European meetings in Transylvania have been organized since 2010 by the French Embassy in Romania and the Cluj-Napoca branch of the French Institute in Romania. In March 2018, the 8th edition was hosted in Cluj-Napoca and Alba-Iulia. During three days, the guests aimed to address the theme of transition to a more sustainable city, taking into account both the challenges and the opportunities of the Romanian cities.

As guests for the plenary sessions and workshops were Ms. Michèle Ramis (Ambassador of France in Romania), Ciprian Rosca (Secretary of State, Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds), Emil Boc (Mayor of Cluj-Napoca), Şerban Ţigănaş (President of the Order of Architects in Romania), Ioan Popa (Mayor of Resita).

Mr. Popa participated in the plenary session, which focused on the stakes of a transition to more sustainable city, talking about the essential principles for that. He was also one of the speakers at the workshop about urban planning and the use of territorial knowledge tools to facilitate the governance of a sustainable city. Meanwhile, Sorin Dumitru, Councilor of the Reşiţa Mayor, represented the town in a workshop dedicated to the re-use and transformation of the decommissioned industrial lands.

Among the conclusions of the event, it is that one of the successful factors for a transition to a sustainable city is an active and courageous mayor, supported by a competent and trained team capable of developing a partners network, and another important factor is supporting initiatives to stimulate innovation and private investment, ideas and practices implemented in Resita.