Recap - SDGAi ANNUAL FORUM ON RURAL RESILIENCE

The Romanian Village in Global Dynamics: Between Contemporary Pressures and the Preservation of Local Identity

28–30 August 2026 | Ciceu-Giurgești & Cristeștii Ciceului, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Romania

From 28–30 August 2026, the Strategic Dialogue for Global Affairs Initiative (SDGAi) organised the inaugural edition of the Annual Forum on Rural Resilience, dedicated to understanding the transformations affecting rural communities in Romania and in other parts of the world.

Held in Ciceu-Giurgești and Cristeștii Ciceului, Bistrița-Năsăud County, the Forum created a space for dialogue between public authorities, researchers, academics, experts, civil society, young people and local communities.

The theme of this first edition — “The Romanian Village in Global Dynamics: Between Contemporary Pressures and the Preservation of Local Identity” — was grounded in a reality that can no longer be ignored: the transformation of rural areas can no longer be treated exclusively as a local issue.

Depopulation, population ageing, migration, climate change, pressures on agriculture, access to education and public services, infrastructure transformation, social vulnerabilities and the erosion of cultural heritage and identity are interconnected processes with implications far beyond rural communities themselves.

Why rural resilience?

For SDGAi, the Forum was built around a simple but fundamental question:

How resilient can a state be if its own communities are not resilient?

Rural areas are not peripheral spaces in national development. Villages contribute to food security, environmental stewardship, cultural heritage, social cohesion and collective identity.

At the same time, the experiences discussed throughout the Forum demonstrate that rural resilience cannot be reduced to infrastructure or demographic and economic indicators. A modernised road, a water network or digital infrastructure may be essential, but they are not sufficient if a community lacks functioning schools, public services, economic opportunities, employment and prospects for younger generations.

Resilience is the capacity of a community to adapt without losing its ability to function, to reinvent itself without losing its identity, and to face the future without abandoning its roots.

Three days of dialogue, research and community

The first day of the Forum, held at the Ciceu-Giurgești Cultural Centre, focused on the official opening and dialogue with local authorities and the community.

Discussions addressed local development, infrastructure, education, labour migration, climate change, tourism, heritage and the role of local institutions in building resilience.

The second day was dedicated to the scientific session, held in Cristeștii Ciceului, bringing together research on the evolution and transformation of Romanian rural communities alongside international comparative perspectives.

The presentations explored demographic decline, population ageing, migration, education, peri-urban development, agriculture, climate change, cultural heritage, tourism and emerging social vulnerabilities.

The Forum’s international dimension made it possible to compare the Romanian experience with perspectives from Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Syria and other rural contexts, demonstrating that many pressures affecting rural communities are shared across borders, even when they emerge within very different historical, geographical and social environments. The third day focused on reflecting on the Forum’s conclusions and on how research can be translated into concrete directions for action.

Research in the service of communities

One of the Forum’s main contributions is the Compendium of Case Studies, bringing together 15 Romanian rural case studies and 8 international comparative perspectives.

The Compendium does not seek to idealise the Romanian village, nor does it portray rural areas exclusively through the lens of decline.

Instead, the studies reveal a much more complex reality: communities facing depopulation and the loss of services coexist with places that are developing new forms of adaptation through entrepreneurship, tourism, heritage, innovation, community mobilisation and the use of local resources. In this sense, resilience is understood as an active process of adaptation, negotiation and reconstruction, rather than the absence of vulnerability.

From infrastructure to opportunity

One of the recurring conclusions of the Forum was that infrastructure investment is necessary, but not sufficient, for the future of rural communities.

For people to stay or return, communities need:

educational continuity;
accessible public services;
employment and entrepreneurship opportunities;
administrative capacity and meaningful access to funding;
digital infrastructure and connectivity;
climate adaptation measures;
protection and sustainable use of cultural heritage;
meaningful youth participation;
functional relationships with diaspora communities;
cooperation between communities and across levels of government.

At the same time, communities should not be treated as passive recipients of public policy. Sustainable development must be built with communities, not simply for them.

Recommendations for the future

The Forum’s conclusions put forward recommendations for several levels of decision-making.

For local authorities, these include strengthening education, maintaining public services, improving administrative capacity, supporting cultural heritage, addressing social vulnerabilities and investing in climate adaptation.

For national authorities, the research recommends making rural development a strategic priority, simplifying access to European funding, supporting entrepreneurship and local economies, monitoring demographic trends and recognising rural communities as strategic assets for food security, environmental sustainability and national identity.

At the European and international level, the Forum supports stronger cooperation on rural resilience, increased investment in climate adaptation, stronger rural-urban linkages, the exchange of good practices and community-led development.

A beginning, not an endpoint

The inaugural SDGAi Annual Forum on Rural Resilience demonstrated that the Romanian village cannot be understood solely through its problems, nor idealised as a space frozen in the past.

It is a living space undergoing profound transformation.

Some communities face demographic decline, shrinking services and limited opportunities. Others are developing new forms of adaptation and growth. Some preserve their traditions through individual and community efforts, while others seek to transform heritage into an economic and social resource.

This diversity is precisely why rural policies must be evidence-based, locally adapted and developed through dialogue with the people who live in these communities.

For SDGAi, the Forum in Ciceu-Giurgești and Cristeștii Ciceului marks the beginning of a longer-term endeavour.

We aim to continue bringing together public authorities, researchers, the private sector, civil society, young people and local communities, transforming dialogue into knowledge and knowledge into solutions.

Because the future of the Romanian village is not only a rural issue.