Clubul pentru Protectia Naturii si Turism Brasov

The nature protection and tourism club from Brasov (CPNT) was founded in 1973 by a group of students passionate about nature in all its forms and in the same time concerned about the future of this fragile environment. The devotion to this organization evolved and in 1994 legal personality was obtained. As central activities we are going towards non-formal education through outdoor activities involving the local community and especially kids and youth. This is a result of the local culture of hiking and climbing the surrounding mountains of Brasov which has matured great leaders and examples for the Romanian society. The desire to preserve these ideal conditions for personal development has also increased the volunteering movement in ecological actions, cultural events aimed to bringing awareness on the current status of the national environment and environmental problems, touristic infrastructure design including trail landscaping and marking. In the last years we have taken a definite approach in promoting sport as a healthy and sustainable activity for mind, body and nature. Because of this we are now the organizers of three of the most prestigious mountain sport events in Romania, Brasov Marathon gathering more than 1000 kids, young people, adults and venerable seniors at the start line for a race towards environment, education and health awareness. A strong point of CPNT would be the vast experience in outdoor activities and the ability to work with young people and to guide them towards a good learning experience. This has been proved by the large number of persons joining the organization after taking part in different activities as occasional participants, developing personal and professional skills and fallowing careers as trainers, outdoor instructors or teachers. Workshops, cultural and sportive events that CPNT is coordinating have enhanced empowerment, initiative and leadership of current youth to be used as very efficient group management and conflict solving skills for future organizational or personal actions. Project planning and implementation has also been developed for facilitating and guiding the hundreds of participants in our events.