This national state-of-the-art-report gives a short overview of the present conditions on youth circular and green entrepreneurship opportunities, good practices and offers in Romania. In addition, it looks at the level of knowledge and competencies, identified by our main target group, young people from 18 to 28 years of age, their needs, and gaps.
6.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The educational system has been a much-debated subject in Romania especially in the past decade, but despite being on both public and political agendas, it has seen little reform due to the stakeholders’ reluctance towards change. The National Education Law describes two educational levels corresponding to secondary education, namely lower secondary education (ISCED 2) and superior secondary education (ISCED 3). Whereas the former encompasses basic education, the latter includes a number of available pathways: theoretical, vocational, technological, and professional and technical education. Secondary education may be continued either through tertiary non-university education (ISCED 4), or higher education (ISCED 5-8)12. These areas have been the subject of national strategies meant to adjust the academic curricula to the demands of the labor market. Lifelong learning opportunities vary with the socio-economic environment, but progress is being made with respect to the process of recognition of skills gained in informal and non-formal contexts13.
6.2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK
In Romania, the legislation on circular economy and green entrepreneurship, linked to education of youth is scarce and mostly unspecific, lacking consistency and continuity across the relevant fields: environment, employment, and education. The IRCEM organisation proposed a circular economy strategy14 for the upcoming decade that is still in progress. The objectives of this project include performing a state-of-the-art analysis of Romania’s circularity potential and identifying relevant share- and stakeholders. The formulation of recommendations for the government to facilitate a smooth transition towards a circular economy is a vital step of the project, as well as identifying opportunities for the consolidation of economical competitivity in the frame of international economy. The analysis of resource efficiency, the valorisation of materials, products and waste, waste prevention, green acquisitions, responsible production and modifying existing production processes will be the main focus of this strategy.
12 National Education Law No. 1/2011
13 https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/ongoing-reforms-and-policy-developments-56_en
14 https://www.ircem.ro/roadmap-for-developing-a-strategy-on-the-circular-economy-in-romania/
20 Skills and education are key qualities of the workforce and can determine the attractiveness of a market, and Romania still has disadvantages in this regard. A series of strategic documents and action plans for human resource development and education are being promoted in order to improve the quality of the education and training system so as to ensure the correlation with the labor market. The National Employment Strategy15 provides educational initiatives for the development of human resources with a high level of qualification and skills adapted to the requirements of the labor market. The National Strategy for Tertiary Education16 in turn identifies directions to ensure an education system adequate to market requirements and skill development through involving employers in the design and delivery of curricula, supporting staff exchanges and broadening practical experience in the curriculum.
The aim of the adoption of the National Higher Education Qualifications Framework17 is to observe a significant increase in the quality of higher and post-graduate education. It introduces transparent standards and practices describing qualification and validation procedures, as well as the development of solutions relying on information technology for process management and the training of a contingent of evaluators of educational processes and their impact on higher education outcomes.
Master’s and VET programs have been created in order to promote research and development of skills specific to the field of activity through the operational programs financed from FESI18 (EU funding), which support coaching / training actions for future managers and entrepreneurs in enterprises to improve their skills; improve human resources management in companies;
introduce innovative, green and productive models of work organization.
6.3 MAIN GOALS & METHODOLOGY
The main sources of the qualitative and quantitative information indicated in this report were a result of an extended bibliographic, literature review and field data. During the project’s research phase, CNPCD and FITT completed a mapping document to provide:
• a contextual status report on the circular economy and green entrepreneurship legal frameworks,
• information regarding existing training offers and education delivery,
• field research results on the circular and green entrepreneurship competencies and mind-sets among youth,
15 https://www.edu.ro/sites/default/files/_fi%C8%99iere/Minister/2016/strategii/strategia-cdi-2020_-proiect-hg.pdf
16 https://www.edu.ro/sites/default/files/fisiere%20articole/Strategie_inv_tertiar_2015_2020.pdf
17 http://www.invatamant-superior.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Metodologie-CNCIS.pdf
18 https://www.curteadeconturi.ro/fondurile-europene-structurale-si-de-investitii-fesi
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• identification of the synergies and gaps with Building Bridges for Circular Economy by Fostering Youth Entrepreneurship project.
6.4 EDUCATIONAL OFFERS
The secondary school course curricula reviewed, showed lacking in CE and GE principles overall. Subjects, such Economic education19, Technological abilities and practical abilities20, Entrepreneurial education21, Economics22 do cover some of the business and entrepreneurial aspects, alternative use of the resources or similar, but do not address CE and GE holistically. It is worth mentioning that all of the examples chosen in this category, with the exception of Economical education, are part of the mandatory curriculum, ensuring a minimal awareness towards circular economy for all students, regardless of their choice of specialization. However, Romanian educational legislation also permits the development of new courses by schools (CDȘ)23, which is good practice. One example of this is Economical education, which is approved by the Ministry of Education and is therefore public, nevertheless there may very well be a multitude of other courses proposed by schools that integrate some notions of CE & GE.
VET education (formal and non-formal) covers those ideas more structurally via programmes, such as Entrepreneurial competencies24, Support for the installation of young farmers25.
Moreover, promoting the idea of life-long learning is a priority for Romania, given substantial gaps in enrolment rates in different kinds of training, retraining, professional upgrading, or specialization (more than 5 times lower than the EU average), as well as in social and personal development. Better performance in this area is critical for personal, civic, and social development, as well as the likelihood of obtaining better-paying jobs based on knowledge acquired through learning, from early childhood to post-graduate studies and other forms of adult education in formal and non-formal settings26.
Higher education offers, cover bachelor and master’s programmes, such as Sustainable development27 (master’s degree), Ecologic Economy (master’s degree)28, Product design for sustainable development 29 (master’s degree), where topics are covered from basic management, marketing, EU policies, environmental chemistry, impact assessments, …
19 http://programe.ise.ro/Portals/1/Curriculum/Progr_Gim/CD/Educatie%20economica_gimnaziu.pdf
22 Several Green entrepreneurship and circular economy notions are introduced in the context of the degree subject, which ensures a better assimilation of knowledge, as well as the gain of specific competencies. The relatively wide range of subject areas, from economics and sustainable development to geography and even ethics, suggests some coverage of circular economy and green entrepreneurship aspects within higher education.
6.5 GOOD PRACTICES
In terms of good practices, there are many educational opportunities in terms of learning the essentials behind starting a business. One of these opportunities is provided by Startarium30, which is a platform that created a comprehensive 8 module course that concerns everything one needs to know before starting a new business. The course is online, entirely free and accessible to anyone interested and covers topics such as how to write a business plan, how to manage the finances of a business, how to create a successful product, marketing and advertisement, how to attract funding, how to build a reliable team and how to develop a business mindset. Each chapter has a summary and quiz at the end to test and fixate the knowledge gained, as well as video support. They also give training on how to make use of the popular business tools available (the business model canvas, the value proposition canvas, the business selfie and pitch deck). If used right, these tools can also be a very handy way to develop a business plan and keep the general idea and plan of the business in mind.
Startarium acts as a platform for informing aspiring entrepreneurs on new funding opportunities and giving them tips on how to reach these grants. They have many articles that coach their students on how to apply for crowdfunding or how to attract local investors. They also organize a competition where participants must pitch their business ideas and the three best pitches receive a sum of 50.000, 30.000 and 20.000 euro (depending on their ranking).
As for networking, Startarium also connects young entrepreneurs with mentors or with each other through different events and conferences they organize or by promoting events of interest.
Looking at an overview of available VET training opportunities, a good practice identified throughout these would be the fact that the focus on entrepreneurial mentorship is solid, especially through monetary stimulation as most of these programs offer a sort of contest where students can showcase and apply their newly gained knowledge. Other existing VET educational platforms, created through Erasmus Plus partnership projects, offer qualitative source of learning for various stakeholders, in circular economy, such as: “EduZWaCE- Education for Zero Waste and Circular Economy”31, “LeadSus- Leadership in
30 https://startarium.ro/curs/startup-edu
31https://www.eduzwace.eu/
23 sustainability”32 and many more. Many of these projects also offer opportunities for networking and facilitation of business cooperation. While CE & GE may not be the main subject, many of these programs do still have sustainability as a topic within their curricula and introduce basic notions to their students. However, accelerator programs that strictly fund eco-innovative start-ups also exist, therefore opportunities to access programs that are directly related to CE & GE are also possible (e.g., the ClimAccelerator33 project).
6.6 RESULTS OF COMPETENCIES FIELD RESEARCH
Competencies questionnaire for youth was designed as a field activity and distributed nationally among youth, mainly targeting our key target group (18-28 years old). In Romania, there were 80 respondents altogether, 76 from the key target group and majority being female (71 %).
Survey statements were based on a 5-point Likert scale to assess the levels of knowledge and youth mind-sets, regarding Circular Economy (CE) and Green Entrepreneurship (GE). In minority (29 %) they have heard about CE and GE, therefore they lack the abilities to discuss, explain or design new solutions in business, using those principles (74 % strongly disagreed, disagreed or remained neutral), meaning they are also not circular or green entrepreneurs.
However, they wish to receive that knowledge and develop such skills (79 %), as they also believe CE and GE contribute to a higher level of sustainability locally and globally (67 %).
Respondents also agree, they lack entrepreneurship knowledge (62 %), 14,5 % remained neutral and/or lack leadership skills (41 %), while 22 % remained neutral to be able to successfully start their own business. Moreover, they strongly disagree or disagree on receiving sufficient knowledge via their formal education (78 %) to become active change-makers in the business world, using CE and GE principles. Lastly, when asked to arrange the proposed topics (15), the top three answers on which they wish to receive more learning on were (marked as essential): Achieving resource efficiency - e.g. recyclability, reusability, upgradeability, durability (54 %); Reduction of energy use, water footprint, carbon emissions, transport, within the production and consumption processes (50 %); Packaging optimization (59 %); EU funding programmes, regulatory framework, environmental certificates (50 %).
6.7 PROJECT INTEGRATION, AND INDENTIFYING GAPS
t is clear from both, the legal framework and the analysis of the educational opportunities that, while attempts have been made, circular economy is not yet a well-developed aspect in
32 http://leadsus.bicero.com/
33
https://theclimatevertical.com/ro/climaccelerator.html?fbclid=IwAR2Ap7TpBWEhodMTXlNi2eriAOyJS4yExWbdmvMtc-h6MnaPsa_nHkd6UwQ
24 Romania. With the legislation surrounding it being scarce and unclear, the topic becomes impersonal for the people, resulting in low general engagement and making educational opportunities which approach this subject that much more important. Furthermore, other courses that are not so closely related to big subject areas such as ecology and economics, where discussions of circular economy are inevitable, may even lack mentions of it altogether, resulting in lost teaching opportunities. Moreover, most of the educational opportunities that regard CE & GE are within formal education, may it be secondary school, formal VET education, or higher education, while informal and non-formal training and programmes are scarcer and/or not well promoted, usually ran by NGOs, and not financially supported by authorities. There is no surprise that university opportunities are more comprehensive, as higher education institutions tend to keep up with the specific academic research and more readily update their course content based on new approaches and themes.
However, it is important to mention that Romania does not have a defined policy for green and social entrepreneurship in youth start-ups or many projects that fit in all these categories.
However, there are directives, projects and strategies concerning green entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and youth entrepreneurship as separate categories. These directions clearly exist in the Romanian policy, and they are discussed frequently, even if separately, there are many available possibilities for youth to get funding for starting their own businesses, as many do exist even if not specifically oriented on these topics. There are many legal benefits especially for young people or people in the social sphere as these new businesses are obviously encouraged by the Romanian government.
It is now widely acknowledged that the radical improvement and diversification of the opportunities provided by the Romanian educational and training system are priority strategic objectives and basic preconditions for the effective implementation of the CE and GE the principles, even though tangible results become evident only after several years. The development of human capital and improving competitiveness by connecting education and life-long learning to the labor market and providing greater chances to engage in a modern, inclusive, and flexible labor market. In conclusion, while the Romanian legislation favors young entrepreneurs and the creation of business opportunities, the general level of preparation among youth on the topic of circular economy is still limited and this leads to a series of lost opportunities. There is no direct informal course that explains what sustainable entrepreneurship entails and prepares students to face the market with expert competitors.
There is a clear need to train future entrepreneurs on the field of CE and GE and create a direct link between industry and sustainable practices, as general information will not suffice to initiate or maintain a green business.
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