Anamaria Georgescu

The excitement of being awarded a Fulbright grant and being admitted to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was initially shadowed by the news that the first year of my two-year masters will be held online. Although worrying in the beginning, this situation turned into a great opportunity in the first year of my Masters studies thanks to the fact that I was able to attend lectures and workshops at universities across the entire United States, such as Harvard and the University of Chicago.

Upon the arrival of my second year I was able to meet my professors, colleagues and other Fulbright grantees in the flesh. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst was fully opened after initial Covid lockdowns to students, with all classes being held in person. During this second year, I worked twice as a student consultant. First, I was part of a team that analyzed and helped redesign the existing transit network with the goal to enhance equity and economic vitality in this region.

During the second semester I had the tremendous opportunity to work as a student consultant with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), through the School of Public Policy, Amherst. As a team we generated a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) framework for disaster risk reduction interventions in four countries (Haiti, India, Indonesia, and Uganda). Our work is to be presented world-wide on Disaster Risk Reduction Day, October 13th 2022.

My professors’ experience as well as the classes I have attended at UMass have proved fundamental in finalizing my Masters project, a research in my hometown about the quality and volume of community engagement and participation. For years I have been interested in studying the factors that shape how willing individuals are in participating in the processes that shape their environments in post-communist Romania. My research and materials have peen presented at the Fabos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning in Budapest, Hungary in June 2022, as well as at the International Urban Planning and Environment Congress in Tartu, Estonia, in August 2022.

Looking back, I realize that the goals, hopes and dreams I had at the beginning of my Fulbright journey were far more modest than what was fully offered to me. Not just from an academic point of view, but the travels that I’ve made, the professors and colleagues I have worked with, the people I met and the entire cultural experience of having lived in the United States for two years, have been an axial part of this experience.

I am now working into translating my research findings and publishing a bilingual book with quotes and images collected by my volunteers and through small but steady steps, I will communicate to communities about the importance of their voices in shaping the future of their environments.

Anamaria Georgescu, Fulbright Student
Master in Regional Planning 2020-2022
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA