PANGEEA – Interdisciplinary Research for a Changing World An international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing knowledge across social sciences, medical and health sciences, and natural sciences. ✔ Double-blind peer review ✔ Open access (no APC) ✔ DOI for all published articles ✔ Published continuously since 2001 Explore the latest research or submit your manuscript today. PANGEEA is an international academic journal that promotes high-quality interdisciplinary research addressing key societal, environmental, and health-related challenges. With over two decades of continuous publication, the journal provides a platform for innovative research and global academic collaboration. Why Publish in PANGEEA? · Double-blind peer review ensuring scientific rigor · Immediate open access to all content · No Article Processing Charges (APC) · DOI assignment via CrossRef · Transparent and ethical editorial process · International and interdisciplinary scope Fields of Research PANGEEA publishes research in the following areas: · Social Sciences · Natural Sciences · Medical and Health Sciences
"1 December 1918" University of Alba Iulia
IN MEMEORIAM. PROFESORUL MARTIR ȘTEFAN MANCIULEA
Copyright (c) 2004 Ioan Ardeleanu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ASPECTE ALE ÎNVĂȚĂMÂNTULUI DIN ZONA MONTANĂ A JUDEȚULUI ALBA
Copyright (c) 2004 Marian Munteanu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ȘCOALA ROMÂNEASCĂ DE IERI, DE AZI ȘI DE VIITOR
Copyright (c) 2004 Ilie Furdui https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
MONUMENTE ARHITECTONICE PE TERITORIUL COMUNEI VINȚU DE JOS
Copyright (c) 2004 Ioan Ștefan Hanciu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
REPERE ISTORICE PRIVIND MINERITUL ÎN ZONA ZLATNA-STĂNIJA
Copyright (c) 2004 Nicolae Ludușan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
CATEGORII DE TOPONIME ÎNTÂLNITE ÎN DENUMIREA UNOR LOCALITĂȚI DIN JUDEȚUL ALBA
Copyright (c) 2004 Melania Hanciu, Ștefan Ioan Hanciu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Copyright (c) 2004 Marian Muntean https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Copyright (c) 2004 Melania Hanciu, Ștefan Hanciu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
CARACTERISTICILE CLIMATERICE ALE BAZINULUI HIDROGRAFIC AL AMPOIULUI
Copyright (c) 2004 Marcel Arăboaie, Laura Arăboaie https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Copyright (c) 2004 Melania Hanciu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
PROCESE GEOMORFOLOGICE PE VERSANȚII TÂRNAVEI MARI ÎNTRE COPȘA MICĂ - BLAJ
Copyright (c) 2004 Livia Mureșan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
SPAȚIILE VERZI URBANE SUB PRESIUNEA INTERESELOR COMERCIALE
Copyright (c) 2004 Marieta Golășie, Eugen Igelsky, Virgil Vug https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
PREVENIREA ȘI COMBATEREA EFECTELORNEGATIVE ALE INDUSTRIEII MINIERE ÎN ZONA SUD ESTICĂ A MUNȚIILOR APUSENI
Copyright (c) 2004 Mihaela Daniela Agache https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
PROBLEME DE OCROTIRE A MEDIULUI PE TERITORIUL COMUNEI LUPȘA
Copyright (c) 2004 Mihaela Mihinda https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
DEZECHILIBRE ENVIROMENTALE ÎN REGIUNEA MINIERĂ ROȘIA POIENI
Copyright (c) 2004 Daniela Marian https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
EFECTELE ACTIVITĂȚILOR MINIERE ȘI DE PRELUCRARE A MINEREURILOR ASUPRA CALITĂȚII MEDIULUI DIN MUNCEII ROȘIEI MONTANTE
Copyright (c) 2004 Nicolea Vereș https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
METODE DE ANALIZĂ ÎN DETERMINARREA URMELOR DE METALE GRELE
Copyright (c) 2004 Maria Popa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
RADIAȚIILE ȘI MEDIUL INCONJURĂTOR
Copyright (c) 2004 Nicolae Ludușan, Monica Angela Ludușan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
PARCUL TURISTIC AL VĂII SEBEȘULUI
Copyright (c) 2004 Cosmin Apolzan, Alina Apolzan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
FAVORABILITĂȚI ȘI FACTORI DE RISCASUPRA AȘEZĂRILOR RURALE DIN COMUNA ȘUGAG
Copyright (c) 2004 Mioara Bulbucan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ECOTURISMUL IN ARIILE PROTEJATE. EXPERIENȚA INTERNAȚIONALĂ ȘI A ROMÂNIEI
Copyright (c) 2004 Claudia Pătruț https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
IMPACTUL RESURSELOR NATURALE ASUPRA DEZVOLTĂRII ACTIVITĂȚII TURISTICE DIN ZONA MUNȚILOR APUSENI
Copyright (c) 2004 Filimon Stremțan, Iulia Iuga, Andreea Bolog https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ANALYSIS ON SOME FACTORS DETERMINING SOIL PERMEABILITY
The overall objective of the research was to study the modification of soil properties under the influence of agricultural practices, in relation to its permeability and water reserve formation. The research area was represented by the Vasluie watershed, where a pedological study was conducted to identify the soils in the area. Pedological research in the studied area was carried out using 25 main profiles, from which soil samples were taken, both in their natural state and modified, for physico-chemical analysis. The study was conducted in a three-year rotation with three types of crops: soybean, wheat, and corn. Each crop was placed in five soil management systems, and each system had five variants of mineral, organic, and crop residue fertilization. The following soil management systems were established: plowing at a depth of 20 cm, at 30 cm, plowing without turning the furrow with the chisel and the paraplow, and the one-year plowing and one-year disking variant
THE ROMANIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF CURRENT STATUS AND REFORM INITIATIVES (2024-2025)
This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the Romanian healthcare system based on recent data from 2024-2025, examining its current performance, structural challenges, and ongoing modernization efforts. Romania continues to rank last in the European Union for public health expenditure at 971 euros per capita compared to the EU average of 3,800 euros and demonstrates the second-lowest health system preparedness score according to the GLOBSEC Healthcare Readiness Index 2024. The country exhibits the highest avoidable mortality rate among OECD countries, with 179 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants from treatable causes. Despite these challenges, Romania has committed 2.45 billion euros through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for healthcare system transformation, including 442 million euros for digitalization initiatives. Analysis reveals persistent issues in healthcare workforce distribution, outdated infrastructure, limited access to services in rural areas, and financial barriers to care. The implementation of the National Health Strategy 2023-2030 alongside substantial European funding presents significant opportunities for system improvement, though success depends critically on effective policy implementation, sustained political commitment, and addressing structural governance deficiencies.
SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION:CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES AND PATHWAYS FOR THEINCLUSION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
The paper examines the relationship between social integration, deinstitutionalization, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in contemporary society. It aims to provide a theoretical and policy-oriented perspective on the transformation of social care systems and the shift toward community-based services. The analysis is structured around key concepts such as accessibility, participation, autonomy, and social capital, which frame the evolution from a medical to a biopsychosocial model of disability. The paper argues that effective integration requires not only the development of community support networks, but also a change in social attitudes and institutional culture. Emphasis is placed on the role of social policies in promoting human rights, dignity, and active citizenship, as well as on the need for interdisciplinary approaches that connect social work, education, and public health. Through a conceptual synthesis of policy frameworks and contemporary theories of social inclusion, the paper highlights the main challenges and strategic directions for strengthening social cohesion and supporting the independent living of persons with disabilities
Copyright (c) 2026 PANGEEA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
BETWEEN CONNECTION AND ISOLATION EXCESSIVE TECHNOLOGY USE AND OLDER ADULTS' WELL-BEING POST-COVID-19
This narrative review synthesizes evidence from 2015 to 2024 on how excessive technology use affects older adults’ physical health, mental well-being, and social adaptation in the post-pandemic context. The accelerated digitalization triggered by COVID-19 changed how older adults access information, maintain social connections, and use health services. While technology helped reduce isolation and enabled telemedicine, its excessive use has been linked to physical inactivity, sleep disturbances, techno-anxiety, and a shift toward online-only interaction. A comprehensive search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar yielded 742 records; after applying eligibility criteria, 64 empirical studies and 8 review articles were included. Findings reveal a dual dynamic: moderate, purposeful use supports cognitive stimulation, access to care, and perceived social connection. In contrast, excessive use contributes to sedentarism, anxiety, fragmented sleep, information overload, and decreased offline community participation. Digital inequality, in terms of access, affordability, and skills, remains a key structural barrier. The article proposes a practical framework of Digital Hygiene for Older Adults and outlines policy and service recommendations, including equitable digital infrastructure, age-friendly digital literacy programs, and integrated medico-social approaches to balance online and offline engagement.
OPINIONS ON MINING IN COMMUNITIES WITH A MINING HISTORY IN ROMANIA (ALBA COUNTY) - A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS
This article aims to capture the variety of opinions on mining and mineral exploitation in three communities with a mining history in Romania (Alba County). This study aims to compare attitudes toward mining and resource-governance preferences across Roşia Montană, the Recea neighbourhood (Alba Iulia), and Zlatna, and to examine how collective memory and mining heritage shape the perceived legitimacy and socio-economic relevance of mining and local development options. The analysis draws on data from three distinct sociological surveys conducted through questionnaire-based research: in the town of Zlatna (N = 126 respondents, data collected in 2024), among a group of 45 persons relocated to an urban area – the Recea neighborhood in the municipality of Alba Iulia (data collected in 2020), and in the commune of Roşia Montană (N = 282 respondents, data collected in 2020). Methodologically, the study adopts a descriptive and comparative approach, examining the distribution of opinions regarding the economic, social, and environmental impact of mining activities, as well as respondents’ relationship to industrial heritage and local development prospects. The results highlight a marked diversity of stances toward mining, both between the three localities and within each community. The article foregrounds the ways in which place-based memory, economic dependency on industry, and the perception of risk shape nuanced attitudes that range from support to ambivalence and rejection of the resumption or expansion of mining activities.
THE BUCOVINIAN FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE AS A LABORATORY OF DIALOGUE ON THE BORDERLAND: INTERCULTURAL, INTERGENERATIONAL, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY INTEGRATION
This article analyzes the Bucovinian Festival of Science as an innovative model of an intercultural, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary laboratory of dialogue operating in a borderland context. Embedded within the International Folklore Festival Bucovinian Meetings, the Festival of Science seeks to overcome the traditional separation between academia and society by opening scholarly reflection to local communities, festival participants, and artistic groups. The article situates the Festival within the historical and socio-cultural specificity of Bukovina – a region shaped by multiethnicity, multireligiosity, and complex migration processes – highlighting the long-term consequences of wartime displacement, diaspora formation, and post-1989 social transformations in Central Europe. Particular attention is paid to the Festival’s organizational model, characterized by horizontal communication, itinerant events, and the integration of popular-science lectures, film discussions, exhibitions, and participatory formats. The analysis demonstrates how the Festival fosters civic engagement, counters cultural stereotypes, decentralizes cultural and educational activities, and promotes the ideal of homo bucovinensis, understood as an attitude of openness and active engagement in culturally diverse environments. By foregrounding microhistories, personal narratives, and the active involvement of participants as co-creators of knowledge, the Bucovinian Festival of Science emerges as a transnational community of memory and a meaningful tool for social integration and the redefinition of regional identities in contemporary Europe.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ON WORKPLACE EFFICIENCY
The crisis generated by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has forced organizations around the world to rethink their strategies and, more importantly, to adapt their current activities from traditional work at the employer’s premises to working from home. More than 30 years ago, academic research predicted that rapid advances in technology would facilitate the deployment of remote working, and recent technological progress has accelerated its adoption, particularly in the service sector. Work performed by employees outside the employer’s premises is commonly referred to as telecommuting, but alternative terms such as remote work, home-based work, remote online work, or home office are also used. Telework, an integral part of human resource policies, is regulated by legislation in most countries, and in Romania, Law 81/2018 sets specific provisions for this activity. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, telework and its forms were considered more an option or an alternative for completing tasks than a necessity. Organizations in fields such as telecommunications, IT product development, and design had already offered employees the possibility to work from home, either partially or entirely. In many cases, employers allowed employees to decide how many days per month they wished to work from home or from a location other than the traditional office. The reasons why employees or employers opted for remote work were linked to high office rental costs in urban centers, limited parking spaces, wasted commuting time, and overcrowding in public transport, especially during peak hours. These factors made remote work an increasingly attractive option. (Dabija, 2021, p. 403) In this context, telework has experienced significant expansion in recent years, especially during the pandemic, when avoiding crowds and maintaining physical distancing became imperative. Telework, also known as teleworking, is defined as a form of work that is independent of location and relies on information technology and telecommunications. In this way, the employee regularly and voluntarily fulfills the specific duties of their role, occupation, or trade in a location different from that organized by the employer. Telework represents a broad concept, encompassing multiple ways of applying and organizing work within an organization (Man, C., p. 225). Keywords: efficiency; virtual environment; motivation; satisfaction; remote work.
TRUST IN INSTITUTIONS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
This paper started from Mattei Doggan’s research, which emphasized that trust in institutions is plummeting, generating a political crisis. In recent years, armed conflicts and financial, health, and refugee crises faced by EU nation states have produced not only socioeconomic tensions, but have also shaken the citizens’ trust in both national and supranational institutions. Institutional trust is important due to the fact that it directly illustrates people's support towards national and supranational organizations. Political scientists, such as David Easton and Pippa Norris, have argued that trust in institutions is an indicator of organizational efficiency. Institutional trust has been extensively researched, from a numerical perspective, illustrating how it has evolved over time. However, the way in which peoples’ levels of trust changed during and after a period of crisis and what are the factors which influenced these attitude shifts are fairly undocumented. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic occurred recently, there is a lack of literature regarding the way in which citizens’ trust in national and supranational organizations has evolved before, during and after the period of the Coronavirus. This research, which analysis the influence of the health crisis on institutional trust, provides valuable insights, by illustrating the factors which contributed to the deepening of the crisis generated by the lack of trust. This paper provides an in-depth analysis that identifies what factors influence the attitudes of Romanians, Bulgarians, Poles and Hungarians towards national and international institutions. The research method is secondary data analysis of the Eurobarometer. In this paper, I included data collected from the Spring Standard Eurobarometer between 2018 and 2023, which mostly evaluated trust in national and supranational organizations. I began with frequencies and cross-tabs to present the general trust towards institutions. Afterwards, I used Pearson Correlation, regression and factorial analyses in order to identify the attitude predictors towards trust in national and European institutions. The results were mixed. While Poles and Hungarians had more trust in national institutions than Romanians and Bulgarians before Covid, during the pandemic these differences decreased. However, Romanians and Bulgarians perceived European Institutions more positively during the pandemic. Younger and more educated people tended to have more trust in supranational institutions, regardless of nationality. Moreover, Polish people tended to regain trust in national institutions after Covid faster than others.