Data on environmental quality should be just one click away for any citizen. We should all know what air we breathe, what water we consume, or how well waste is managed in our cities. Moreover, public decisions should also be based on this data, and citizens should be able to easily verify and understand it. Unfortunately, in Romania, reality is far from this ideal. Access to data on environmental indicators is often difficult, fragmented, or even nonexistent. For citizens, it is extremely complicated to find updated and clear information about environmental quality in the city where they live. This largely reflects a failure of the public information service: authorities sometimes collect data, but make very little effort to make it accessible and easy to understand.
The CRPE report How public authorities monitor environmental indicators in large cities (available in Romanian language) analyzes who the actors responsible for collecting and publishing environmental indicators are and to what extent this data actually reaches citizens.
The role of central public authorities
Under normal circumstances, environmental indicators – such as air quality, water quality, waste management, and noise pollution – should be collected and monitored both at national and local levels. In practice, however, monitoring is carried out mainly by central public authorities. These institutions manage the main data collection systems and submit reports to European institutions.
The problem is that this data is rarely presented in a way that is accessible to the general public. Often, it is fragmented, scattered across several platforms, or available only in technical reports that are difficult to navigate. As a result, although the information exists in certain forms, it is not translated into language and formats that are easy for citizens to understand.
The role of local public authorities
Local authorities could play an essential role in bringing this data closer to citizens. Municipalities are the institutions closest to local communities and could centralize existing information, complement it with relevant local data, and present it in an accessible format.
However, reality shows that very few municipalities collect or publish updated data on environmental indicators in a clear and easy-to-follow way. And even fewer have their own networks through which they monitor environmental indicators. In many cases, the data is not centralized, and when it is requested through freedom of information requests, the response often redirects the requester to other institutions or to private operators that manage certain services.
This is even more surprising given that many cities are involved in European or national initiatives that encourage transparency and the monitoring of environmental indicators, and these objectives are also included in local strategies.
Examples of good practices at the local level
There are nevertheless some positive examples. Some cities have developed their own monitoring networks, especially in the field of air quality. These include Bistrița, Brașov, Timișoara, Ploiești, Târgu Mureș, Bucharest, Cluj, and Tulcea. In other cases, local administrations have created applications or digital platforms dedicated to specific indicators. For example, in Miercurea Ciuc, the TREES application monitors urban trees, while in Oradea the Bihor Curat application provides information about waste collection.
These initiatives show that there are technical and administrative solutions to make environmental data more accessible. The problem is that they remain exceptions rather than the rule.
Why it is important to have quality data
The lack of accessible data about the environment is not only a technical problem but also one related to civic participation. When citizens do not have access to information about air quality, waste management, or noise levels in their city, it becomes much more difficult to have informed public debates. In an ideal scenario, this information should be available on dedicated platforms or on easily accessible pages on municipal websites, with updated and easy-to-interpret data. In reality, this information is either missing or available only in lengthy reports or upon request.
This lack of transparency discourages citizen engagement and reduces public pressure for better environmental policies. Without clear and accessible data, it becomes much harder to understand how environmental problems in our cities are evolving and what solutions should be adopted.
Read the full report: How public authorities monitor environmental indicators in large cities
CRPE and youth engagement in environmental monitoring
At CRPE, we work to increase transparency and improve the quality of data about the environment, while also encouraging citizen involvement in monitoring it. Through the EmpowerYouth project, we work with teams of young people from several local communities, training them to understand environmental indicators and to monitor how authorities collect and publish this data. We organize trainings and workshops explaining how environmental policies can be monitored and how public transparency tools can be used.
We have also created and use the Ecoville board game to raise public awareness about the importance of environmental quality at the urban level and to encourage data-driven public policies. Ecoville is an educational game where you become a member of a local council and make important decisions for the future of your city. You will represent an imaginary political party and, together with the other players, you will find solutions to challenges related to the environment, resources, and community wellbeing.
EmpowerYouth is funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.