SDG 1: No Poverty

SDG 1: No Poverty

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

1. University anti-poverty programmes

1.1 Ensuring access to our university’s study programmes and improving graduation for students from low-income environments

Subsidized access to studies for rural areas or Roma ethnicity students. Yearly, the Ministry of Education provides study grants to underprivileged / underrepresented categories from the rural areas or Roma ethnicity. Our University had 98 places – study grants for the first year undergraduate studies financed from the state budget for the academic year 2020-2021. 

Promoting ASE’s educational offer in disadvantaged areas. An extensive campaign regarding the educational offer of ASE was carried out in high schools in towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants and in economic high schools throughout the country, within the project “ProASE! Inclusion, equal opportunities and equity for ASE students”. (Details here, p.176)

Monitoring the graduation and completion rate for ensuring the integration of the ASE graduates on the labour market. The specialists of the Centre of Counselling and Career Orientation are in charge with developing surveys on such topics, with the aim of further designing measures and taking action for improving the graduation rate and increasing the quality of teaching:

    • Socio-professional insertion of ASE graduates. (Details here, p.215)
    • Evaluating the opinion of employers, regarding the quality of graduates and study programs offered by ASE. (Details here, p.255)

Developing projects that target better insertion on the labour market:

    • ProASE! Inclusion, equal opportunities and equity for ASE students: project aiming to increase social equity, with a view to social inclusion, and improving access to higher education, correlating the educational offer with the demand of the labour market. One of the direction the project addressed was related to the development of support services for students/pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, at risk of early dropout. (Details here, p.109)
    • Perform BT: project dedicated to students in the first year of study in order to increase the retention rate, the graduation and the insertion on the labour market, facilitating understanding and assimilation of knowledge for those with a high risk of dropping out of university. 

The Institute of Advanced Research of ASE organized the online workshop “Development of research skills by connecting researchers to the needs of society“, with the aim of bringing together researchers from the academic environment and practitioners in order to identify valuable practices in scientific research and connect them to the needs of society.

 

1.2 Providing support for students

Scholarships provided by the university. Scholarships are seen as a form of supporting students from low-income environments and rewarding those with good academic performances. Each year, ASE provides scholarships to several categories of students. There are several types of scholarships created in the benefit of students: 

    • Scholarships for financial support of students with low incomes:
      • social aid scholarships, which are granted throughout the whole academic year to students with low incomes. (Details here, art. 2)
      • occasional social aid scholarships, which consists of a social aid scholarship for clothing and footwear, scholarship for maternity or in case of the death of a member of the student’s family. (Details here, art.  2(11))
    • Scholarships for excellence in research, which are granted from the university’s own funds and performance scholarships for outstanding learning outcomes.
    • Other special scholarships can be granted from own funds to students who carry out activities in the interest of the ASE.
    • Two special scholarships of EUR 1,000 each – King Carol 1st and Queen Elisabeth – are granted to students with good results and with a very low income per family member.
    • ASE selects students who want to get involved in activities in the interest of the university and receive a monthly scholarship to cover the value of the tuition fee.

The types of scholarships and the numbers of beneficiaries could be find here. 

Scholarships and internships provided by the private environment:

    • Asirom Vienna Insurance Group launched a scholarship program in partnership with ASE. Asirom has established a complex program of financial support for excellence in education, as well as an internship program within the company. Students benefit from scholarships to support them in their educational journey and reward their efforts, and they have the opportunity to do an internship within the company, to be able to understand and experience what it means to work in the insurance field. 
    • The Agricultural Cooperative “Tara mea” provides internships and private scholarships to the students at the Faculty of Agri-food and Environmental Economics. 

Subsidized accommodation in ASE student dorms. For example, students whose families earn an average net monthly income per family member less than the value of the minimum net basic salary per economy have priority for accommodation in students dorms. (Details here, art 1(1c)).

Tuition fee reduction. Students of the Faculty of Agricultural Economics and the Environment, who have a permanent residence in the countryside benefit from a tuition fee reduction of 400 lei for students from undergraduate university study programs. (Details here, p.175)

Health services:

    • Free medical and dentistry services inside the campus.
    • ASE has concluded a series of partnerships with organizations that deal with the management of health, environmental and social responsibility issues (details here, p.177), among which we mention:
      • the Department for Emergency Situations;
      • Furtună Dan SRL Medical Center
      • Association Assistance and Programs for Sustainable Development – Agenda 21;
      • Association Regional Fund for Education and Culture;
      • Association of Organic Agriculture Operators Bio Romania;
      • Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests;
    • ASE launched the Health Caravan project, supported by the ASE Foundation, which has six anti-Covid centres, 19 testing and free vaccination centres. The Health Caravan carried out specific medical activities during the autumn of 2021. All students who benefited from a place in the ASE dorms had access to free testing and vaccination services.
    • ASE organized a vaccination campaign for employees and students in 2021, given the worrying evolution of the epidemiological situation and the desire to contribute to the reduction of the factors that can generate the exponential spread of the infection rate. 

Lower prices for the meals at the canteens inside the campus. 

Free rail transportation for all the students and subsidized public transport in Bucharest.

The Academy of Hope is a socio-humanitarian volunteering project coordinated by Prof. Dr. Virginia Mărăcine under the aegis of ASE. The project team consists of teaching staff and non-teaching staff, as well as representatives of student organizations such as SiSC, ASEAM, ASCIG, USASE. The university collaborates with the Department for Emergency Situations within the Minister for Internal Affairs and the structures coordinated by it, especially with ISU Bucharest-Ilfov, and with the SMURD Foundation. The project is carried out entirely through volunteer activities, both of teaching staff and non-teaching staff, as well as of students. (Details here, p.174). Academy of Hope’s actions are aimed at:  

  • helping members of the university community who face difficult medical and material situations;
  • supporting people institutionalized in homes for children and the elderly through the annual Christmas and Easter campaigns;
  • helping communities affected by floods, earthquakes, fires with multiple victims, medical crises, humanitarian crises such as the one in Ukraine;
  • preparing the entire university community for correct behavior in emergency situations (earthquakes, fires, explosions) and providing first aid.

Different events within ASE, targeting their integration on the labour market, organized with the support of the business environment or professional associations.

A special project dedicated to increasing social equity, with a view to social inclusion and increasing access to higher education, correlating the educational offer with the demand of the labour market: “ProASE! Inclusion, equal opportunities and equity for ASE students” (Details here, p.109). The project addressed two main directions:

  • The development of support services for students/pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, at risk of early dropout;
  • The continuation of the efforts to learn about educational and economic realities for the development of educational and support services, ensuring access and retention of students to academic studies, as well as the integration of graduates on the labour market.

Several activities contributed to the achievement of the established objectives:

  • Courses intended for students in order to develop transversal skills and prevent university dropout: a project management course intended for students from disadvantaged categories, attended by student representatives from student associations, and a series of physical and online courses for personal development, with free access for ASE students;
  • Online counselling sessions (both individual and group) to support and advise students. A program that proved its effectiveness, already in its fifth year, was the “Big Brother” program, in which students from older years (3rd year and master) offered mutual support to first year students;
  • A good practice exchange internship with the participation of 5 students from disadvantaged backgrounds at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna, Austria;
  • A workshop to analyse the phenomenon of university dropout;
  • Streamlining the process of monitoring the insertion of ASE graduates;
  • Carrying out annual studies regarding the insertion of ASE graduates on the labor market and evaluating the opinion of employers regarding the educational offer of ASE.

1.3 Assisting students for successfully completing their studies

The Centre of Counselling and Career Orientation in ASE provides support services for students and prospective students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and at risk of early abandonment of studies, in order to ensure student retention in academic studies and integrate graduates on the labour market.

Plans and programs specially designed to prevent school dropout target students from the first year of study, who are in situations with a high risk of university dropout or belonging to disadvantaged groups, and assess the difficulties they are confronted with in order to design and implement remedial activities:

Tutoring provided by students: the “Elite ASE” project aims to help students who have difficulties in understanding courses and seminar on different subjects by organizing tutoring sessions between students. (Details here, p.112)

Free of charge, supplementary training in Microeconomics and Mathematics to support first-year students in undergraduate university programs. (Details here, p.178)

Facilitating the integration on the labour market: (Details here, p.112)

  • Career workshop – Hire Me: project dedicated to the development of students who are interested in discovering the necessary steps for a successful CV, but also how to pass a job interview (different webinars: Career Guidance & Stress Management; How to attract the recruiter’s attention; Interview time: attitude & body language).
  • It all starts with you: workshops for managing emotions before an interview, details related to the psychological test that can help students choosing the most suitable job, discussing the benefits of an internship/ volunteer program.
  • It’s time to recruit: workshops in collaboration with the private environment for identifying what piques a recruiter’s interest during an interview.
  • Get Hired: project aimed at guiding students towards achieving their career aspirations;
  • Speak Your Mind – Communication is the key: project dedicated to all ASE students who face the fear of public speaking, structured in 3 workshops: Talk with me – How to share easily and communicate without fear; Behind your mind – How to manage your emotions; Let’s debate it – Open discussion on “What would I do if I were a CEO?”.
  • Let’s talk – Tips & Tricks for jobs: Workshops helping students who know a foreign language to practice their knowledge. Within the project, debates are held on various topics in English, German, French, Turkish, Japanese and Italian.
  • Future Stars: project aiming to increase the number of graduates who find a job, by strengthening sustainable institutional partnerships between the university and private employers. 

Virtual Career Fairs or job offers, provided on the websites of the faculties.

Mentoring and internships for students in Accounting and Finance or in Business Administration and International Business and Economics. The projects offer students the opportunity to increase their chances of successfully integrating into the labour market or starting their own business. Within the project, students will participate in various activities: internships held at top employers; career guidance programs; study/thematic visits to companies; information sessions; career workshops with the participation of employers.

 

1.4 Support for students from low or lower-middle income countries

Scholarships for foreign citizens in low or lower-middle income countries: 142 places were provided for students from the Republic of Moldova, neighbouring countries and lower-middle income countries financed from the state budget out of which 100 benefited of scholarships for the academic year 2020-2021. 

Ukrainian citizens can benefit from the allocation of study places without paying tuition fees. 

Support, counselling and information provided by the Centre of Counselling and Career Orientation.

The university offers housing all around Bucharest, subsidized meals, medical services, sport facilities.

Improving collaboration with the representatives of the Academy of Economic Sciences from the Republic of Moldova and establishing the main directions of cooperation for the near future. 

Developing international expertise by working together:  

  • Groups of master’s students from the Executive Master in Business Administration program in ASE and of the university in Vietnam are collaborating to identify real solutions for the digitization of business processes. Each group from Romania is responsible for collaborating with a group from Vietnam. 
  • The project “International MBA Team Challenge: Global Perspective – Local Solution” developed by the Bucharest Business School (BBS), in partnership with Athena School of Management (Mumbai, India). The participants worked for one month, grouped in five international teams (Romanians and Indians), to identify concrete solutions for five socio-economic problems (Challenges). One of the main objectives is represented by the intercultural exchange of ideas to ensure that global perspective that can generate applicable solutions in the local context specific to each theme. 

 

2. Community anti-poverty programmes

2.1 Assistance for local start-up

Educational resources, both free and paid, and financial assistance:

The Student Entrepreneurship Society is meant to create a favourable environment and a complementary framework for supporting and developing the entrepreneurial spirit of ASE students. Main activities:

  • Developing and conducting courses, trainings and mentoring activities.
    • Developing the ASE Entrepreneur community, which brings together students with entrepreneurial initiative from the university.
    • Organizing the fifth edition of the GoBiz business idea contest, for identifying ASE students interested in starting their own business and supporting the best ideas through mentoring and incubation. 
    • Continuing the project “ROLEmodel – We promote entrepreneurial students”: sharing successful stories of entrepreneurs students for inspiring other students to open a business. 
    • Providing mentoring activities for entrepreneurial students through the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, on specific topics: Creating the business plan; Financial and fiscal aspects of the business plan; Legal aspects; Communication and promotion techniques in business. 

Free business consulting services, provided by students under the supervision of professors in ASE. Under this unique approach in the Romanian university environment, over 1000 students have offered free generic consulting for 275 Romanian entrepreneurs in the last four years. 

Projects providing financing and training for developing entrepreneurship:

  • Development of entrepreneurial spirit among young entrepreneurs, supporting sustainable employment and social entrepreneurship in the South-East Region of Romania: ASE brings its contribution to the development of the South-East Region and contribute through the experience gained in similar projects from the Romania StartUp program, but also in other entrepreneurship projects with international components, to the training, counselling and support of potential entrepreneurs in the establishment, implementation and development of businesses, respectively, commercial companies. The project aims to develop entrepreneurial skills for 500 people and support 60 of them with a non-refundable amount of up to €40,000 that will be delivered in two instalments, in the establishment and sustainable development of new SMEs in the South-East Region. A virtual platform is created where entrepreneurs have access to training materials and keep in touch with the initiators of the project.
  • Increasing employment in the South-Muntenia region by developing entrepreneurial training, supporting the implementation of new businesses and self-employment, in the spirit of sustainable development and social innovation. (Details here, p.106)

Platforms with available and free resources encouraging entrepreneurship and start-ups:

 Online events dedicated to entrepreneurship and developing entrepreneurial skills among students:

  • Free online seminar organized in partnership with Google on the topic “How to better promote our business online“. (Details here, p.105)
  • Free online seminar with the representatives of the private environment on „Organizational culture – values, mission, impact of COVID/telework”.
  • Organizing with relevant partners from the economic and social environment, a debate on improving the entrepreneurial skills of ASE students. ASE supports over 700 students in their entrepreneurial initiatives and prepares the launch of the first “born global” company at the level of the Student Entrepreneurial Society of ASE. (Details here, p.106)
  • Organizing, in partnership with Carrefour Romania, the Carrefour School of Leaders in order to train Carrefour specialists in areas such as: finance, accounting and controlling, leadership skills and inclusion in the world of retail trade, the development of digital retail strategy, etc. (Details here, p.106)
  • Free access debate on „Developing cross cultural skills in a digital transformation era in universities and companies: Japan/USA/Romania”. The main theme focused on the impact of the transformations of the digital age on leadership in areas such as education, industry or the government sector. 

 Specific academic programs:

  • Master programs: (Details here, p.14)
    • Entrepreneurship and business administration
    • Entrepreneurship and business administration in the field of energy
    • MBA programme („Entrepreneurial management”).
  • Postgraduate training and continuing professional development programs, targeting the development of entrepreneurial skills: (Details here, p.27)
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Entrepreneurship and innovation
    • Entrepreneurial skills

Organizing different domestic and international conferences focused on developing businesses and providing training workshops:

The Centre of Excellence in Foreign Trade: hub of projects, applications and actions dedicated to Romanian exporters and entrepreneurs in their efforts to improve their presence on global markets.  One of the Centre’s objectives is to provide entrepreneurial and financial education, especially as a form of support for small and medium enterprises which tend to internationalize (details here, p.152). Projects developed in 2021:

  • Studies and research projects financed by the European Investment Bank, STAREBEI-Sustainable Paths of Just Transition for the Coal Regions in Romania.
  • Educational projects:
    • Erasmus+ EXPOVET ‒ Joint VET Course for Export Experts, where workshops with elements related to the training of export staff – available courses and quality assurance methods – were organised.
    • Blockchain for Entrepreneurs – a non-traditional Industry 4.0 curriculum for Higher Education: project with a specific module for the use of block chain technology in foreign trade, allowing exporters to be informed about new technologies which facilitates international transactions.
  • Entrepreneurial and financial education (support in international opening for small and medium-sized enterprises): a master’s degree program in foreign trade at the Faculty of International Business and Economics.

Promoting the principles of sustainable entrepreneurship following the participation in summer schools. The Faculty of Agricultural Economics and organized the summer school “Be a sustainable entrepreneur”. 

 

2.2 Training or programmes to improve access to basic services for all

The Centre of Counselling and Career Orientation provides specialized support to persons who have been, are and will be included in the educational programs of ASE and not only, in order to optimize their educational and professional path.  

The ASE Library provides:

Involvement in social activities for the community: supporting education through digitization, a campaign through which ASE students donated hundreds of tablets to children from poor villages in Romania. 

Basic First Aid courses organized by ASE and the SMURD Foundation, within the Project “The Academy of Hope – Volunteering from Love for Life”  

ASE Foundation’s main aim is to support the educational and scientific process in the economic field. The ASE Foundation was involved in 2021 in various projects for the support of persons in difficulty, by attracting and using resources and economic goods, in the form of subsidies, subscriptions, donations, contributions, sponsorships and other sources of funding. (Details here, p.174) 

 

2.3 Policy addressing poverty

ASE is partner in different projects that enables the university to be an active designer and promoter of measures for addressing poverty and sustainable development:

  • “Towards a better understanding of the integration process of young migrants” project aims to improve the situation of young migrants in Europe through a multi-level analysis of the various integration processes. Research focuses on the dynamic process of integration, on multiple levels: at macro level (EU migration policies), at mesolevel (regional economic and social systems) and at micro level (individual practices). ASE is involved in all work packages and in all project activities.
  • ASE is collaborating with the Republic of Korea under the “Knowledge Sharing Program“, a tool through which Korea’s experience in the field of development is transferred to partner states. A special focus was granted to the consolidation and development of the Research Centre for Productivity Studies within ASE.
  • The Centre of Excellence in Foreign Trade developed a project supported by the European Investment Bank, related to the Sustainable Paths of Just Transition for the Coal Regions in Romania. This project evaluated the opportunities to redesign the structure of exports from the mining regions of Romania, and reorient them from raw materials to value-added services in the context of Just Transition. (Details here, p.152) 

Collaboration with the public and private environment:

  • ASE contributed to the scientific paper “The Romanian economic model in the EU – HORIZON 2040“, which proposes the development model of the Romanian economy. The project is addressed to representatives of the economic and social business environment, universities, the Romanian Parliament, the Presidency. 
  • The research project “Barometer of the Business Environment in Romania 2021” lays the foundations of a tradition centred on the annual presentation of the state of the Romanian business environment, by creating the business barometer index – “RBI – Romanian Business Index“. The results of this assessment tool are useful for potential investors and for government institutions responsible for developing and monitoring economic policies and supporting the business environment. (Details here, p.59) 
  • Other research projects:
    • “The crises of the last decade (e.g. the coronavirus pandemic) and their effects on the model and efficiency of the mix of public, monetary and fiscal policies” (Faculty of Finance, Insurance, Banks and Stock Exchanges);
    • “Research on the identification of solutions for balancing the trade balance of agri-food products (import/export)” (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Economics);
    • “Identification of measures regarding the optimal ways to reduce the trade deficit, in the post-pandemic economic context” (Faculty of Business Administration, with teaching in foreign languages); (Details here, p.58) 
  • The IT industry sponsored innovative educational projects from ASE. 12 innovative tech courses approaching technologies such as AI/ML, Big Data, Blockchain, Cybersecurity were sponsored, one of the criteria for obtaining support being the innovative character and sustainability. 
  • ASE launched the student project competition “Digitization in ASE”. Students had the opportunity to interact and showcase their ideas and creativity, the objective of all being the development of the digital component at the level of the faculties, but also within the university. 

ASE participation in conferences targeting problems that generate and maintain poverty during 2020:

  • The 4th edition “Food Intel Forum 2021“, the most important international event in Romania in agribusiness, food production, beverage production, retail and HoReCa. ASE participated in discussions related to ways to accelerate the commercialization and introduction of the most advanced agro-food technologies; modern sources of financing, diversified financial products and policies to stimulate financing in agriculture; improving the role of guarantee funds for agriculture and SMEs, from Romania and the EU; developing dialogue with business circles in agriculture, food and beverage production, retail and HORECA from the European Union.
  • The conference „Building the Post-Pandemic World: The path to a more sustainable, safe and resilient society” hosted ASE’s contribution on the topic of “The place and role of agriculture in achieving the objectives of sustainable development – Horizon 2030“. The work of the conference focused on discussions and exchange of experience for building post-pandemic life – the path to a more sustainable and resilient society. Strategic decision-makers of the state, members of the national and European legislative body, renowned experts and specialists, representatives of NGOs, journalists and stakeholders interested in the dynamics of the future and how the world of tomorrow will manage to find solutions to protect and sustainable and sustainable development. 
  • Presenting opinions on the financing of rural investments and possible financing options for agribusiness in the FoodBiz magazine, which is business magazine in agriculture, news, analysis and events in agriculture, technology, HORECA, food industries and financing. 
  • The event „Ready for the Green Transition?”, organized in a hybrid system by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Romania, in cooperation with the Centre of Excellence for agri-food educational resources and sustainable development. The event focused on the role that agricultural education plays or should play to contribute to this transition, about the importance of the notion of circular economy and sustainability in the agri-food field and more, about the often underestimated role of “green” in our living environment. On this occasion, the book “Best Practices of Circular Activities in the Agri-food Sector from the Netherlands and Romania” was launched.
  • The conference “Social responsibility of Romanian universities” focused on the involvement of universities in social life, the relationship with the social and business environment, excellence in education as the main concrete evidence of effective involvement in social dynamics, the rise of Romanian universities in the international rankings, the financing of the university system, the digitization of higher education, the supply of universities versus the demand of the business environment, others. In his intervention, university professor Dr. Nicolae Istudor, ASE Rector, emphasized the need for a partnership between the business environment, universities and research institutions, as well as political decision-makers. 
  • Training on “Notions on organic farming, biological quality of eco-products and entrepreneurial innovation in agri-food science“, as a part of the ERASMUS project “Evaluation of agro-ecological development potential through transnational cooperation and entrepreneurial innovation”. The participants were representatives of “Alexandru Ioan-Cuza” University Iași, University of Bucharest, University of Catania, Institute of Agricultural Economics Belgrade, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.
  • “Ecological reconstruction. Arguments and Challenges”, book that provides a synthesis of knowledge related to the identification and characterization of ecological reconstruction activities, presenting some results of programs developed for damaged ecosystems. The amplification of integrated ecological reconstruction works represents one of the challenges of the environmental problems of the 21s