Democracy and Participation (WG-DP)

GRSPSociety’s working groups are virtual communities that allow their members to interact on the basis of their academic and professional interests. They serve as a forum for interaction and debate and give their members opportunites for collaborating on projects within their field of interest as well as developing themselves professionally.

Membership guidelines and how to join

Membership guidelines:

To keep the working groups vibrant and interesting for everybody, we encourage all members of this working group to try to observe the following guidelines:
- Once you have joined the group, send a short email introducing yourself to the other group members to give them a sense of what kind of interests you have and what experiences you bring to the group
- Participate in working group discussions and provide feed-back on activities, projects, and publications proposed or produced by the group
- Share any information (news, reports, studies, articles, conferences, relevant call for applications, etc.) you consider relevant to the the group
- Share information about the activity of the group with people or organizations you know that may be interested in the WG’s activity
- Join working group projects or propose or initiate new working group activities and projects and participate in their implementation

How to join:

If you would like to join this working group, please follow the link in the right sidebar under “Join this working group!” and fill out the application. All working group members will then be asked to join the google group email list (above) and to join the GRSPSociety web platform by creating a member account.

Email list:

http://groups.google.com/group/GRSP-DemocracyParticipation

Chair:

Andreea Maierean

Projects for Democracy and Participation (WG-DP)

Diaspora Votes

The project aims at lobbying for legislation for the introduction of electronic or mail-in voting for Romanian citizens living or working abroad.

Please see our official campaign website for more details: http://diasporavoteaza.org

Voices for Romania

The project aims at bringing the voices of Romanian professionals from abroad into the local Romanian press. Their perspectives will be made available through interviews and debates, allowing them to serve as role models for young Romanians.

Members of Democracy and Participation (WG-DP)

Working Group chair

Andreea Maierean Andreea Mairean este absolventa a Facultatii de Stiinte Politice din cadrul Scolii Nationale de Studii Politice si Administrative Bucuresti. A studiat in Italia, Ungaria si Austria. Din 2006 este doctorand in Stiinte Politice la Boston University, unde are o bursa de teaching assistant. Specializarile ei sunt teorie politica si politici comparate, iar lucrarea ei de doctorat studiaza diferitele tipuri de lustratie din Centrul si Estul Europei. Andreea crede ca proiectul Voci pentru Romania poate stabili un bun precedent prin incercarea de a descoperi si promova un nou tip de modele. Activity: DP Working Group Chair Location: Vienna, Austria

Team

Claudiu Craciun Activity: Co-Founder, President (2009), Diaspora Votes (DP) advisor Location: Bucharest, Romania
Cătalina Grigoraşi I am involved in the ONG Young Partners for Civil Society Romania. I have participated in projects based on subjects like Democracy in East Europe, Mafia, Eco Crimes, Human Trafficking, The Evolution of Civil Society. Activity: Voices for Romania (DP) team member Location: Bucharest, Romania
Ioana Acsinia Ioana Acsinia urmează masteratul de Managementul Sectorului Public al SNSPA Bucureşti. A participat la diverse proiecte Tineret în acţiune. Ioana a activat ca voluntară în mai multe ONG-uri cu profil ecologic, social şi politic implicându-se în proiecte ce doresc creşterea nivelului cunoştinţelor tinerilor asupra procesului decizional şi a modului în care ei înşişi pot lua parte la decizii. Motivul pentru care participă la Proiectul „Voci pentru România” este dorinţa ei de a identifica şi promova un alt tip de modele.Tinerii au nevoie de aceste modele, consideră Ioana, pentru a înţelege că în România încă sunt voci care merită ascultate. Activity: Voices for Romania (DP) team member Location: Bucharest, Romania
Olesea Becu Location: The Hague, Netherlands
Ovidiu Cocieru are 25 de ani şi este absolvent al secţiei Marketing- Facultatea de Economie şi Administrarea Afacerilor, Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iaşi (2008). Este în prezent bursier Fulbright la University of Massachusetts at Amherst, unde studiază Management Sportiv. Principala sa preocupare este legată de învăţarea experienţială şi managementul evenimentelor. Activity: Voices for Romania (DP) project leader, Communication team member Location: Amherst, United States
Andreea Craciun I am a graduate of the Sibiu Law School (2003), I have been awarded an LL.M Degree in Human Rights from the Central European University in Budapest (2004) and I am currently working towards my SJD Degree at the Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu. Although so far I have worked and specialized in human rights, I am presently a Legal Adviser at the National Federation of Mines and Energy; I handle the company's international relations, I am involved in the implementation of European-funded projects and I lobby and advocate for legislative modifications in the sector. I am also an authorized translator. Activity: Co-Founder, Secretary General (2009-2010) Location: Bucharest, Romania
Ionela Dobos Ionela Dobos a absolvit secţia de Studii Europe în cadrul Facultăţii de Filosofie –Universitatea Bucureşti în 2008, iar în 2009 Programul European de Masterat în Democraţie şi Drepturile Omului în Sud-Estul Europei organizat de Universităţile Bologona şi Sarajevo. Este pasionată de studiile de pace şi securitate fiind autoarea unor articole pe aceste teme. Ionela a decis să se implice în Proiectul „Voci pentru România” în cadrul GRSPSociety convinsă fiind de faptul că prezenţa adevăratelor modele joacă un rol fundamental în formarea unui tânăr. Activity: Voices for Romania (DP) team member Location: Brasov, Romania
Dan Drago Past: Marketing Manager at Pitney Bowes, Stamford CT. Present: Business Process Analyst at Subway (Milford CT World Headquarters), Member of the City of Milford's Conservation Commission. Interests: Business Administration, Business Process Management, Internal Audit, Online Marketing, Customer Retention, New Customer Acquisition, Product Lifecycle, Politics. Location: Milford, United States
Florin Fesnic Location: Cluj, Romania
Mariuca Morariu I received my BA in Communication Science from the Al. I. Cuza University of Iasi and I graduated a Master's programme in European Communication Studies at the University of Amsterdam funded by the 'Open Horizons' scholarship awarded by the Dinu Patriciu Foundation. My primary research interest is in civic engagement and political communication and I plan to continue my studies in public affairs in the coming year. By then, I intend to be a good entrepreneur and implement my business plan aiming to gather smart people with bright ideas and companies willing to invest in them on a single online platform. I trust in collaborative intelligence and in the power of young enthusiastic people who choose to design their own future and who from time to time can actually succeed. In this sense, GRSPSociety has all the premises to make a difference and through this project it brings even more into attention the importance of individual voices in Romania and abroad in deciding who will be the next political leaders. Activity: Communication officer for the Diaspora Votes project (Democracy and Participation working group) Location: Iasi, Romania
Andrei Murariu Location: London, United Kingdom
Andrei Popovici I received my BA from Yale University, where I double-majored in Economics and Literature, and I've worked for two years as a businesss consultant in Boston. I'm currently serving on the board of GRSPSociety and coordinating the Diaspora Votes project. For fun, I'm also translating Mateiu Caragiale's Craii de Curtea Veche into English, the continuation of my honors thesis project at Yale - in 2011, look for a copy in bookstores near you! As a founding member of GRSPSociety and a dual Romanian and US citizen living in the US, I believe in GRSPSociety's huge potential for encouraging a culture of civic participation and professional collaboration in Romania as well as in Romanian communities abroad. Activity: Co-founder & communications team member (2008); Boston conference organizer & DP panel moderator, extended board member (2009); Vice President of External Relations, Diaspora Votes (DP) project leader (2010) Location: Cambridge, United States
Noemi Salantiu Activity: member in Democracy and Participation working group Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cristina Sarb Location: London, United Kingdom
Ramona Soimu Location: Bucharest, Romania
Alina Tudose Location: Philadelphia, United States