Sustainable local development and promotion of social inclusion in the marginalized community Colonie Nuci

The Municipality of Ramnicu Valcea is currently implementing with European funds the project “Sustainable local development and promotion of social inclusion in the marginalized community Colonie Nuci” that aim to improve the living conditions of the Roma community that lives in Colonie Nuci neighborhood. Colonie Nuci is considered by the ”Atlas of marginalized areas of Romania” to be a marginalized, isolated area, a ghetto-type neighborhood in former colonies of workers, where people with a low level of education and poor health live, the vast majority of them being without a stable job. The specific objectives of the project refer to: - social inclusion of vulnerable group, the under-represented Roma community from Colonie Nuci; - improving the quality of life of the inhabitants of Colonie Nuci by ensuring better living conditions, access to a better life by achieving access to water supply and sanitation services, rehabilitation of road infrastructure (restoration of pavements; construction of bicycle lanes, modernization of the public lighting system, arrangement of a sports field); - improving the quality of the environment (arrangement of green spaces, gardens, square, installation of street lighting system with LED sources, planting of trees); - increase the chances of employment in the formal sector for people aged 15-64 years living in Colonie Nuci who are not in the labour market and do not follow a form of education; - increasing access to education services for the inhabitants of Colonie Nuci. On June 22, 2022, the City Manager Eusebiu Veteleanu received from the French Ambassador to Bucharest, H. E. Ms. Laurence Auer, the “Diploma of Mention” of the jury’s competition “Sustainable Cities” 2023 organized by the French diplomatic representation, for the implementation of the above mentioned project in Ramnicu Valcea. The 2023 edition of the Sustainable Cities focused on promoting and supporting projects under implementation that respect the “Eco-neighborhood” (Eco-Quartier) referential made by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition – an approach of the French authorities that encourage and promote new ways to achieve, build and manage a sustainable city. An Eco-Quartier integrates all the challenges of sustainable development and offers the inhabitants the possibility of a way of life that meets the great climate challenges and biodiversity, relying on local resources.