Volume XVII, Number 2, 2021

ABSTRACT – Since March 2020, measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic have seriously influenced the geographical mobility of people all around the globe. In the case of the Romanian students, this mobility was affected by both the decision of universities to replace the face-to-face activities with the online ones, and by other anti-COVID-19 measures taken by the national authorities. The results of an online survey show that 90% of the students from Cluj-Napoca who participated in this study left the city during the national-scale lockdown (between March 16 and May 14, 2020). Only a small part of them (12%) returned to Cluj-Napoca after the lockdown was over (switching to a state of alert and relaxing the travel restrictions). There was a variety of reasons for staying or leaving the city: some of them have lost their accommodation in an university dorm, or their rented accommodation, or, on the contrary, others could not end their tenancies earlier, while some of them felt that they are safer “at home” than in Cluj-Napoca, and others considered that they would organize themselves more easily from a logistical point of view for the online activities in the locality of residence.

ABSTRACT – Many countries that have banned asbestos are now struggling with its legacy. The consequences of past asbestos exposures are still showing while new exposures occur due to installed asbestos-containing materials that were left in place. Laws and regulations have been issued in such countries, to minimize any further damage – further exposure and environmental contamination. Asbestos inventories are being elaborated and ample information campaigns are being implemented in countries like Italy or Poland. Asbestos has been banned in Romania since 2007, but many asbestos-containing products remained in place at the time, asbestos cement water pipes and roof sheets being the most widespread. Many such roofs have been replaced since then, while many still stand, subject to weathering and damage. Considering the hazardous nature of asbestos, we tried to identify the types of information on asbestos-containing products that are available from public authorities of the counties in the North-Western Development Region (more as an awareness assessment rather than making an inventory). However, the asbestos problem is mostly non-existent in strategic planning documents (with few exceptions) or websites of the main administrative authorities.

ABSTRACT – The old administrative divisions of the Hungarian and Austrian regimes did not take into account the unitary character of the Land of the Moți. Therefore, since 1918, the Romanian governments have attempted to systematize the rural settlements of this region. The main problems faced by the authorities was the great density of small-sized settlements and the location of most of them, high on the slopes of the Apuseni Mountains. This paper looks at the historical evolution of the settlements and explores the changes in the administrative-territorial affiliation over the last century and the way it affected the sphere of influence of the settlements and the local communities. Based on the data collected, the research shows that for some administrative units these attempts represent an artificial, non-functional division of settlements. In addition, we also make a short analysis of the road infrastructure as it plays a significant role in the development of the settlements in the region.