Cluj-Napoca: Lessons on dealing with the brain drain, Part II
A talk with Calin Hintea, Professor at Babes Bolyai University, about exporting the city’s anti-brain drain policy and the key role of mayors
In Part II of this article, Calin Hintea, (Professor at Babes Bolyai University and one of the driving forces behind Cluj-Napoca’s successful anti-brain drain strategy) explains what other municipalities can do to copy Cluj-Napoca’s approach to the loss of people and talent.
Read Part I, where we talk about the local strategy in more detail.
Since time immemorial the most valuable resource of any society has been its people. No amount of gold, oil or technology has been able to replace a young, healthy and educated population. And while this is may sound like a truism, in the 21st century when the most sophisticated economies rely on complex service industries, ‘brains’ are the fuel of nations.
Romania, however, is in a demographic crisis and is losing people and, therefore ‘brains’, fast. Just in the last 30 years, the country’s population has shrunk by around 3 million people. In 1990, it peaked at 23.2 million and now sits at around 19.2 million, where it was in the 1960s.
The trends of demographic decline, low birth rates and serious brain drain show no signs of slowing down. Actually, according to census data, they’ve has been speeding up. This means that any real economic growth Romania is able to achieve is threatened by the weight of an…
