Main focus: Circular economy – Waste management
Very brief description of the local situation in the community
October 2018 – setting the framework of BCIL
Issues affecting Bucharest in 2019:
• Lack of an action-driven waste management system for individual consumer
• Only a few companies using circular economy in their business model
• Lack of education for adults on waste management (at home, at work)
March 2020:
• More awareness among individual consumers (including students)
• Joint efforts between universities-companies-social enterprises (SEs) –NGOs to address underlined issues
• Working groups (at ASE) on social challenges proposed by SEs
Main activities of the BCIL 2020:
– Jan.-Feb. 2020: Stakeholder virtual discussion about new social challenges which make the purpose of the students‘ problem-based projects
– Feb.-June 2020: Stakeholder continuos interaction and feedback on the students‘ projects
– Feb.-May 2020: Working groups on: a strategy for Bine Boutique online shop; A research to prioritize the benefits of Bine Boutique customers in the “physical” store; identify suppliers of consumer products (food, hygiene products, housing appliances) which could be potential donors of products for the 3 Somaro locations: Bucharest, Ploiesti, Sibiu; a campaign (to be implemented with limited resources) to inform communities in the vicinity of Somaro stores in Bucharest, Sibiu, Ploiesti about the existence of the Somaro social store and about their benefits
– Monthly (virtual or face-to-face) meetings of BCIL members to share feedback and decide next steps by purchasing products from this store
Main stakeholders of the BCIL
– Core actors: social enterprises, faculty and staff members (with expertise or interested in the field)
– Influence actors: students, volunteers, public administration (city halls, municipal local council), other SEs, NGOs, private companies, corporations (including supermarkets)
– Impact actors: university leaders, individual consumers in the local community, local municipality, suppliers of materials (food, hygiene products, textile, etc.), mass media
Main achievements
– Short/ medium term colaboration/ partnerships between university and social enterprises to address SEs challenges
– Social enterprise solutions documented as a business plan
– Problem-based learning material and tools about current SEs reality in Bucharest on waste management
– Course material updates, cases and exercises
– Examples of best practice: public-privat
Lessons learned:
– Ensure a good balance between planned inputs (time, expertise, research efforts, etc.) and expected mutual benefits (designing and documentation of the sollution, problem-based learning tools, further support, consultancy during implementation, etc.)
– Time is limited and is equally precious for each party involved
– Circumstances (which determine collaboration) might change; flexibility and adaptation to the new situation are expected
Project website: www.localchange.eu
For more details about BCIL, please contact: Prof. Dr. Carmen Păunescu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, E-mail: carmen.paunescu@ase.ro