After two years of work in Reșița, between June 2018 and December 2019, we assisted the City Hall of Reșița in enhancing its capacity to act strategically and participatively for the regeneration of the city through a technical assistance initiative.

We developed working tools and institutional capacity on three main levels:

>>> Creation and implementation of the Geographic Information System (GIS) at the level of the Municipality of Reșița. We assisted the City Hall of Reșița in drafting the specifications for the procurement of services for the creation and implementation of the Geographic Information System at the municipal level. As a result of this effort, since 2023, the City Hall of Reșița has become one of the few municipalities in the country with an integrated geospatial solution covering the fields of urban planning, cadastre, and heritage.

>>> Establishment of a financing program with non-repayable mini-grants for the residents of Reșița to develop and implement projects for the regeneration of the city. We supported the City Hall in defining the objectives and themes targeted by the program, the regulations for conducting the competition, the application form, and the implementation timeline of the program. This led to the creation of the “Trust in Reșița” program, the first of its kind initiated by a local public authority, where citizens are considered the most suited stakeholders to imagine new possibilities for the city they inhabit and become partners of the City Hall of Reșița in the goal of regaining trust in the city.

In 2020, the program financed initiatives relevant to the themes “Urban Life” and “Local Entrepreneurship,” which helped the city or places within it to be more friendly for residents, function better, and respond to current needs; they stimulated community spirit and social life inclusively; they animated or gave new meaning to abandoned or underutilized spaces in the city; they leveraged local resources (spaces, expertise, elements of the city’s identity, etc.) and contributed to strengthening and promoting the city’s identity and the advantages it offers through its positioning, history, and local people.

The program was awarded in the “Public Administration” category at the “Cities of Tomorrow #7” event—a national event dedicated to the importance of urban and regional development, which highlighted the importance of the trialogue among public authorities, the business environment, and civil society in its seventh edition.

>>> Support for attracting investors and developing the local business environment. We continued efforts to promote the city’s investment portfolio, initiated with the “Invest in Reșița” campaign, by participating in relevant events throughout 2018-2019, preparing the necessary materials for investor and developer visits, and developing internal preparation tools (internal workflow, communication materials, etc.) for the City Hall’s interaction with potential investors and developers.

We continue, alongside the City Hall of Reșița and other local partners, to lay the foundations for the regeneration of the city.