Country: | Romania |
City – Region: | Covasna county |
SDG: | All |
Description of the Best Practice: | Use of solar-powered smartphones against illegal deforestation in Romania In 2017, the Romanian NGO Association Agent Green started the project “Screaming trees” in Covasna County to prevent illegal logging. The technical innovation of the project is based on smartphones mounted on the top of the trees, where they receive sunlight, so they are charged during the whole year through the solar panels. The package also includes signal boosters, amplifiers, and antennae to capture as much of the signal as possible. The system is giving trees a voice. By measuring volume, motor rotations and sound duration, the device detects chainsaws and then sends a notification, screaming for help. There is a live feed from installed Tweeting Trees devices at http://screamingtrees.co/ . It enables the viewer to follow the measured data of volume, motor beats per minute (BPM) and sound duration. If volume and BPM reach the level of a running chainsaw, with a sound duration of at least 60 seconds, there is a parameter match, and the device immediately sends a warning signal to Agent Green volunteers. |
URL: | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwO3vui7GZ4&ab_channel=HavasGermany |
Country: | Romania |
City – Region: | throughout the country |
SDG: | All |
Description of the Best Practice: | The Program entitled Casa Verde was initiated in 2010, providing financial assistance for the installation of solar collectors, heat pumps or biomass heating systems in residential and public buildings. The amount of the subsidy depended on the type of heating system and was up to 6,000 lei (€1,430) for solar collectors, up to 8,000 lei (€1,900) for heat pumps and up to 6,000 lei (€1,430) for biomass heating systems. In the first year, some 200 households benefited from the Program. The Program was renewed in 2011 with 6,987 individual and 60 corporate beneficiaries. It continued in the following years, attracting more participants. During 2013–2014, it was available only for public buildings, but was later relaunched to include residential buildings. In 2016, the Program Casa Verde Plus added to the renewable energy solutions financed through investments in increased energy efficiency, thermal insulation, LED lighting, green roofs, and ecological materials. In 2019, the Program financed the installation of photovoltaic panels on residential buildings, aimed at individuals who want to become electricity producers. In September 2019, funds were ensured for 33,000 households who will be in a position to negotiate with the electricity companies about the price of the electricity they can provide to the network. The budget allocated to the Program Casa Verde in 2019 was 656 million lei (€138 million). |
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Country: | Romania |
City – Region: | throughout the country |
SDG: | All |
Description of the Best Practice: | Carpatbike is an initiative promoting the development of communities in local areas by offering tailored small groups cycling trips but also including walking, wine tasting or winter snowshoeing or ski touring discovery tours. The mission of the initiative is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle as cycling may be one the most rewarding ways to interact with locals and truly experience local diversity, wildlife, and cultural heritage. By offering active cycling tours in remote and rural areas of Romania, they create meaningful experiences by means of travel learning adventures, thus enhancing the long-term health and well-being of local communities, while preserving the natural environment, historical sights and destinations visited. |
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