3,217 votes from 1,133 people registered in the first week of voting for the 123 local urban development initiatives registered in the participatory youth program Com’ON Cluj-Napoca. The voting period began on Thursday, 21 February and will end on Thursday, March 21, at 12 o’clock.
The largest number of votes received by an idea is 86, and 25 of them received more than 50 votes. A person can vote for no more than 10 initiatives. To be able to vote, the person must live, work or study in Cluj.
The full list of the proposals, with their description and the corresponding voting button, can be found on the project website, www.comoncluj.ro. The initiatives are submitted by young people aged between 14 and 35 and deal with topics that fall into one (or more) of the six priorities offered by the organizers: UP-Date – bringing the new together with the old in the city, Bring-UP – approaching new themes in the community, Green-UP – the environment and human relationship with nature, meeting-ups – activating some of the city’s spaces or changing their functions, Close-UP – individual stories illustrating multiculturalism, Grow-UP – the maturation of Cluj people – from childhood until they become active citizens.
“Young people of Cluj-Napoca proved once again that they have a spirit of initiative, have original ideas and want to contribute voluntarily to the development of Cluj’s everyday life. Now it’s our time, those who live, work, study in Cluj to validate their ideas with our votes. I think Com’ON Cluj-Napoca is also a very good exercise of participatory democracy. It’s time for everyone to participate, “says Farkas András, strategic director of the PONT Group, the association that implements the Com’ON Cluj-Napoca project.
People who want to vote need to create (or already have) an account on bugetareparticipativa.ro platform.
“This is the first time when Com’ON Cluj-Napoca partially integrates with the part-financed budget platform managed by Cluj-Napoca City Hall. The essence is that people already on the bugetareparticipativa.ro can vote in Com’ON Cluj-Napoca and at the same time bring young people to the platform, creating a culture of participatory citizenship in this respect. This integration allows us to create an online community of citizens in Cluj that is recursively involved in decisions related to the life and future of this city. It is a pilot integration that will allow us to analyze the reaction of the citizens, and if this proves to be useful, the partners involved will consider the next steps that contribute to the development of Cluj’s smart city, “says Farkas András.
After the voting period, it is intended to financially support the first minimum 50 initiatives – with 4,500 lei each – initiatives that can be put in place between May and November 2019.
Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’19 is coordinated by PONT Group, an organization set up in 2009, which aims to achieve social innovation through participation, entrepreneurship and culture, with a special emphasis on young people and digitalization. The bases of this participatory approach were put in the context of the Cluj-Napoca Program 2015 European Youth Capital.
Partners of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’19: Centrul Cultural Clujean, Youth Federation of Cluj, Acta Association, Niste Oameni, Students Council of Cluj County.
The project is supported by the City Hall and the Cluj-Napoca Local Council.