Timisoara has opened the first Community Resilience and Mobilization Center in Romania, located near the city’s main train station. The center is meant to coordinate efforts in the case of an emergency, without having to wait on central authorities in Romania.

Opened through the city’s Social Assistance Directorate, the center will be used for the coordination and mobilization of civil society for an immediate response to extreme crisis situations affecting the city, according to Agerpres.

"Preparation is the key to success, and that's why we opened a center that will mobilize the local community in crisis situations and make Timisoara a resilient city. It is unique in Romania,” said Timisoara mayor Dominic Fritz.

“What we have learned in recent years is that Romania is not prepared for exceptional situations and that the state moves very slowly when the unimaginable becomes reality. At the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, civil society mobilized in an exemplary way to support Ukrainian refugees. It did so without central coordination. Nobody waited for the state [to act]. We learned from that and we want Timisoara to be prepared for the next major crisis, whether it is a pandemic, a wave of refugees, or something else," he added.

The space where the center operates belongs to the municipality and was renovated at the end of 2022, in partnership with the LIONS club in Timisoara. It is now managed by the Social Assistance Directorate of the Timisoara Municipality through the Community Resilience and Mobilization Service.

At the moment, the center is used as a space for managing services and social benefits to support refugees from Ukraine.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Dominic Fritz on Facebook)