Societies underinvest in research either because it is a long term process and the results are not easily seen, either because of the complexity of this enterprise. This along with other difficulties weighs on the researchers who lack the will or power to get more engaged in the public life which further affects the trust in science and research. Breaking the vicious circle is a slow process and should be based on a genuine partnership between the researchers, as promoters of new findings about the world's true nature, the society as a whole, with its most stringent but also subtles needs, and the communication facilitators as a way to surface the unexpressed realities. The partnership, ReCoNnect-ing these different views, should be effective in educating the present citizens, but also shaping the teaching approaches for the members of the future society. This consortium is made up from 6 research institutes, 4 universities, 1 public body, and 2 civil community associations experienced in promoting science and STEM education, which supported the development of one of the largest educational networks in the country in connection also with EU programmes. Together, we propose a highly innovative concept of European Researchers' Night rooted in a long experience with the programme and well supported by the partner's institutions, which we will implement in a nationwide campaign comprising 21 events in representative urban areas. Three UNESCO/aspiring geoparks will organize events in rural areas, while others will be encouraged to participate remotely. Focusing the conversation, we tackle a topic of great interest for the European Union countries: The European Green Deal. We propose to map the current perceptions and expectations of the population on this programme by a large number of encounters with the public, and to better communicate on the endeavors and successes that Romanian researchers have in contributing to the very ambitious goals of the EU programme.

Researchers worldwide are struggling nowadays to solve some of the critical issues which pose a threat to our future life on Earth. While everyone heard about the climate change, smart cities, freshwater and ocean pollution, soil degradation which conduct to poor quality of food, or cancer, but most of the time only with respect to disasters or an uncertain future, the researchers are actively involved into identifying practical solutions for all these threats, developing devices and systems to monitor, control and diminish their effect, and to cure people and Earth. These missions will have the chance of becoming effective only by ReCoNnect-ing the researchers to the society, by developing a mutual respect and understanding one needs a will to listen, to be open to the new and to explore. As such, we propose the adoption of a special life strategy, that of continuous and active learning, in which all those involved, scientists, communicators or the general public, are active learners interacting with each other. The consortium is made up from 5 research institutes, the largest and most prestigious in the country, 4 universities, with high scientific expertise but also including journalism faculties and one public scientific body, that have been participating in previous research outreach events and coordinate some of the largest STEM educational networks (teachers and pupils) derived from the European programmes. By organization of 20 NIGHT events yearly, also in rural areas, and a strong involvement of researchers at school along the 2 years project implementation, we are confident in the strengthening of the science communication and educational programs already developed, increasing, meanwhile, the number of researchers involved in outreach activities. These allow us to look to the future with new hopes of an active and cultured society towards solving the humanity issues through science and awareness.

Doing Research Midnight in ROmania (DoReMi-RO) 2020 is the International Year of Sound, an area of high importance for science and technologies for all in modern society. Our team goal is to join the European Researchers’ Night event in Romania with this initiative, in order to emphasize both research activities and technological development mixed with sounds and music: DoReMi-RO. The promotion and dissemination of the research results among young people, in one day event, is at the same time welcome but also insufficient. For the moment the kids' curiosity will be sparked but on the next day they feel that everything is beautifully solved in science and there is not much left to do. Then, the research as a career might be unattractive. After a single successful evening, as the Night is, the event must be transformed into a new public challenge based on the well-known concept of collaborative engagement. Thus, the general objective of the project is to raise awareness on research results baked by experiments, involving the participants in a particular citizen science project whereby researchers and the public are working together. The collaborative process will take place before, during and after the Night event and aims to make the magnetic map of Romania. All together will use common smartphones to measure the magnetic field, throughout Romania. The anonymous collaborative public have to send us the measured data, along with the GPS coordinates, uploaded on an internet web-platform. DoReMi-RO event will be held in more than 15 cities, spread throughout entire Romanian territory, among which: Baia Mare, Brasov, Bucharest, Cluj, Constanta, Craiova, Iași, Pitesti, Timișoara, Sibiu and Suceava. All proposed activities are represented by various minds-on and open-air activities: hands-on experiments, debates about collaborative engagement types, games, quizzes, organized in an amusing and stimulated manner by real researchers.

The general objective of the project is to promote scientific research in Romania and to share to general public the enthusiasm of professionals working in this field. Our approach for this national coverage event is to present science and scientists in a non conventional way, employing edutainment methods. The easiest way for the public to learn about science and research is to experience things and to remember amusing scientific experiments or demonstrations. Similar activities, conducted in a regular manner should be a trigger for the pupils and students to consider a career in research following graduation. Our event will take place in 6 cities: Bucharest, Craiova, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Sibiu and Timisoara, and are organized by enthusiastic teams from Universities and research Institutes. The gravity point of all proposed activities is represented by various open air activities, organized in an amusing manner by real scientists and students. Furthermore we would like to stress the importance of scientific research for a modern society and to share information on major research infrastructures in Romania (e.g ELI project). European Research Area and the program Horizon2020 will be presented interactively at EU corners. The target audience for all locations include pupils, students, teachers, parents and grand parents, with special attention devoted to gender equality. We will attract pupils and parents from rural regions, kids with special educational needs, kids from the gifted education programme and theirs trainers. Special tours will be organized for policy makers in educational area, science teachers and science journalists. By means of a well developed media plan, including social media tools, during the awareness campaign we expect that more that 700000 people will know precise data about our project: locations, hours, proposed activities. In all proposed locations we expect a total number of participants higher than 20000 people.

Guiding Cities promueve la colaboración entre los diferentes agentes implicados en el ámbito de la educación y la orientación con el objetivo de mejorar la planificación estratégica de los recursos y servicios para la reducción del abandono escolar. En este sentido, el proyecto Guiding Cities ofrece un conjunto de herramientas de análisis, seguimiento y benchmarking para la mejora de la calidad, la innovación y el acceso a los servicios de orientación potenciando así acciones para la prevención del abandono escolar. Actualmente, al nivel local, hay muchos agentes trabajando en espacios diversos que contribuyen a la política y los servicios de orientación académica y profesional; estos servicios diversos deberían ser integrados dentro de una estrategia. En el consorcio de Guiding Cities participan 8 entidades de 4 países que reflejan entre sí la diversidad de agentes dentro del ámbito de la orientación académica y profesional. El consorcio busca generar sinergias para afrontar retos similares – altos niveles de abandono escolar – y asegurar así que la orientación forma parte de la estrategia de los centros educativos y la comunidad en general – para detector y atender a jóvenes en situaciones de riesgo. Guiding Cities (GCities) ofrece: - Un análisis de la orientación en 4 países a través de desk-research y la realización de grupos de discusión con decisores y expertos en educación y orientación. - GCities Model, el mapa para crear una ciudad orientadora. - GCities working groups, que involucraron más de 55 expertos y profesionales en el ámbito de la educación y orientación. - La publicación: Preventing ESL through career guidance: study of best practices, que analiza las 47 prácticas de orientación y su correlación con el Modelo GCities. - GCities Checklist, una herramienta para la evaluación y la mejora. - GCities Impact Study, una publicación con directrices de cómo y porqué usar las herramientas de GCities y un análisis de su impacto y uso en más de 50 organizaciones. Todos los recursos de GCities están disponibles en la página web (http://www.guidingcities.eu/) y las herramientas están disponibles en 6 idiomas (inglés, español, catalán, italiano, rumano y griego). A través de este proyecto se impulsó la mejora del desarrollo profesional de técnicos locales de servicios municipales y orientadores que trabajan en el sector escolar. También se desplegaron estrategias para mejorar la calidad de la educación sobre el mundo laboral en el aula a través del análisis de actividades y recursos existentes, y el desarrollo de un modelo de orientación y materiales para toda la comunidad con un checklist o lista de comprobación para comparar, evaluar, planificar y ajustar los servicios a las necesidades de cada objetivo y las necesidades globales de toda la comunidad. GCities mejoró la formación y habilidades de maestros, técnicos locales y decisores en el ámbito de la orientación. Municipios y comunidades fueron formados y preparados con las herramientas de GCities para revisar las actividades de orientación realizadas por los diferentes agentes y planificar y coordinar estratégicamente las acciones necesarias para atender los grupos con más necesidades, como los que han abandonado el sistema. El proyecto promueve una visión holística y coordinada de la orientación al nivel local, incluso al nivel del centro, con una mirada hacia las mejores prácticas en Europa para reducir el abandono escolar prematuro.