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The Italian philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer Giordano Bruno (1548-1600; “The universe is… not capable of comprehension and therefore is endless and limitless…”) stated that: “Time is the father of truth, its mother is our mind”. Climbing the ladder of time, trying to continuous feed our mind with fragments of the step-by-step sought truth, we found out that on November 22nd, 2011, Michael Snyder (the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/17-quotes-about-the-coming-global-financial-collapse-that-will-make-your-hair-stand-up; the author of the book “The Beginninig of the End”, published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on May 15, 2013, and looking at the fact that we are still not prepared for what is ahead) wrote on his blog: “The western world is drowning in an ocean of debt unlike anything the world has ever seen before, and our financial markets are gigantic casinos that are dependent on huge mountains of risk and leverage remaining very stable… many top financial professionals… are telling us that “time is running out”… “the whole system is going down”… If we continue on the road that we are on, our economy will progressively get worse and worse… In the end, time will reveal the truth to all of us.”

One year before, in 2010, our valuable old Friend and Colleague Valeriu Ioan-Franc, who uses to teach the love of reading (https://www.distribution-magazine.eu/the-distinguished-professor-thierry-de-montbrial-adds-a-new-romanian-journal-page/ ), offered us another challenging book (please see Valuable Author Autograph, 2010) published by “Expert”: “About crisis without anger and with discernment”, by Napoleon Pop, Amalia Fugaru, Valeriu Ioan-Franc. From the very beginning the authors argued that: “The complexity of the crisis we are going through, with no end in immediate future sight and beyond all the comparisons with the others of the kind is questioning both the economic model and the knowledge model about nowadays economics… A balanced approach of internal factors which can be under the pressure of the transmission channels bringing external shocks is more appropriate for the judgement of the possible domestic outcomes of the present crisis, either in financial field or economic one.”

Napoleon Pop, Amalia Fugaru, Valeriu Ioan-Franc were keen to emphasize that the crisis was predictable in many ways, drawing attention to the necessity of accurate understanding of: the causes of neglect of the risk management and of the exercise of prudentiality; the imperative of the doubling the emotional state by the knowledge rationality; identifying the optimal timing of intervention by an anti-crisis plan; the weaker link of the financial crisis with the economic fundamentals and a greater link with the image’s game of perceptions, of the irrational; the acute need to reset our own national strategy as a Member State of the European Union, and of NATO;  the new equilibrium configuration of the future international order, a “burden sharing” with more actors; the fact that the risk attractiveness ends with risk aversion; the imperative of not running  from the correct placement of the causes and responsibilities in addressing the complex link between globalization and the crisis; the efficiency of the efforts started from the point of view of their contingency to the new realities; the correlation between national competitiveness and national security; the need for realignment of the longevity risk with the new financial instruments for long-term savings; the right way of crisis management (two sets of measures), considering the conditionings of optimality and opportunity of the anti-crisis package; the fact that any reform of the tax system needs a clear answer to the question: “What does the taxpayer get in terms of quality?”; the role of national solutions (in front of the suddenly and chaotic bottlenecks in the global network of the flows of capital, goods, services and labor) as  “preventive measures” related to the background of national economic policies truly dedicated to long-term sustainable development; the effect of globalization on the meeting between cultures (knowing that the basic element of the culture is the vision on time); the fact that the lack of courage to admit the falsity of economic theories based on the logic is to blame under the circumstances of the new frontiers designed by the realities of the globalization and of the new knowledge gained from empirical study of this phenomenon …

Let us finally conclude by referring to two recent approaches:

a) On February 28, 2013, David Frances pointed out, in The Fiscal Times (while quoting a McKinsey Global Institute Report released a day before: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/02/28/Is-This-the-End-of-Globalization.aspx#HpvfKye0bZhHXTgZ.99): “The global economy is at a crossroads… It remains to be seen which way we’re headed”.

b) On June 4, 2013, an article published by onlinelibrary.wiley.com (Economic Crisis Globalization, and Partisan Bias: Evidence from Spain, by José Fernández-Albertos, Alexander Kuo, Laia Balcells; DOI: 10.1111/isqu.12081; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/isqu.12081/abstract ) showed the results of theories about blame attribution with respect to the economic crisis, the authors arguing that “blame for the crisis is partially conditioned by partisan bias and framings of the crisis as being related to globalization.”

It is well known that: “Only your friends steal your books” (Voltaire); “Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon” (Bertolt Brecht); “The language of friendship is not words but meanings” (Henry David Thoreau); “You cannot open a book without learning something” (Confucius). Our valuable old Friend and Colleague Valeriu Ioan-Franc (http://www.crd-aida.ro/our-team/valeriu-ioan-franc-2/ ) uses to teach the love of reading. Nine years ago we quoted (in a book introduced by the “Diplomatic Gazette”, Brussels, No. 45/December 2004) – thanks to a book given by him – the distinguished Professor Thierry de Montbrial, president of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri, which he founded in 1979; Professor Emeritus at the “Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers”; he launched the “World Policy Conference”, in 2008; Author of about eighty professional articles and of fifteen books in economics and international affairs; Member of the “Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques” of the “Institut de France” since 1992; Member of the Board of Directors of Cap Gemini and of Renault Foundation; Member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Meetings; Member of the Advisory Committee of the Peterson Institute for International Economics – IIE, Washington, of the Carnegie Moscow Center, and of the Advisory Council of the Standford Institute for International Studies and so on – http://www.thierrydemontbrial.com/), Member of the Romanian Academy (December 1999). On the occasion of the reception, in 2000, Thierry de Montbrial delivered a speech on “The meaning of history”, by highlighting the link  between the positive message of the Father Teilhard de Chardin (“the human epic resembles nothing so much as a way of the Cross”), and the wisdom of Mircea Eliade, Constantin Brancusi, Nicholas Georgescu Roegen (whom he met), and the Romanian most valuable asset: the comprehension of the essential acquired thanks to our great culture impregnated by cosmos and transcended by many tests.

In the book “Action and Reaction in the World System. The dynamics of economic and political power” (UBC Press, Canada, 2013), Thierry de Montbrial concluded that “good global governance is a survival issue and achieving it is a race against time”. In the context, he underlined, among others, that “there is no problem more important than determining how to enforce the structural stability of our increasingly complex international system”, and “even the European Union remains a long way from becom­ing a well-rounded political unit”.

Our valuable old Friend and Colleague Valeriu Ioan-Franc gave us a new challenging book (being reponsible for the editorial coordination) of the distinguished Professor Thierry de Montbrial, “Penser l’Europe”/“A gȃndi Europa” (published this year by “The National Science and Art Foundation/“Fundația Naționala pentru Ştiință şi Artă”; Preface signed on 28 February by Academician Eugen Simion, who underlined from the very beginning that the book brings together texts lectures held by Professor Thierry de Montbrial in the “Penser l’Europe” Seminar since its creation in 2002 until today). This wonderful book will be launched in Paris, in June 2013.

Friday, March 22, 2013, took place the works of the Forum celebrating “World Water Day” (22 March) and “World Meteorological Day” (23 March), organized by the “Group of Ecological Initiative and Sustainable Development – GIEDD in collaboration with the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences „Gheorghe Ionescu-Şişeşti” (ASAS), “Romanian Waters” National Administration and the National Meteorological Administration. GIEDD was represented by the distinguished Members of the Executive Board: the former President of Romania, His Excellency Mr. Ion ILIESCU, President of GIEDD, Dr. Eng. Cristiana SÎRBU – Executive President of GIEDD, and HRH Prince Michael of LAUFENBURG.

Professor Gheorghe SIN – President of ASAS, opened the works of the Forum, followed by Dr. Eng. Vasile PINTILE, Director General, National Administration “Romanian Waters”, Dr. Ion SANDU, Director General, National Meteorological Administration, and the distinguished Members of the Executive Board of GIEDD.

Dr. Eng. Cristiana SÎRBU – Executive President of GIEDD gave the floor to other distinguished participants: Mrs. Lucia Ana VARGA, Minister Delegate to Waters, Forests, Fisheries; Mr. Cristian HERA, President of the Commission of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences of the Romanian Academy;  Mr. Petre Roman, Member of the Chamber of Deputies; Mr. Alexandru T. BOGDAN, Member of the Romanian Academy; Mr. Petre DAEA, Member of the Chamber of Deputies; Dr. Răzvan TEODORESCU, Dean of the Faculty of Land Reclamation and Environmental Engineering, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV), Bucharest; Dr. Eng. Daniela RĂDULESCU, Director of the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management; Mr. E. CHIRU, Deputy Director General, “Apa Nova” Bucharest; Mr. Vladimir ROJANSCHI, Vice Rector of Ecological University Bucharest (and Member of the Board of Romanian Water Association); Mr. Vasile CIOMOS, President of the Romanian Water Association; Dr. Eng. Ioan BICA, Dean, Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest; Mr. Ioan–Niculae ALECU, Vice President of ASAS (and Honorary President of USAMV Bucharest); Students of Dr. Eng. Cristiana SÎRBU displaying a real team work; and the last but not least, Professor Ioan JELEV, Secretary General of ASAS. Let us also salute the participation of distinguished former Ministers Ion TESU, Ion OANCEA, Aurel Constantin ILIE, and of other distinguished Professors of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest.

The lively debate allowed the clarification of questions and concerns. As a confirmation of the solidarity and confidence needed to tackle complex problems – that President Ion ILIESCU made reference to also in the end of the Forum works, while drawing valuable conclusions – allows us to emphasize two other significant contributions in the qualitative manner of carrying out the Forum:

●the special contribution brought by the multiple World and Olympic champion, Mr. Ivan PATZAICHIN, President of “Ivan Patzaichin – Mila 23” Association, a great friend of the water, a real model of devotion in encouraging young people to love nature, to appreciate water, the most precious natural resource, to love sport and performance (http://www.rowmania.ro/ ); Mr. Ivan PATZAICHIN (born in the  village “Mila 23” in the Tulcea county) aims at achieving and promoting sustainable development projects of local and regional interest, promoting the cultural profile of his native area, and encouraging healthy living, in a sustainable environment, encouraging ecotourism in rowboat;

●the inspirational cultural message of the sculptor Doru Dragusin:  “water passes, the stones remain… polished; …each type of material has its valences and must be respected… I love this very hard work so much that I sometimes wonder why so soon is dark outside…”. Mr. Doru Dragusin (http://www.dorudragusin.com/  ), born in the  village “Nicolae Titulescu” in the Olt county, confirmed both, the words of Nicolae Titulescu (by understanding that each of us has its mission and the success comes from the unity, the feeling of confidence being an essential condition for any productive work, and that the ideal is in itself a becoming reality, because the honest people always proceed in the same direction under the command of the conscience), and the words of Constantin Brancusi (by acting accordingly, proving the understanding that in order to express something essentially we need to see the essence of things and to go from here towards the right direction).

It is also worth to underline the cultural moment represented by the Vernissage Sculpture Doru Dragusin (on “Diplomacy through Art” dedicated to the year “Constantin Brancusi”) on the occasion of the Forum, Mr. Doru Dragusin being the well-known author of the bronze statue of “Nicolae Titulescu” (former Romanian diplomat and statesman, twice President of the Assembly of the League of Nations in 1930 and 1931) unveiled in April 2002 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva (on the occasion of marking the 120th Anniversary of Nicolae Titulescu); within the context of the discussions during the Vernissage,  Mr. Doru Dragusin rediscovered the temporal coincidence with the intervention of Mr. Theodor Purcarea (as President of the Romanian Competition Council: http://www.crd-aida.ro/our-team/theodor-purcarea/ )  in the same month, April 2002, in Geneva at the level of World Trade Organization (this intervention was presented in position 1 of the Final Report of the Working Group for Trade and Competition Policy – document also presented in a “Diplomatic and Protocol Customs” Book introduced by the “Diplomatic Gazette”, Brussels, No. 45/December 2004).

There is no doubt that water is the key to development, becoming an increasingly important strategic issue, not only a public health and environmental issue. There is a real need to consider both, the dynamic links between water, energy, and farming, and to build resilience against climate change, including by improving the ability to project future climate through adequate monitoring and research. Taking into account the importance of appropriate dosage between science and policy in order to align the activities on key priorities, policy responses should include adaptation to climate change and adequately addressing issues such as water-related disasters, health and the role of ecosystems.

       If quality is an attitude, and attitude is everything, let’s consider an example of attitude for quality. The quality and consistency determined by the common attitude of the members of a PhD Advisory Committee in 1997 influenced the title of a book published more than a year later by “Expert” Publishing House, Bucharest, under a title that is still current: “Packaging. Attitude for quality”, author Anca Purcarea, the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. This book was followed in time by other publications (Anca Purcarea – Technology – Environment – Economy, Center for Ecomical Information and Documentation, INCE, Romanian Academy; Anca Purcarea – Packaging Economics, Technical University of Moldavia Publishing House, Chisinau, 2006). The distinguished Professors who were members of this PhD Advisory Committee in 1997 at the Faculty of Commerce, the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, were: Gheorghe ZAMAN, Viorel PETRESCU, Iacob CATOIU, Aurel VAINER, Alexandru REDES (the last one being the PhD Coordinator). They stimulated a very open discussion about the economics of packaging, the invitees (such as: the Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee, Beniamin COTIGARU, the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest; former President of the Association for Consumer Protection in Romania, Ion LEANCA; Director of the ECR Department of the Romanian Distribution Committee, Virgil POPA; the current President of the Association for Consumer Protection in Romania, Costel STANCIU etc.) being also involved. In the context of the PhD thesis debate, the spontaneous discussion widened a number of issues such as: the market landscape at that time and what could change in perspective thanks to the key drivers behind the market changes; business expectations at the level of small and medium-sized companies compared to the large ones; efficiencies across current packaging formats, and main drivers of packaging costs; the influence of rapidly improving technologies and the rising environmental awareness; demand evolution for lightweight and sustainable packaging products; improvements perspective in consumer recycling patterns of both householders and businesses, the role of incentive schemes in better dealing with packaging at the end of its life so as to ensure better environmental and natural resources outcomes; the partnership between the local authorities and the waste management companies in the collection of packaging; as packaging adds value and has a strong environmental impact, the perspective of sustainability approach in order to use the life cycle management of packaging and of product to market packaging; the evolution of the partnership between producers, retailers and consumers in the prevention of food losses and waste etc.

Professor Ioan TALPOS hands the Diploma to Professor Ana-Lucia RISTEA

Professor Ana-Lucia RISTEA

Dr. Constantin Bostina

Theodor Valentin Purcarea, Constantin Bostina

Professor Ana-Lucia RISTEA, former Director of the National Institute “Virgil Madgearu”, is also a Founding Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee, together with Dr. Constantin TUDOSE, Dr. Constantin BOSTINA, and other distinguished Professors such as Iacob CATOIU, Dumitru PATRICHE, Aurel VAINER, Valeriu IOAN-FRANC, Theodor Valentin PURCAREA, Virgil POPA, Corneliu RAUTA.

Professor Ana-Lucia RISTEA, has conducted extensive scientific researchand teaching, being truly passionate not only about domestic trade research, but also about literature and art criticism as an indispensable element of culture and to learn from what is justified, beyond the surface noise, confirming not only her personality, but also that creation begins with vision and continues with doing the work in the right way, while proving a strong will, the capacity of effort and an intense spirit of observation, and not the least self-discipline.

It is worth to mention that within the context of the opening of General Assembly of AFER, President Ioan TALPOS gave the floor to Dr. Constantin BOSTINA, General Director of “Economistul” Media Group, and Vice President of the General Association of Economists in Romania (AGER).