Com’ON Cluj-Napoca is a participatory process for youth, whose first edition took place in 2015 and in which thousands of people have participated so far. Long story short, Com’ON invites the young people from Cluj to register group initiatives through which the life of the community will be improved. Then they are voted online – also by the community – and the first 45 ranked are financed from funds provided by the City Hall and Local Council of Cluj-Napoca. Of course, the final and essential step is their implementation.

Based on the principles of the participatory budgeting, the project takes place between July and December 2020. Click here for the detailed calendar of the process.

Com’ON Cluj-Napoca aims to mobilize and revitalize informal groups and micro-communities of young people in the city, aged between 14 and 35, who are not part of a legally established organization, or even if they are, they believe in their potential as a group to generate positive things for the Cluj community.

Last but not least, on the principle of participatory budgeting, Com’ON Cluj-Napoca aims to delegate the decision on a part of the budget of Cluj-Napoca directly to the resident citizens of the city.

Also, this project aims to contribute to the creation and development of a local e-citizenship, through its gradual integration in the e-government mechanisms developed by the City Hall and Local Council of Cluj-Napoca.

This year, Com’ON Cluj-Napoca has at its centre an essence-related message: Let’s do well together! – focusing on well-being, on the quality of life of the community that can be improved by working together. The quality of community life has always been important, but it is essential in this atypical period. Consequently, the participatory process emphasizes four essential dimensions, relevant to the current context in which we all have to adapt as we go to status quo still in formation. We need new ways of thinking, innovating and approaching groups and members of the community in a new light.

These are the relevant priorities for the Cluj city reality and which are highlighted this year within Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’20:

HEALTH – How do young people feel now and what can we do to make us all feel better, both physically and mentally?

We invite you to think about initiatives related to improving health, whether it is physical or mental, spiritual, but also how you could implement initiatives related to healthy lifestyle – what we eat, how we sleep, how and how much we do sports.

LEARNING – How can young people be better equipped to cope with life? What do they want to learn in order to?

The community would benefit greatly from your ideas with educational potential, which aim to develop general or specific skills. And when we say education, we obviously think of non-formal education, so consider proposals – including digital tools – that can contribute to the development of creativity, the ability to collaborate or solve problems. You can also write initiatives that address the teacher-student relationship or issues related to gender equality or ethnicity.

ENGAGEMENT – What can young people do for the community, how can they get involved in the city life?

It would be very good to come up with ideas that encourage the spirit of initiative, collaboration, civic-social-cultural participation in community life: cultural initiatives, sports activities, volunteering, free time; you would also like to think about how you can address issues and challenges related to equal opportunities in terms of participation in community life.

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT – What kind of city do young people need for living to their full potential and for getting involved in solving the needs of their community and in the development of the city?

We challenge you to identify and activate spaces in Cluj or to rethink existing spaces through which they can receive another function, even temporary. We are also waiting for ideas on youth support services, youth centers, mobility, transport, but also public policies to support young people.

The types of ideas described by us are meant to inspire you to formulate your own ideas and initiatives and are not exclusive. The four priorities can mean other creative ideas coming from you.

For the complete list of eligibility conditions and registration rules, we invite you to take a look at the Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’20 regulations.

The participatory process Com’On Cluj-Napoca is funded and supported by the City Hall and Local Council of Cluj-Napoca.

Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’20 is run by the PONT Group, an organization founded in 2009 that aims at social innovation through participation, entrepreneurship and culture, with a special focus on young people and digitalization. The foundations of this participatory approach were laid in the context of the Cluj-Napoca 2015 European Youth Capital program.

Within Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’19, 87 young people, whose initiatives were voted by the Cluj community, collaborated in 19 groups and, together with other friends-volunteers, implemented their ideas. The events and campaigns were attended by about 1,800 visitors of all ages. The ideas were implemented in 33 spaces in the city. The 37 winning proposals were nominated following an online registration and voting process from the Cluj community. More than 3,000 people from Cluj gave almost 10,000 votes for 135 ideas submitted by 127 groups of 500 young people.