Over 90,000 workers, out of a total of 175,000 employed in the sector became redundant as a result of the reform in the mining industry in Romania in the period August 1997 - December 1999. Jiu Valley, a region in central-western Romania was one of the targeted areas. Throughout the years repeated policy failures consumed the few resources that households had in 1997 to confront the economic crisis, and left behind a vulnerable community with little hope for better life, little cooperation or trust to support a new policy, and little or no means to migrate elsewhere. This is a difficult environment for policy makers today, in process of finalizing restructuring programs or preparing new interventions in the region.

The proposed policy study aims at:

1) understanding the factors that increase or weaken household resilience in areas affected by mine closures, and mapping the policy demand

2) identifying those factors that hinder or support the policy supply at the local level.

These findings will help, eventually, at formulating policy recommendations for increasing the quality of the programs implemented as well as the participation of the community in the respective policies.

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