactures, and tests rubber-metal components and assemblies for various industries. The company’s products are widely used in various industries, such as railways, industrial production, and construction machinery.
After all the interventions from stakeholders, the event concluded with social networking in the Faculty’s library.