Baia Mare was shortlisted for the European Youth Capital 2022 title, the European Youth Forum announced on Monday.
12 cities applied for the title, the other ones on the shortlist are Kazan (Russia), Poznań (Poland), Tirana (Albania) and Varaždin (Croatia).
”I would like to thank the youth community for this result. This project is mainly created by them, and it is for what they would like this city to become. Their message is that even in Baia Mare there can exist youth policies and projects relevant on an European level”, said Mayor Cătălin Cherecheș, who also announced that a consolidation of a partnership is in the making.
The deadline for the bid for the second round is 26th May. The jury will give feedback until August 7th and the final bid needs to be sumbitted until September 22th. The presentation before the jury is on November 15th and the winner will be announced on November 21th in Amiens, the European Youth Capital in 2022.
“The city made the shortlist thanks to the quality of the bid but also to the vision, the coherence between the elements of such a bid. We were given the opportunity to develop a whole bid based on the concept of the Urban Youth Circle, a concept containing three elements: young people, the city and sustainability. We want to create a scalable model, something useful for any European city that confronts similar challenges as those of Baia Mare”, said the application’s coordinators.
The Urban Youth Circle 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 programme addresses the circle of human innovation and sustainability in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals with the core presence and participation of youth.
At present, Baia Mare is the Youth Capital of Romania, it has invested in the young people, includes them and runs a year-long program where young people are co-managers and active participants, too. The allpicaton for EYC 2022 is a natural follow-up on this effort, a result of the national program. The title will help create the context in which all these can take on an European level, the coordinators say.
The concept was developed by the management of the Baia Mare Romanian Youth Capital programme and by the experts of PONT Group.