Young people from Cluj are invited to submit their creative ideas for a better city. At least 35 will be financially supported and implemented by them.

The participatory youth process Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 kicks off today, 25 May, and is waiting for young people to submit their creative ideas for a better city. Groups of young people from Cluj are invited to register their initiatives on www.comoncluj.ro until Monday 27 June 2022 on topics such as health, learning, participation or environmental activation. Once the initiatives are registered, the community will vote online for their favourite ideas and the first 35 ideas in the order of votes will be financially supported by the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and City Council and BCR with 4,500 lei each and will be implemented by the end of November 2022.

“It’s ON again! We are super curious what young people’s ideas are for Cluj-Napoca this year and we are ready to support them! Com’ON is a programme for young people, but young people don’t forget anyone: initiatives in the city or in neighbourhoods; initiatives for grandparents, young people or children; online or onsite initiatives; philosophical, eco, community or career initiatives – you’d say we do well together. If you are or you know some cool young people from Cluj, send them to us – we are here for them to be close to Cluj-Napoca, that is to say to all of us. Com’ON!”,

says Larisa Dumitroaea, project manager Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22.

This year, the participatory process will continue to focus on the motto Let’s do well together!, and will focus on well-being, on the quality of life of the community that can be improved together.

Who and what can participate?

Groups of young people aged between 14 and 35, who live, work or study in Cluj, who are not part of legally established organisations, or even if they are, believe primarily in their potential to generate something positive for the Cluj community, are invited to participate. A group can propose as many initiatives as they see fit – implemented online or offline, but a maximum of 3 initiatives will be awarded – if they qualify in terms of number of votes. The full list of participation conditions can be found in the rules here.

How to register? Registration can be done by going to www.comoncluj.ro and filling in this form. The deadline for entries is Monday 27 June at 12 noon.

Priority themes relevant to the urban reality of Cluj that Com’ON Cluj-Napoca is focusing on at this edition:

• Health – How do young people feel now and what can they do to make us all feel better, both physically and emotionally?
• Learning – How can young people better equip themselves to get on in life? What do they want to learn for this?
• Engagement – What can young people do for the community, how can they get involved in the life of the city?
• Enabling Environment – What kind of city do young people need in order to live their full potential and get involved in meeting the needs of community members and in the development of the city?

In the video presentation below you can see the most interesting moments of the edition and meet some of the participants of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’21.

More information about the process can be found on the Com’ON Cluj-Napoca website, Facebook or Instagram page.

The strategic partners of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 are Cluj Cultural Centre, ClujHub, Cluj Youth Federation, Citizen Y Resource Centre, Cluj County Council of Students, Union of Hungarian High School Students of Cluj County/Kolozs Megyei Magyar Diáktanács, House of Culture of Cluj-Napoca.

Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 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 youth and digitization. The foundations of this participatory approach were laid in the context of the Cluj-Napoca 2015 European Youth Capital programme.

In the framework of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’21, more than 90 young people, whose initiatives were voted by the community of Cluj, collaborated in the groups formed and, together with other friends-volunteers, implemented their ideas. The ideas were implemented in various places in the city, from parks to schools to cinemas, but also online. The 36 winning proposals were chosen following a process of registration and online voting by the Cluj community. More than 1,000 citizens of Cluj cast more than 2,000 votes for the 36 ideas submitted by youth groups.

The Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 project is made possible with the support of the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and City Council and with the support of BCR.