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Papers by Natalia Ciobanu, PhD

Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 2019

This paper is based on SUSTAIN, an ERASMUS+ project with an innovative perspective on urban trans... more This paper is based on SUSTAIN, an ERASMUS+ project with an innovative perspective on urban transportation, and its target is to promote the importance of sustainability on the everyday problem of urban transportation among the students of higher education (and not only), who are the policy makers of tomorrow. In order to achieve its goals, the research team is currently developing a course that will be based on an interactive serious board game with an analytical style of education. SUSTAIN’s purpose is to create a game that will allow students to learn about transportation sustainability and societal metabolism through playing. The project partners develop small and illustrative simulation models, which will make the definitions more concrete and allow students to experiment largely in a consequence-free environment. The simulation models can be used to identify scenario exemplars on how we can achieve sustainable urban transportation and consequently a balanced societal metabolis...

Programul de prime de casare auto „Rabla” pentru autoturisme a fost introdus pentru prima dată în... more Programul de prime de casare auto „Rabla” pentru autoturisme a fost
introdus pentru prima dată în 2005, iar scopul lui explicit era să
îmbunătățească calitatea mediului prin oferirea de stimulente financiare,
având următoarele obiective: 1. Reducerea efectelor poluării aerului asupra
mediului și asupra sănătății; 2. Reducerea poluării solului și a apei; 3.
Reducerea eliminării deșeurilor și atingerea obiectivelor stabilite pentru
reciclarea și reutilizarea deșeurilor de la vehiculele scoase din funcțiune.
Cu toate acestea, autoritățile nu au reușit să măsoare și să demonstreze
succesul acestui program derulat în ultimii 15 ani. Lipsa unei analize a
programului ridică o serie de întrebări asupra cărora documentul de față se
apleacă; întrebările privesc scopul, designul și beneficiarii de facto ai acestei
politici publice.
De asemenea, analiza propune o serie de recomandări de decizii care ar
putea fi luate pentru îmbunătățirea programului, dar și sugestii despre cum
impactul acestuia ar putea fi măsurat eficient.
Analiză realizată pentru organizația 2Celsius (https://2celsius.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Analiza-RABLA.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3ZScdkGBWPCRc9drPdtj1sdWxUvgFso9JdABMCYUMwxeqlJPg26vs5Rro)

Policy Analysis by Natalia Ciobanu "Rabla" car scrapping premiums program in Romania for passenge... more Policy Analysis by Natalia Ciobanu "Rabla" car scrapping premiums program in Romania for passenger cars was first introduced in 2005. Being explicitly aimed at improving environmental quality, it is an example of a financial incentive-based environmental policy measure that tries to tackle several environmental problems simultaneously: 1.Reducing environmental and health effects of air pollution; 2.Reducing soil and water pollution; 3.Reducing waste disposal and achieving targets set for the recycling and reusing of waste from decommissioned vehicles. However, what the authorities in charge measure is misaligned to its stated objectives. Alas, not managing to correctly assess the effectiveness of this policy, this unfortunate misalignment inevitably raises justified questions as to the policy's very purpose, design and de-facto beneficiaries. Weary of raising barren critiques, the document ends on a note of advice: what (else) to measure so that it actually matters and what other ways there are to make this program better.

Springer Texts in Business and Economics

Acest raport oferă recomandări informate, bazate pe cercetare pentru părțile interesate, inclusiv... more Acest raport oferă recomandări informate, bazate pe cercetare pentru părțile interesate, inclusiv, dar fără a se limita la membrii rețelei naționale Clima Forum East II, privind punctele cheie în consolidarea punerii în aplicare a politicilor de adaptare la schimbările climatice cu accent specific asupra sectorului resurselor de apă și biodiversitate.

This report gives informed, research-based recommendations to relevant stakeholders, including, b... more This report gives informed, research-based recommendations to relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to members of Moldovan national network of Climate Forum East II, on key entry points to strengthen policy implementation for adaptation to climate change with specific focus on water resource and biodiversity sectors.
This document has been developed by „MilleniuM“ Training and Development Institute in the framework of the project "Analysis of national policy documents on climate change in Water Resources and Biodiversity sectors" with the financial support of the NGO EcoContact under the program "Climate Forum East“ (CFE II). This program is financed by the European Union, Austrian Development Cooperation and the Austrian Red Cross.

Although well­‐established and adopted in many sectors as a main framework for decision making, C... more Although well­‐established and adopted in many sectors as a main framework for decision making, Cost­‐Benefit Analysis (CBA) has been increasingly criticized on a series of grounds, accompanying the increase in
people’s concerns about the quality of the environment. In this brief position paper I question whether or not CBA should be the main criteria for
choosing to implement a particular policy or project with environmental (and social) implications.

Republic of Moldova is one of the countries that is slowly, but steadily being affected by conseq... more Republic of Moldova is one of the countries that is slowly, but steadily being affected by consequences of climate change, including the increase in the annual average temperature. Concomitantly, the frequency of droughts and floods has been increasing particularly in the past 3 decades. Big floods on small rivers are of particular concern. Both draughts and floods are regarded as having the biggest socio-economic impact. It is anticipated that water scarcity in the future will be the main problem in some regions of R.Moldova, especially in the Central and Southern regions. The most important impacts are expected to be on agricultural productivity and human health.
Ichel watershed (read: Eekel) is a relatively small watershed located in Central part of the Republic of Moldova,and is a representative natural geigraphical unit for climate change related challenges that the country is facing. No specific scientific projections of future climate risks have been developed for the watershed.
This local adaptation plan is based on a study, which was conducted within the framework of the project "Development of local Climate Change Adaptation action plan in Ichel watershed in a Resilience Assessment Framework" regarding the vulnerabilities of local communities that are part of this watershed. The study revealed that these vulnerabilities are coherent with the vulnerabilities identified at national level. The major vulnerabilities as a result of climate risks (Increase of temperature,
draughts, floods) at watershed level are the decrease in agricultural productivity, reduction in water availability and accessibility for drinking and irrigation purposes as a result of the decrease in the level of groundwater table, and loss in local biodiversity, in particular loss of forested areas
and aquatic fauna. Concrete recommendations emerging from the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, from the National Vulnerability Assessment Report, as well as from the inputs elicited from stakeholders and members of the community itself were compiled and included in the attached Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan.

Romania is a member of the EU-27, having joined the European Union and thus the EU Emissions Trad... more Romania is a member of the EU-27, having joined the European Union and thus the EU Emissions Trading System in 2007. However it had been implementing climate change policies before that, as well.
Romania signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 at Rio Earth Summit and ratified it in 1994 (law 24/1994). Later on, in 1999, it signed the Kyoto Protocol, which was then ratified in 2001 (law 3/2001). The base year for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is set for 1989 – the year when the era of highly industrialized economy ended together with the communist regime in the country. The target was set for 8% reduction in GHG emissions between 2008 and 2012. Following that, the First national Strategy on Climate Change was adopted by a Governmental Decision in 2005.
In the framework of improving the environmental quality and reducing the GHG emissions, one of the directions for action the Romanian Government has undertaken is the renewal of national car fleet. In the light of this the Government has taken a decision in 2004 (Decision 99/2004) to establish the National Car Fleet Renewal Program. The decision was approved by a law in 2005 (law 72/2005), and the institution designated to manage the program was the Environmental Fund under the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
While the intention and approach of the program to simultaneously tackle more environmental problems, including the stringent climate change issue, by integrating them in one policy measure is praiseworthy, and the urgency of such problems would justify state intervention into the automotive market, the design of the program is not consistent with its objectives. That is to say, lack of data on environmental performance of the program does not allow for an objective weighing and an evidence-based discussion around its environmental benefits and economic (dis)advantages.

Drafts by Natalia Ciobanu, PhD

The distribution of water to every household is vital in cities nowadays. Its key role in all sph... more The distribution of water to every household is vital in cities nowadays. Its key role in all spheres of human existence and development has lead to human society facing the problem of water scarcity in many regions of the world. The problem gains proportion with the increase in population and in water demand per capita associated with economic development. With an increased migration to cities registered in the last decades, urban water supply planning is a challenging, complex task, leading to a growing pressure on the watersheds and to the need of identifying and bringing in water from additional sources. In Istanbul – one of the 25 biggest cities in the world – the effect of growing population on water availability is especially obvious. Drinking water resources in Istanbul have been insufficient to satisfy the need of the increasing population since historical times, and water stress has been a driver of many water infrastructure projects throughout centuries. Using the system dynamics modelling approach, we try to analyse in this paper the influence of population growth on water availability in Istanbul, with particular emphasis on in-migration. We focus as well on city’s need for water input from other watersheds. By building a system model, the problem of urban water demand and supply in Istanbul is visualized, giving an analytical background for managerial and political decision-making.

Books by Natalia Ciobanu, PhD

Responsible Consumption: What, Why and How?, 2012

Quick guide with crisp information to help the general public adopt understand and behaviours tha... more Quick guide with crisp information to help the general public adopt understand and behaviours that are (more) in-line with sustainable development principles.

Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 2019

This paper is based on SUSTAIN, an ERASMUS+ project with an innovative perspective on urban trans... more This paper is based on SUSTAIN, an ERASMUS+ project with an innovative perspective on urban transportation, and its target is to promote the importance of sustainability on the everyday problem of urban transportation among the students of higher education (and not only), who are the policy makers of tomorrow. In order to achieve its goals, the research team is currently developing a course that will be based on an interactive serious board game with an analytical style of education. SUSTAIN’s purpose is to create a game that will allow students to learn about transportation sustainability and societal metabolism through playing. The project partners develop small and illustrative simulation models, which will make the definitions more concrete and allow students to experiment largely in a consequence-free environment. The simulation models can be used to identify scenario exemplars on how we can achieve sustainable urban transportation and consequently a balanced societal metabolis...

Programul de prime de casare auto „Rabla” pentru autoturisme a fost introdus pentru prima dată în... more Programul de prime de casare auto „Rabla” pentru autoturisme a fost
introdus pentru prima dată în 2005, iar scopul lui explicit era să
îmbunătățească calitatea mediului prin oferirea de stimulente financiare,
având următoarele obiective: 1. Reducerea efectelor poluării aerului asupra
mediului și asupra sănătății; 2. Reducerea poluării solului și a apei; 3.
Reducerea eliminării deșeurilor și atingerea obiectivelor stabilite pentru
reciclarea și reutilizarea deșeurilor de la vehiculele scoase din funcțiune.
Cu toate acestea, autoritățile nu au reușit să măsoare și să demonstreze
succesul acestui program derulat în ultimii 15 ani. Lipsa unei analize a
programului ridică o serie de întrebări asupra cărora documentul de față se
apleacă; întrebările privesc scopul, designul și beneficiarii de facto ai acestei
politici publice.
De asemenea, analiza propune o serie de recomandări de decizii care ar
putea fi luate pentru îmbunătățirea programului, dar și sugestii despre cum
impactul acestuia ar putea fi măsurat eficient.
Analiză realizată pentru organizația 2Celsius (https://2celsius.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Analiza-RABLA.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3ZScdkGBWPCRc9drPdtj1sdWxUvgFso9JdABMCYUMwxeqlJPg26vs5Rro)

Policy Analysis by Natalia Ciobanu "Rabla" car scrapping premiums program in Romania for passenge... more Policy Analysis by Natalia Ciobanu "Rabla" car scrapping premiums program in Romania for passenger cars was first introduced in 2005. Being explicitly aimed at improving environmental quality, it is an example of a financial incentive-based environmental policy measure that tries to tackle several environmental problems simultaneously: 1.Reducing environmental and health effects of air pollution; 2.Reducing soil and water pollution; 3.Reducing waste disposal and achieving targets set for the recycling and reusing of waste from decommissioned vehicles. However, what the authorities in charge measure is misaligned to its stated objectives. Alas, not managing to correctly assess the effectiveness of this policy, this unfortunate misalignment inevitably raises justified questions as to the policy's very purpose, design and de-facto beneficiaries. Weary of raising barren critiques, the document ends on a note of advice: what (else) to measure so that it actually matters and what other ways there are to make this program better.

Springer Texts in Business and Economics

Acest raport oferă recomandări informate, bazate pe cercetare pentru părțile interesate, inclusiv... more Acest raport oferă recomandări informate, bazate pe cercetare pentru părțile interesate, inclusiv, dar fără a se limita la membrii rețelei naționale Clima Forum East II, privind punctele cheie în consolidarea punerii în aplicare a politicilor de adaptare la schimbările climatice cu accent specific asupra sectorului resurselor de apă și biodiversitate.

This report gives informed, research-based recommendations to relevant stakeholders, including, b... more This report gives informed, research-based recommendations to relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to members of Moldovan national network of Climate Forum East II, on key entry points to strengthen policy implementation for adaptation to climate change with specific focus on water resource and biodiversity sectors.
This document has been developed by „MilleniuM“ Training and Development Institute in the framework of the project "Analysis of national policy documents on climate change in Water Resources and Biodiversity sectors" with the financial support of the NGO EcoContact under the program "Climate Forum East“ (CFE II). This program is financed by the European Union, Austrian Development Cooperation and the Austrian Red Cross.

Although well­‐established and adopted in many sectors as a main framework for decision making, C... more Although well­‐established and adopted in many sectors as a main framework for decision making, Cost­‐Benefit Analysis (CBA) has been increasingly criticized on a series of grounds, accompanying the increase in
people’s concerns about the quality of the environment. In this brief position paper I question whether or not CBA should be the main criteria for
choosing to implement a particular policy or project with environmental (and social) implications.

Republic of Moldova is one of the countries that is slowly, but steadily being affected by conseq... more Republic of Moldova is one of the countries that is slowly, but steadily being affected by consequences of climate change, including the increase in the annual average temperature. Concomitantly, the frequency of droughts and floods has been increasing particularly in the past 3 decades. Big floods on small rivers are of particular concern. Both draughts and floods are regarded as having the biggest socio-economic impact. It is anticipated that water scarcity in the future will be the main problem in some regions of R.Moldova, especially in the Central and Southern regions. The most important impacts are expected to be on agricultural productivity and human health.
Ichel watershed (read: Eekel) is a relatively small watershed located in Central part of the Republic of Moldova,and is a representative natural geigraphical unit for climate change related challenges that the country is facing. No specific scientific projections of future climate risks have been developed for the watershed.
This local adaptation plan is based on a study, which was conducted within the framework of the project "Development of local Climate Change Adaptation action plan in Ichel watershed in a Resilience Assessment Framework" regarding the vulnerabilities of local communities that are part of this watershed. The study revealed that these vulnerabilities are coherent with the vulnerabilities identified at national level. The major vulnerabilities as a result of climate risks (Increase of temperature,
draughts, floods) at watershed level are the decrease in agricultural productivity, reduction in water availability and accessibility for drinking and irrigation purposes as a result of the decrease in the level of groundwater table, and loss in local biodiversity, in particular loss of forested areas
and aquatic fauna. Concrete recommendations emerging from the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, from the National Vulnerability Assessment Report, as well as from the inputs elicited from stakeholders and members of the community itself were compiled and included in the attached Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan.

Romania is a member of the EU-27, having joined the European Union and thus the EU Emissions Trad... more Romania is a member of the EU-27, having joined the European Union and thus the EU Emissions Trading System in 2007. However it had been implementing climate change policies before that, as well.
Romania signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 at Rio Earth Summit and ratified it in 1994 (law 24/1994). Later on, in 1999, it signed the Kyoto Protocol, which was then ratified in 2001 (law 3/2001). The base year for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is set for 1989 – the year when the era of highly industrialized economy ended together with the communist regime in the country. The target was set for 8% reduction in GHG emissions between 2008 and 2012. Following that, the First national Strategy on Climate Change was adopted by a Governmental Decision in 2005.
In the framework of improving the environmental quality and reducing the GHG emissions, one of the directions for action the Romanian Government has undertaken is the renewal of national car fleet. In the light of this the Government has taken a decision in 2004 (Decision 99/2004) to establish the National Car Fleet Renewal Program. The decision was approved by a law in 2005 (law 72/2005), and the institution designated to manage the program was the Environmental Fund under the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
While the intention and approach of the program to simultaneously tackle more environmental problems, including the stringent climate change issue, by integrating them in one policy measure is praiseworthy, and the urgency of such problems would justify state intervention into the automotive market, the design of the program is not consistent with its objectives. That is to say, lack of data on environmental performance of the program does not allow for an objective weighing and an evidence-based discussion around its environmental benefits and economic (dis)advantages.

The distribution of water to every household is vital in cities nowadays. Its key role in all sph... more The distribution of water to every household is vital in cities nowadays. Its key role in all spheres of human existence and development has lead to human society facing the problem of water scarcity in many regions of the world. The problem gains proportion with the increase in population and in water demand per capita associated with economic development. With an increased migration to cities registered in the last decades, urban water supply planning is a challenging, complex task, leading to a growing pressure on the watersheds and to the need of identifying and bringing in water from additional sources. In Istanbul – one of the 25 biggest cities in the world – the effect of growing population on water availability is especially obvious. Drinking water resources in Istanbul have been insufficient to satisfy the need of the increasing population since historical times, and water stress has been a driver of many water infrastructure projects throughout centuries. Using the system dynamics modelling approach, we try to analyse in this paper the influence of population growth on water availability in Istanbul, with particular emphasis on in-migration. We focus as well on city’s need for water input from other watersheds. By building a system model, the problem of urban water demand and supply in Istanbul is visualized, giving an analytical background for managerial and political decision-making.

Responsible Consumption: What, Why and How?, 2012

Quick guide with crisp information to help the general public adopt understand and behaviours tha... more Quick guide with crisp information to help the general public adopt understand and behaviours that are (more) in-line with sustainable development principles.