The “European Youth Capital” (EYC) is a title given to a European city for a period of one year, during which will be given the opportunity to present through a multilateral, life, cultural, social, political and economic development related to the youth. The EYC initiative encourages the implementation of new ideas and innovative projects in which young people actively take part in the society and it tries to present a model for further development of youth policies in other European cities.

European Youth Forum (EYF) gave the title EYC:

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) coordinates and promotes the whole European Youth Capital project, facilitating the work of the jury in the selection process of the initiative EYC. This includes the creation of the call for European Youth Capital program, organizing the application process and the assembly of the jury and of the representatives of various civil organizations, of the institutional partners, of the representatives of mass-media, of research and youth who are especially qualified to evaluate applications. EYF, as a representative of the youth in Europe, promotes the interest of the European youth in the EU institutions, in European Council and in its partners. EYF has over 100-member organizations (national youth councils and and European youth organization networks. The Romanian Youth Council is a member since 2014.

The application is handed in officially by a municipality, but it is mandatory that a youth umbrella organization, either existing or created for this purpose, supports it. In the first round a 300-euro fee is required, if the city makes the shortlist, an additional fee of 700 euro is required.

The application is written in the first round starting from a concept and based on a series of questions and attachments supporting that concept.

The candidates for this edition are:

The calendar is as follows:

May 26, 2019: application deadline for Round 2
August 7, 2019: Jury feedback for Round 2*
September 22, 2019: application deadline for Round 3, the finals
November 15, 2019 (estimated), presentation before the jury (Brussels)
November 21, 2019, Award ceremony (Amiens, France)

Baia Mare did significant improvements in the process of becoming youth friendly. Baia Mare is the current Romanian Youth Capital. It invested in youth, embraced youth and it already experiences co-management and youth participation through a year-long youth-focused programme. The present results – obtained with the help of an impact analysis – make us be confident in reaching our goal.

The European Youth Capital bid is a natural continuation of this effort, a result of the national programme. The European Youth Capital title can give the stage for all of this to be embraced by Europe

Our proposed concept is called The Urban Youth Circle and it presents an original and innovative programme which tackles the subject of sustainability in urban and regional environments, focusing on the participation of young people in this process. Sustainability is a complex concept as it is, and involves a number of viewpoints, especially when we are talking about cities – it involves the capacity of the city for functioning and using its resources in a sustainable way, the quality of life of citizens, the level of social inclusion and many more.

The Urban Youth Circle will be a European meeting point and hub for re-thinking, ideating, developing and testing new concepts and ideas on how cities can be reborn through youth in a way which makes them socially sustainable on long-term.

The application itself provides a real opportunity for enhancing the visibility of the city and its European side in Europe, but also for strengthening the youth ecosystem wich creates the basis of social urban development in the long run. The application also creates a possibility for development and consolidation of work relationships between the municipality and the youth sector, and for involvement of the private, public and educational sectors in specific endeavors which tackles the presence of young people in all the social and economic processes, both locally and regionally.

Not the least, the Urban Youth Circle will redefine how Baia Mare is perceived in the region, in Romania and in Europe. It will show that smaller cities have relevance, they have a chance for prosperity and they can solve things sometimes more efficiently than their bigger peers.

In our view, this transformation can occur through young people, by their involvement and empowering. Baia Mare, the Youth Capital of Romania has already started a very healthy process: thousands of young people participated in projects and hundreds of them became volunteers for the first time in their lives. They even organized projects and opportunities which they needed, and these numbers are rising.

This process needs to continue in a sustainable, healthy way, and Urban Youth Circle provides exactly this. Through the exploitation of the potential of young people, Baia Mare can become an example for other European communities not only regarding the youth sector, but generally as well, this programme proposes a series of measures which will lead to a better life quality and the city will become more lively, both from an ecological and a social point of view.

This is what both and the young people want. The difference is that they don’t have enough confidence yet, while we know that we only need to listen to them and support them in order for them to bring the best changes.

The application was composed by the people involved in the management of the Baia Mare, Youth Capital of Romania programme and the experts and collaborators of PONT Group.

● FONTMM (www.fontmm.org) is the comanaging organization of the Baia Mare, Youth Capital of Romania programme, together with the municipality of Baia Mare. The goal of the federation is to represent and promote the interests of youth organizations in Maramureș County.

● PONT Group (www.pontgroup.org) is the coordinating organization for the application of Cluj for the same title in 2012 and which brought the title for the first time to Romania in 2015.

Besides the organisations involved in the coordination of the bidding process, the following entities expressed their initial support for this application:

1. Maramureș County Council
2. Ministry of Youth and Sports from Romania
3. The Agency for Sport and Youth in Maramureș County
4. Romanian Youth Council
5. BCR – Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank)
6. Youth Federation of Cluj
7. ECYC – European Confederation of Youth Clubs
8. Civil Society Development Foundation
9. YMCA Europe
10. PONT Group
11. Hope and Homes for Children
12. The National Alliance of Student Organisations in Romania
13. National School Students Council
14. Social Doers
15. YMCA Romania
16. ASSOC
17. Somaschi Foundation
18. DEIS Association
19. YMCA Baia Mare
20. Maramures Students Association
21. “Pintea Viteazul” Students League
22. Reinvent Association
23. Cluj-Napoca Tehnical University
24. “Gheorghe Sincai” National College
25. “Nicolae Titulescu” National College
26. “Vasile Lucaciu” National College
27. “Mihai Eminescu” National College
28. “Nemeth Laszlo” Highschool
29. Art College
30. Transilvania Technical College
31. “Aurel Vlaicu” Technical College
32. “George Baritiu” Technical College
33. Pentecostal High School
34. Sports High School
35. “C D Nenitescu” Technical College
36. The Orthodox Theological Seminary
37. “Anghel Saligny” Technical College

Besides applying for the title, PONT Group and FONT also obtained a grant through the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union for implementing a project which aims the creation of a youth vision in the long run and a youth strategy in the medium term in Baia Mare. The project takes place between February and September 2019.