Restart Romanian Voices from the Awards Gala and After Hours Party

“The problem is we don’t have a civil society, not really. We’re 20 billion neurons without synapses…which means only one neuron, not a brain."  – activist attending the Restart Romania gala

A good model bears repetition, and the TechSoup Global challenge model (pioneered at NetSquared events in 2007, 2008 and 2009) brings developers, activists, government, and business together to kick-start social change -- this time in Romania.

We’ve posted several times on the TechSoup Global blog (here, here, here, and here) about Restart Romania’s success in engaging Romanians to end corruption, preserve forests, improve medical services and clean-up the streets. More than 2,000 Romanians created public profiles on the Restart Romania site, 144 projects were entered, and 200,000 visited the platform in six months.

“We need the capacity of the people in civil society to work together…” – Madalina Mocan, I Know What You Promised   

The 10 finalists gathered at a gala on November 5, 2011 in Bucharest to present their ideas in person.

“We aim to bring about change in Romania. And it’s high-time to decide if we are bribe experts or fighters for normality...” – Codru Vrabie, Bribe Market

Now take a look at these videos – of the ‘gala event’ and the ‘after hours’ gathering -- in which some of the best and brightest Romanians say what’s on their mind (and in their hearts).

(Pictured: Elena Calistru, Bani Pierduti)