Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 has energized the local community again this year with the 35 events, actions and campaigns implemented in the city by young people, and from August to November the city was more lively thanks to them. To thank them, this year, for the first time, Com’ON People will take place, the closing event of the participatory process.

As part of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca, the initiative groups created a mural in the Voltaj Academy courtyard, built a smart parking lot for bicycles, taught sign language to the people of Cluj, organised a tour of the city for people with disabilities, first aid workshops for children in foster homes, science and philosophy workshops for the little ones or even puppetry workshops for the grown-ups.

The participatory process also included actions where the people of Cluj were encouraged to donate blood, could learn about the importance of social bonds in discussions with psychologists and could try out a new card game that helps initiate deeper conversations. Students mentored high school students in their choice of college, organised a charity run to help Ukrainian refugees, and one group put on a poetic theatre performance.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine and bullying were also themes of activities for children, where through art, stories and theatre they learned more about the topic and what they can do in these contexts.

All the initiatives implemented in the framework of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 aimed at a better and healthier life in the community, both physically and psychologically, and aimed at a state of well-being and fulfilment together – as the motto of the edition says, Let’s do well together!

The events took place both in places in the city such as Cetățuia, Cinema Dacia, Central Park, Hașdeu Complex, Tailors’ Tower, Cluj Blood Transfusion Centre, Planetarium bar, and online.

“This year the recipe for success at Com’On Cluj-Napoca was the 158 young people who came with their ideas to Com’ON and the 8,300 votes that decided which initiatives are implemented in the city. Basically, more than 100 young people implemented initiatives that taught students how to debate better or children about philosophy or people in general about stress. So we had initiatives for everyone and on a variety of topics, and this was super beneficial especially for the Cluj community, but also for the Com’ON teams. We also started this edition by saying Let’s do well together. And we did!”, said Larisa Dumitroaea, project manager of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22.

Following the online vote of the citizens of Cluj-Napoca, 35 initiatives proposed by 22 groups of 103 young people from the city were financially supported with a maximum of 4,500 lei/initiative by the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and Local Council and BCR and were implemented between 1 August and 20 November 2022, both in the city and online. The proposed ideas fell under one or more of the themes proposed by the organisers: 37 in the health category, 52 in learning, 53 dealt with participation issues and 19 proposed initiatives on environmental activation.

For the development of the community of Cluj, 77 initiatives were registered between 25 May and 27 June, proposed by 45 groups of 158 young people. The average age of those who submitted their ideas to Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 is 23. After the ideas entered were technically checked, they were promoted throughout the Cluj community, and those interested went to www.comoncluj.ro where they chose their favourites. More than 8,300 votes were received from over 3,100 people in Cluj.

A new element of this year’s edition is Com’ON People, the closing event of Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 that will take place on Wednesday, December 14, from 18:00 at Casa Tranzit and will be an opportunity to thank young people for their involvement in the community, but also to hear their impressions of this edition, to give them an opportunity to meet and build a strong community.

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

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, 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.

The Com’ON Cluj-Napoca ’22 project is realized with the support of the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and Local Council and the Romanian Commercial Bank.