The Municipality of Cluj, with the support of ESN, organised the first national conference on social services in Romania on 25-26 May 2009, which brought together 150 social directors and practitioners from across Romania.

In the course of two days, delegates discussed the position of social services in the policy making processes, assessed challenges in their daily work and presented good practice examples. Six different workshops and two plenary sessions provided platforms for a structured debate on anti-drug policies, child protection, active inclusion, long-term care for elderly, the needs of the Roma community and accessibility of services for people with disabilities.

The concluding session of the conference debated possible ways for Romanian social directors to work together at the national and European level to improve the quality of social services. ESN members, representing three national associations of social directors from Slovenia, UK and France gave testimony of how they formed an association at the national level and why this has been beneficial for them. They emphasised the role of their associations in raising the profile of social directors (Miran Kerin, Slovenia), in strengthening partnerships with other stakeholders (Philip Cotterill, UK) and in mutual learning (Marie-colette Lalire, France).

Following this debate, the Municipality of Cluj, also a member of ESN put forward a proposal to set up a national Romanian association of social directors. Delegates supported this idea and agreed to form a small working group which would look into the possible ways of bringing such an association to life.

ESN warmly welcomes this initiative and will offer support to its Romanian colleagues. On this occasion the ESN Members’ Review has been translated in Romanian.

Delegates’ reflections on the conference:

Sorin Apostu, Mayor of Cluj: "We recognise the value of international cooperation and are determined to work together with colleagues abroad, through ESN, to exchange good practice and learn from each other."

Miran Kerin, Association of Centres for Social Work in Slovenia: "In Central-Eastern Europe, for many years we were deprived of possibilities for mutual, international learning. We, therefore, greatly appreciate the opportunity to catch up with colleagues from across Europe and even though each country has its own way, we all share common challenges. That is why it is so important to work together to find the solutions."