SHAREPRESS

Festivals

Culture

Theatre

Legends

Contests

Interviews

Stakeholders

Official magazine of Youth@Cluj-Napoca (European Youth Capital) | Edition 1, spring 2013

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Sleeping is not in trend anymore.Our programme schedulemakes it impossible.

ClujNever Sleeps

Official magazine of Youth@Cluj-Napoca (European Youth Capital) Edition 1, spring 2013

Concept and contents: PONT Group and Ziarul Studentesc.Design and visuals: AMM Design

PARTNERSHIP AEGEE Cluj-Napoca | Asociatia EuroAlter Cluj | Asociatia Europeana a Studentilor de la Drept – ELSA | Asociatia KIFOR | Asociatia Studentilor Academiei de Muzica „Gheorghe Dima” – ASAMGD | Asociatia Studentilor Arhitecti – ASTA | Asociatia Studentilor de Inginerie Economica si Management - ASIEM | Asociatia Studentilor de la Business – ASB | Asociatia pentru Initiative Durabile-Alternative – AIDA | Asociatia Tineretului Roman Unit Cluj – ASTRU | ATC din Transilvania – YMCA Transylvania (IKE) | Best Cluj-Napoca | Cluj-Napoca Volunteer Centre | Consortiul Organizatiilor Studentesti Cluj – COS | Fundatia Comunitara Cluj | Gazdasági Tanácsadó Klub – GTK | GroundFloor Group | Grupul de Initiativa Basarabeana – GIB | Grupul PONT | Gutenberg | Mikó Imre College for Advanced Studies | Organizatia Studentilor de la Universitatea Babes-Bolyai – OSUBB | Organizatia Studentilor Farmacisti - OSF | Organizatia Studentilor Medicinisti - OSM | Organizatia Studentilor pentru Turismul Romanesc – OST | Organizatia Studentilor Stomatologi - OSS | RMKT Ifjúsági Frakció – RIF | Romániai Magyar Közgazdász Társaság – RMKT | Societatea Studentilor Europenisti - SSE | Societatea Hermes | Student Association from Sapientia University - HÖK | Support for Youth Development Association – S4YD | Uniunea Studentilor Maghiari din Cluj-Napoca – KMDSZ

Contents#140 ...........................................................................................3The City of Students Festival ......................................................4Peninsula@Cluj ..........................................................................5TiMAF.........................................................................................6TIFF............................................................................................7Cluj 2021 - European Capital of Culture.....................................8Lucian Blaga National Theatre.................................................10Hungarian Theatre of Cluj ........................................................11Atelier 200...............................................................................12 Photocontest ............................................................................14Essay contest............................................................................15Students exchange ...................................................................16Legends of Cluj.........................................................................18Sharing Knowledge Torino-Cluj ...............................................19Young Thoughts and Message ..................................................20Bucharest Comes to Cluj..........................................................21Cluj Never Sleeps. With You .....................................................22Cluj Never Sleeps. Interview....................................................23OBESSU. High schoolers now, leaders tomorrow....................24Reper 21. Share Responsibly ...................................................26Cluj, the Youth, the Capital & the Stakeholders .......................27Cluj 2.0 Empowering Cluj Innovation City................................28Strenghts&Opportunities .........................................................30

SUPPORTERS Cluj-Napoca 2020 – European Capital of Culture Association | Mozart - Societatea Română Mozart (Romanian Mozart Society) | Tranzit Foundation | Transeuropa Network | Passive House Association of Romania | Independence Zone | AGRU – Asociaţia Generală a Românilor Uniţi (General Association of United Romanians) | Slow Food Cluj | Transilvania Fest Association | Inspectoratul Şcolar Judeţean Cluj (School Inspectorate of Cluj County) | Consiliul Judeţean Cluj (Cluj County’s Council) | UT – Technical University of Cluj-Napoca | Sapientia – Hungarian University of Transylvania | Gheorghe Dima Music Academy | Babeş – Bolyai University | University of Medicine and Pharmacy | ANST – The National Authority for Sport and Youth | Romania Youth Council (CTR) | MIERT – The Hungarian Youth Council of Romania | The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage | USR – Uniunea Studenţilor din România (Romanian Student Union) | Youth Hostel Romania Associa-tion | National Agency for Community Progress in the Field of Education and Vocational Training as National Agency for Youth in Action in Romania | Studium Foundation | Integratio Foundation | AEGEE Ploieşti – Asociaţia Studenţilor Europeni AEGEE Ploieşti (European Students’ Association AEGEE Ploieşti) | Hungarian Youth Council of Romania | Union of Hungarian Student Organizations in Romania | GroundFloor Group | European Students Forum Bucharest | Hungarian Delegation of the European People’s Party Group of the European Parliament and the Hungarian Delegation of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats of the European Parliament | AIESEC Târgu-Mureş | AIESEC Constanţa | AIESEC Oradea | Ratiu Center for Democracy | „All for Life” Community Association Huşi | Orizont Cultural T | Club Sportiv Ulpianum Oradea (Ulpianum Sport Club Oradea) | Teta Associations | Asociaţia pentru Promovarea Egalităţii de Şanse din România – APES (Association for the Promotion of Equal Chances in Romania) | Asociaţia Microregiunea Ţara Haţegului-Ţinutul Pădurenilor Gal | Asociaţia Culturală „Octavian Păcurar” („Octavian Păcurar” Cultural Association) | Asociaţia Culturală „Amfiteatru 2006” („Amfiteatru 2006” Cultural Association) | European Alternatives London | Liska Tibor College for Advanced Studies Budapest | Eötvös László College for Advanced Studies Szeged, Hungary | Jannus Pannonius College for Advanced Studies Pécs, Hungary | Simonyi Károly College for Advanced Studies Budapest | Rajk László College for Advanced Studies Budapest | GroundFloor Group Association | Szécheny István College for Advanced Studies Budapest | ELTE Angelusz Róbert College for Advanced Studies Budapest | ELTE Bibó István College for Advanced Studies Budapest | BME Szent-Györgyi Albert College for Advanced Studies Budapest | College for Advanced Studies in Social Theory | AEGEE Milano | AEGEE Valencia | AEGEE Debrecen | AEGEE Brussels | AEGEE Ljubljana | AEGEE Madrid | AEGEE Piliscsaba | AEGEE Patra, Greece | ESTIEM NTNU, Trondheim | MAVE – Hungar-ian Electrical Engineering and Informatics Students’ Association | European Coordination Jeci-Miec | Members of Romanian Delegation in the Group of the European People’s Party | S.C. Promoteus Advertising S.R.L

SHAREPRESS. The official magazine of the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 Programme, Edition 1, march 2013 • Edited by PONT Group • Editor-in-chief: Roxana Perșa, Marius Lupou, Nagy Glenda • Editors: Florina Neamţiu, Diana Cristolţean, Cristina Ungurean, Mihaela Tombitaş, Maria Purcariu, Iulia Matcovschi, Flavia Dima, Rinalda Fărăian, Teodora Demian, Ágota Kovács, Ferencz István • Layout+Print: AMM Design www.ammdesign.ro • art direction: Bence Makkai, illustrations: Sándor Bányai • Cover illustration: Bence Makkai • Photos: Bíró István, Manases Sándor, Călin Ilea, Váczi Roland (AltArt – Visible City project), Nicu Cherciu

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SHAREPRESS

#Architecture Days: 15-18 May – We will be

Crossing Borders #Cluj Never Sleeps: 21-22 June – The city will stay awake all night

#volunteers academy: you are awaited to join us! #Share

Federation: all set! Federation

founded. The work continues.

#Cluj IT: win 3000 euros with your project! #The stamp is ready. Get into

the spirit of the European Youth

Capital! #Photo and Essay Contest: deadline May 25

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cluj-napoca,the city ofstudent festivals

Cluj-Napoca is one of the biggest university centres in Romania. Year to year this city delights its young population with the most well-known, dynamic and excentric festivals. Comedy Cluj and Temps D’Images Festival are the perfect examples for the combination of modern urban culture and the student life, trademark of Cluj-Napoca.

Comedy Cluj is an international cultural festival devoted to comedy movies. It is one of the biggest thematic festivals from Europe, and this year is its fifth edition. Each year they managed to bring together directors, actors, spectators and hundreds of students under the aegis of the affinity towards comedy movies. The event dedicated to cinephiles offers everyone the opportu-nity of projecting their own cinematic work. The Festival is organized with the help of volunteer students from Cluj. It succeeds to empower the artistic expres-sion in the most dynamic way possible: through laughter, through comedy.

The Temps D’Image is more than just a festival; it’s a project devoted to the universe of theatres, dancing, photos and videos. It is needed to be mentioned that this Festival does not originate from Cluj-Napoca, the event got extended by embracing this Transylvanian city. Several other locations like Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Hungary and Turkey are also involved in this cultural movement. The staff says that the Festival focuses on the connection between „live and recorded, now and then, using static images or videos”. The Project launches Cluj-Napoca, and by this Roma-nia too, onto the scenes of European interdisciplinary festivals. Just like the Comedy Cluj festival, the Temps D’Image is organized with the help of young volunteers from the city. Besides contributing to the cultural life of the city, the Festival offers the students the opportunity of asserting themselves in the artistic world, by offering them financial and logistic help.

Due to the active participation of students and their contribution, these Festivals can be described as original, inventive and dynamic evetns.

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After 10 mind-blowing editions in which it gained the title of Romania’s biggest festival, Peninsula changes its location. The move from Târgu Mureş to Cluj-Napoca won’t affect its prestige at all. According to its organizers, this is only a small step towards evolution.

Cluj-Napoca was chosen as the new location for two main reasons. On one hand, more than a half of the people attending the festival came from this city. On the other hand, Peninsula needed to evolve, but keeping its old residence implied costs that were too high and withheld a possible growth.

The City Hall of Cluj-Napoca was able and eager to offer the necessary support. Camelia Sisko, the festival’s spokesperson stated that “it is extremely important – but quite rare in Romania – to have local authorities as partners, which appreciate and understand the value that a festival such as Peninsula can have in a community”.

Another significant supporter was the Youth@Cluj-Napoca Programme, considering that Cluj-Napoca will be European Youth Capital in 2015. The organizers also hope that moving the event’s location will help convince the jury that the city deserves to win the competition for the title of the European Capital of Culture of 2021.

This year’s edition will take place between the 18th and the 21st of July. Regarding the line-up, the names confirmed until now are Kaiser Chiefs, Paul Kalkbrenner, Ska-P, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, Dragonforce, Marky Ramone`s Blitzkrieg, Camo&Krooked and Benga are among the already confirmed acts. Since Peninsula doesn’t mean only music, other activities such as extreme sports or dance lessons will be available alternatives for spending the time between the concerts.

www.peninsula.ro

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Peninsula movesto Cluj-Napoca

Maria Purcariu

There’s nothing in this world that can put in a better light a certain object or a certain action, than the beauty expressed at a creative level through actions that are specific to a certain type of art. But what happens when you put together 13 arts? Then you get a mixture of senses, which being put all together gives birth to the concept of TiMAF.

The Transylvania International Music and Art Festival presents a unique concept in Romania, claiming its originality through the non-conformist methods of reaching to the audience. Every year, the public will have the chance to activate its learning mood and enjoy a set of events that are meant to transform the 13 arts (music, dance, photography, architecture, plastic arts, cinematography, decorative arts and design, publicity, gastronomy, street art, literature, theatre and martial arts) into strong incentives of the five senses: view, listen, smell, feel and taste.

Another important aspect worth being mentioned is that the main purpose of this festival is to promote young talents. That is why the organizers will offer all apprentices the chance to put their names near the ones that belong to worldwide known personalities who will be invited to the festival. Last year, Cluj-Napoca rang under the rhythms of Parov Stelar and had the chance to witness the world’s most famous dance show offered by the Lord of the Dance.

Trombitaș Mihaela

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When spring shows its very first signs of fading into summer, the historically enriched city of Cluj-Napoca turns into a Mecca for movie enthusiasts and filmmakers. That’s the moment when Transylvania International Film Festival (a.k.a TIFF) steps into town, taking over the most important cinemas along with places like Union Square (Piaţa Unirii) where open air screenings are held.

Every year, since 2002, TIFF has been featuring movies from over 40 countries all over the globe and has praised the best of them with the split tower decorated awards. In this area this is the first festival of this kind, being the place where many artists have shown up on the red carpet and where many Romanian movies have seen the light of the projector for the first time.

Beside the staff, in the heart of such a blossoming tradition stay the volunteers of all ages who are welcome to help in different departments. Last year 500 volunteers brought dynamism to the festival. Moreover, senior citizens were also highly encouraged to join this team as 2012 was the European Year for Active Aging and Solidarity between Generations.

This year the Transylvania International Film Festival will be held between the 31st of May and the 9th of June, living up to the expectations of the city it represents.

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The title of the European Capital of Culture is the European Union’s biggest cultural project. This means a huge opportunity for every candidate in what it concerns the development of the city, so it is vital to have a clear vision regarding this, to focus on infrastructure but most importantly, challanges have to be faced and the goals need to be achieved.

The project is composed by clear, well-defined phases, the main concept is a well-built cultural vision. The structure of it is put together by different analysis and cases studied from different angles, reaching every area starting from the social aspect of the cultural sector to administration. Our activities have mathematically defined trends but we also put focus on emotions and social needs. 2016 is the deadline for us to see how can we cope with this plan and if the results will be favorable, we will prepare Cluj-Napoca for 2021. We had some difficulties, we faced some challenges, but in order to progress we have to erase the existing myths (like the conflicts and the distance between the Hungarians and Romanians). We have to work on the interculturality of the city.

If we succeed in showing the cultural side of the city, its vitality, the things we have in common with Europe and if we change the community working on the same cause, we have the chance to put luck on our side.

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Inaugurated in 1906, wearing the characteristics of the baroque and rococo styles the Lucian Blaga National Theatre is one of the symbols of Cluj-Napoca. With its 1000 persons hosting capacity, 3 rows of boxes, it is the place where the generational differences lose their sense, the Theatre brings together the elderly, the seniors and the young ones. They come here driven by their love for the art of theatre plays, not leaving empty seats and enthusiastically applauding at the end of the plays.

The directors and actors working here have demonstrated many times their capabilities by winning several national and international awards at fesitvals, one like the 2013 Slavija International Theatre Festival’s grand prize for the play of The Other Death of Joan of Arc.

In order to be able to see every part of Cluj-Napoca’s beaty, one must not omit to visit the Lucian Blaga National Theatre.

lucian blaga national theatre

What else could prove betterCluj-Napoca’s multiculturalitythan the fact that it has two theatres,thus fulfilling the needs ofevery single theatre lover from the city?

Teodora Demian

Founded in 1792, the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj is the oldest Hungarian theatre company in Transylvania. Besides the plenty awards they won, during the last 20 years the company has travelled to a number of countries, playing in the theatres of England, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia, Finland, South Korea, Czech Republic, Moldavian Republic, Hungary, Colombia and Slovakia.

Since 2008 it is the full member of the Union of the Theatres in Europe. Starting with 2012 the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj is in partnership with the National Theatre from Prague. Their cooperation started during last year’s edition of the Interferences International Theatre Festival with the successful play of the company from Prague, called The Marriage of Figaro (or the Follies of a Day).

In 2007, 2010 and 2012 the Theatre managed to host the Interferences International Theatre Festival, with a total number of 44 productions from 26 countries and 6 plays of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj.

For the non-Hungarian speaking members of the audience, the majority of the plays are dubbed.

hungarian theatre of cluj

photos: Hungarian Theatre of Cluj

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On the 28th and 29th of March 2013 the Hungarian National Theatre hosted the workshop entitled Atelier 200, a project dedicated to the ones without theatrical training but still willing to participate at events like this one.

The workshop developed by the M93 Theatre of Bobigny and implemented in several theatres of the European Union started in 2012 and managed to involve thousands of persons throughout Europe. After cities like Bobigny, Graz, Rome, Porto, Sofia and Palermo the Atelier 200 arrived to Cluj-Napoca as well, mobi-lizing lots of people. Three-quarters of the participants were Hungarians, the rest of them Romanians; the majority of them being females, many students but the 50+ range was also represented. On the first day of the workshop, organized in groups and leaded by chorus-masters, the participants got to know the concept of an „antique choir” by trying to re-enact how this works, reciting in ancient greek a segment of Antigone. As a next step, the „workshopers” learned a communist pioneer song accompanied by a coreography which recalled the pageants of the past. This way they could experience the communist version of a choir. The second day of the event gave the leading role to the choir of complaints and the community choirs. The latter came true when the participants were put behind the iron curtain and were let go when they managed to agree on a number of common complaints. So did they: building bicycle roads, maintenance of green spaces, ethinc conflicts as well as the positive attitude towards life and society.

It was an event with a cluttered program during which the participants learned about the theatre, stage movement and the work with others. „If projects like this one were organized more often and more persons would attend them, probably the world would be a better place. Or at least here, in Cluj-Napoca, the commu-nity would be better. I came here in a certain way, but I leave much more enthusi-astically without a sense of the problems in the world. I got rid of stress. It was a theatre-therapy.” – declared Raluca, one of the workshop’s participants.

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Day by day we pass the same buildings, walk around the same streets, cross the same roads, grab a coffee from the same places, but we know that there is much more to experience in Cluj than

these. Help us present the true spirit and feeling of the city!

Take your cameras, go out or just look outside your windows and make a proof of the city’s buzzing life, the genuine heartstring of Cluj-Napoca. Do you find it to be funny? Cheerful? Smiling? Shiny? Explosive? Maybe a city that never sleeps? Like ever??

If it was up to you, how would you present the city to a foreigner? What kind of pictures would you show in order to make them feel the vibe of the city? Of coure, you can present the city by showing pictures with the historical monuments, the buildings and all. But that is not what we search for. We want you to show the way we can SHARE the JOY of the city with others. Let your mind loose, let your creativity flow the way it wants.

It doesn’t matter if you are not a professional photographer, we won’t ask for a diploma. We want you to experiment, to challenge yourself, to change your perspective and view the city from a different angle than you did before!

Send us your photo(s), we will post them on our facebook page, your friends and the facebook community will make their votes after which the best of them will be published in the next edition of Sharepress (published in June).

Here is where your photos should be sent: info@cluj2015.ro.

Deadline: 1 June 2013

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Are YOU familiar with the feeling of Cluj-Napoca?

PHOTOCONTEST

accepted?challenGe

The official magazine of the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 Programme, SHAREPRESS now has a heading dedicated to your opinion! We are curious what you think and how you formulate your ideas. In each edition of the Magazine we will publish one of your essays, that is why we invite you to express yourselves!

The first question is: Which month do YOU consider to be the awesomest in Cluj-Napoca? Is it June, when it’s warm outside and we can all have long walks, ride our bikes and enjoy the fresh air? Is it October when we remeet our friends, the city „wakes up” from its summer sleep and the streets are full of life again thanks to the thousands of students walking around savouring the joy of the city? Or is it maybe December when the city is covered in snow and it all looks like a picture from a fairytale?

SHARE your opinion! Tell us what you think! The best of them will be published in the next edition of this year’s Sharepress.

We will publish every essay on our Facebook page, so your friends can read them. Moreover, they will be encouraged to vote the texts they like the most. Their opinions will matter too, because the winner of the contest will be chosen based on the „jury” and the „public’s” votes.

Send your 2000 character long essays to the following address: info@cluj2015.ro and hope for the best!

Deadline: 25 May

plug yourself inand write anawesome essay

ESSAY CONTEST

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Cluj-Napoca is known for the big number of students who choose to study here. However there is a significant number of young people who decide to learn at universities from foreign countries.In Romania in 2012, 4500 students chose foreign universities instead of the ones from Cluj-Napoca, and another 1 500 foreign students came to study in our country.On the level of Cluj-Napoca, taking information from 5 universities (Babeş - Bolyai University, Technical University, University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine, University of Fine Arts and Design) the statistics show the following:

INCOMING

OUTGOING

SEM II

SEM I

83

190

283

41

12

53

28

TOTAL OUTGOING 484

19

47

17

23

40

32

39

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SEM II

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180

252

72

40

85

45

28

48

20

TOTAL INCOMING 583

26

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The BirdsIf you happen to live in the

Hasdeu Students’ Complex, you might feel like an extra in

Hitchcock’s movie. But before you start questioning whether there is

indeed some mystical connection between your arrival and the sudden

invasion of ravens, rest assured those birds are practically ancient history. Well, middle ages

at least. The thing is, when King Matias (it’s his statue that you see in the big square in the city

center-for those of you who are not history worms) was in power, he ordered for two ravens to be

raised in a golden cage. The latter was placed in the most honorable place, in the city center, right in front of the house where the great leader was born. The

raven was the King’s House emblazon and it was believed that the bird was the symbol of luck. This whole idea started after the unsuccessful military campaign in Moldova, after which the King returned drained of powers

and pale as a corpse (drama, drama, drama!). But as soon as Matias laid eyes on the ravens, he regained his vigor and the blood rushed to his cheeks; and the raven has been a venerable bird in the royal family ever since. So, whenever you are

taking a casual stroll around campus and some…ahem projectile lands on your outfit, don’t curse your karma, but instead think about it as a sign of luck. Who knows, maybe you are the next Matias and ravens will fancy you too. If not, you can always count

of Hitchcock.

It is a man’s world…But it would be nothing without a woman-is this how the song goes? Well, just in case you were wondering, Cluj can also brag about some exceptional women who have lived here and left a mark in history. The first woman to be mentioned in historical

documents was Ana Bathory. Well, technically, she was more infamous than anything else; since she was doing the nasty with her brother, was involved in

three witch-craft trials and was eventually sentenced to exile and her fortune was confiscated. But hey, at least she was pretty, right? A more proper woman, but still extraordinary was Raluca Ripan, the first woman to get her PhD in Chemistry in 1922. She managed to become a member of the Academy of Sciences of Romania. More so, she founded the Chemistry Institute in Cluj which currently is named after her; and just in case you aren’t yet impressed, she was the only female dean of the Babes-Bolyai University, in its entire history. “The Queen of Heights”, Smaranda Braescu, was the first female paratrooper in Romania. In 1931 she broke the national record with her jump from the altitude of 6  000 meters, receiving for this accomplishment the “Aeronautical Virtue” medal. She was an active participant in the Second World War, on both fronts as a member of the White Escadrilles, and she was also part of the anti-communist resistance, by signing a protest against the falsification of elections. Well, what you see? Girls really do run this world!

The Legends of Cluj

Your student life is going to be forever marked (or scarred, it varies from case to case) by the place that will eventually become your alma mater. Regardless of the reason that you have chosen Cluj as your second home, this city will inevitably leave its imprint on your life. All you have to do is figure out your class schedule, your party schedule, your recovery from partying schedule and if you’re feeling ambitious, include some snippets of studying here and there. If suddenly you feel like a hoard of animals with ridiculously intricate horn is tap-dancing in your belly, no worries. To ease the transition into “active-absorption-of-information” mode, we have prepared some interesting fables about Cluj, fables that are guaranteed to impress both professors and your fellow students.

Iulia Matcovschi

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What changed after you won the title of the Euro-pean Youth Capital?We had to change radically our way of working on youth policies, turning every single activity in a new project facing the EYC programme. We also had to immediately start creating links with other public administrations and NGOs, to raise additional funds and to face deeper European policies and projects.

What were the benefits or disadvantages that this title brought to you? (if there were any disadvan-tages)We think we had no disadvantages. Talking about benefits, we had a great opportunity to raise funds for youth policies and thus to develop projects and activities involving young people. In a certain way winning the title helped us check out what was going on in Turin with young people (and youth policies).

What was the process of your EYC year?First of all we worked on networking: on one hand a committee with regional and district administra-tions, on the other hand a youth council with a hundred of youth NGOs. Then we had to analyse our existing youth policy activities in order to fit them to the EYC Programme (which was elabo-rated together: the Municipality and NGOs). At the same time we developed projects and activi-ties based on the principle of sustainability, trying to avoid any “spot” or big event which was not able to last over the EYC year.

How did the community, the local authorities and the NGOs get involved?Local authorities (the Municipality and regional administration) were the ones who applied for the title and created the Turin 2010 committee. NGOs were involved by the Municipality: more than 100 youth associations composed a permanent council to define EYC activities. The Municipality acted as a coordinator and advisor (and fund raiser), while NGOs directly managed most of the

projects and events. NGOs, with their links with youngsters, succeeded in involving local commu-nity and young people from all over Europe.

To what extent were you supported by the EU or by the European organizations and institutions?There was no direct support from EU institutions, even if the Municipality and some NGOs applied for several Youth in Action Programme projects, and some of them were co-financed by the EU.

How did you prepare in the year you were named EYC? Did you have any activities that year?During 2009 we created the committee (composed by public bodies) and the new youth council and together we worked on the programme. Just at the end of 2009 we had a sort of preview of the EYC when we hosted the COMEM of the European Youth Forum.

Did you face any obstacles in the year you were implementing your activities as an EYC?Of course we had to face some obstacles, but they were not so big to stop our implementation activities: no real obstacle was put between us and our goals. We can talk more about “difficul-ties” than “obstacles”.

What were the difficulties you had during the entire process of implementation?We had a difficulty related to the very short time we had to prepare the EYC Programme, due to the fact that we were named EYC for 2010 at the end of 2008. The lack of time created difficulties also in fund raising: we obtained national economic support just in may 2010, and we did not have the opportunity to raise some other funds, overall from private companies.

How did you manage to pass through the faced difficulties?Working, working, working: the Municipality’s youth policies department worked a lot in order to orga-nize activities with NGOs, saving money and time.

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Sharing knowledgeTorino-Cluj Being the European Youth Capital in 2015 gives us the perfect opportunity to learn from other cities’ experiences, have a share of their best-practices. We want to keep a good relationship with the former Youth Capitals, so that we can create the best path for the upcoming Capitals. As a first step, we wanted to have a talk with one of the first cities’ that owned this title. The team from Torino shared some ideas with us.

Please, Toby tell us a few words about yourself: Where do you live? What do you study? What is your position in the National Youth Council in your country? How long have you been working there? How long have you been a youth worker? What experience do you have to youth work?

My name is Toby Fischler and I live in Antwerp! I am a flemish youth representative and I have been in my youth council for the last 2 years and I study Law at the University of Antwerp. I have been busy with youth work for the last 3 years never in an organization until the youth council but always as an individual such as the

Youth Ambassadors initiative during the AEYC 2011.

Antwerp was EYC in 2011. Would you, please tell us a few words to describe that experience for you (as a youth

worker, but also as a youngster)? Did your city benefit from the EYC title? If yes, how?

The EYC was a great year for me it helped me learn about my city and especially the youth related issues in it. However it also showed me that young people are more than capable to organize events and projects themselves and that the youth are our most inexhaustible resource we have. I had the feeling that I was part of something and more importantly participating and that’s a feeling that hasn’t gone away since!

What do you think is the most important thing about representing your city and country abroad?

Representing your city abroad is just like doing a job interview you show the good parts and the bad because you have to, but representing your city/country abroad is a great experience because you learn how to be diplomatic.

Describe the three main issues that are facing young people (EU, non-EU) today.

Youth Unemployment, Assymetrical education, fear of ambition.

You recently participated at a Seminar in Maribor, Slovenia: EYC and its link to European Youth Policies, where you met the representatives of past, future and present EYCs. How would you evaluate the results of the seminar? What do you think about the progression of the EYC programme?

I believe that the seminar was a succes! We spoke a lot about the EU youth policy but more importantly what does EYC mean, what does it stand for, how can WE make it better! These are the questions which we’ve attempted to answer and I believe that we have. We set out criteria and most importantly all future EYC’s can learn from the mistakes of the previous ones. Like building a house. We just gave them the strong fundaments!

Send Cluj a message!

Cluj, get ready for one of the best years of your city and use this year as much as possible!

Glenda Nagy toby fischler

Young thoughts

and message

“Cluj, get ready for one of the

best years of your city and use

this year as much as possible!” –

comes the message from

Antwerp. Meet Toby, member of

the Antwerp European Youth

Capital 2011 team.

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Andrei Popescu, responsible for the Youth in Action Programme in Romania and representative of the National Agency for Communitary Programmes for Education and Professional Development, is also a huge fan of Cluj.

Some of the events for which he is responsible for are the „Capital Europe” and the „On your marks, get SET, go!”. The first one is an international event which aims to bring together the representatives of the youth organizations and the employees of the Public Administrations who are responsible for the fields of the European Youth Capital and European Capital of Culture, in order for them to discuss, change best-practice experiences and to develop abilities and competences. The second one is a street event, having the goal of showing the community and Cluj what the youth can do through non-formal education. Both of them are part of the European Youth Week.

An interesting fact is that this project always took place in Bucharest, until this year, when the EYW moves to Cluj. „It is the case for Bucharest to come Cluj, so that it isn’t always Cluj going to Bucharest” said Andrei. „Even though the opening ceremony of the event will be in Bucharest, it will end in a more important capital – the European Youth Capital”, he added.

Even if Andrei and the programmes he takes part in are known and recognized in the field or community of education, youth, trainings or funders they have another important role: they support non-formal education and volunteering. The youth are seen as fragile citizens who will build the future. „What we want is to address to these fragile citizens in order for them to discover things which are so rare that can not be met in everyday life. ”

„The things I was talking about can be summarized under the aegis of »power is bigger if we work together«. We hope to have even more people to work with in the future.”

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Cluj Never Sleeps.With YOU.Several projects will be implemented in 2015 when our city will own the title of the European Youth Capital, so many of them need to be tested. One of these is Cluj Never Sleeps, a 24 hour long non-stop programme, which aims to keep the city of Cluj-Napoca awake through projects proposed by every willing NGO and implemented together with them.

The Cluj-Napoca Never Sleeps project is based on a large-scale partnership between the city's administration, the public services, consumer services sector and the non-profit organizations. Under the coordination of a young team, the public and the private sector will implement a project together, which will transform one night in Cluj into an exciting and action-full day: shops, restaurants, malls, libraries, museums will be open all night long; buses and trolleys will circulate; cinemas and theaters will expect their guests with exciting shows. Although it is a fun project, its goals reach much further than entertainment. Cultural events, youth programmes will take place during this exciting night in Cluj and everyone will see that a creative and hard working young team is even able to turn night into day.

The youngsters from the city’s youth NGOs came with their own project ideas and joined us in the preparation and implementation process of Cluj Never Sleeps.

We keep the city awake together!

ClujNever Sleeps

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cluj neverSLEEPS

Răzvan Luca, president of the Arhitect Students’ Association of Cluj-Napoca, responsible for the Cluj Never Sleeps project

The idea of this project appeared after several discussions among the members of the SHARE Federation. It is an intention to make a replication of the city’s activities but with an autochtonous twist. „After we defined the potential of a day during which Cluj doesn’t sleep I was called to identify the locations which could be used in order to host events and to be fully exploited in the time of 24 hours. Following these, we agreed on the main spots.” – explains Răzvan.

Among others, the list of locations include: the Hill of the Fortress, Hasdeu Student Campus, Eroilor Street, Museum Square and the Union Square. „It could have been even more places that could have been exploited but we decide to stop at these for this first edition. Cluj has potential. Quite a big one actually, in my opinion.” – declared the Architect student.

As a first step it is important to know whether or not there will be projects for each of them or if the students, youngsters, youth and student organizations will come with their own ideas for locations. „In that case we will stay there. We are flexible.”, added Răzvan. Of course, the organizers will discuss with every applicant. „The period between 1-15 May will be the one during which the persons who applied will have the opportunity to come and talk to us in order to see how we can help them get the needed infrastructure and budget.” explains the project’s representative.

Regarding the possible difficulties the event may face, Răzvan fears the situation of insufficient number of projects. „I think this is the biggest. And not having enough resources to help the youth.”

When it comes to the project’s target group, he notes that the main target are the young ones. „But who are they? I still don’t know the limit: up to 29? 35? At the moment when parents will come along their children, they will have to be included in the European Youth Capital as well, even if they are 40-50 years old. Age doesn’t matter.” Răzvan focuses on the idea of the projects being organized by students or for students, but also on the fact that we have to think holistically. „We have to think about the city, what can we do for it, how can we make it better. This is the main idea: the development of human and material resources along with the infrastructure through the European Youth Capital.”

Please introduce yourself. Where do you live, what do you do, since when do you work at OBESSU?My name is Daša Koribaničová, from Slovakia. I am a Board Member in the Organising Bureau of the European School Student Unions and the current Board (2012-2014) is composed of Nora Kleibel (Austria), Daniele Di Mitri (Italy), Dejan Bojanić (Serbia) and Ida Kreutzman (Finland).

What is OBESSU?OBESSU – The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions is the platform for cooperation between the national school student unions active in general secondary and secondary vocational education in Europe. It was founded in April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland and brings together member and observer organisations from more than 20 European countries. All member organisations are independ-ent, national, representative and democratic school student organisa-tions."

How do you see the cooperation between the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 Programme and OBESSU?OBESSU is very happy to be a partner of Youth@ Cluj- Napoca 2015 and we are very happy that we will have a chance to cooperate. OBESSU will promote Cluj amongst school students in Europe, as CLUJ is the place to be in 2015. We are planning to organize an event in Cluj-Napoca in 2015 for us to collaborate.

More informationwww.obessu.org

High Schoolers Today,Leaders Tomorrow

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The Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 Programme wants to extend its partnerships on

European level too. The Organising Bureau of the European School Student Unions

board had its meeting in Cluj so we took the chance and had a short meeting with

them, presenting our Programme and discussing a future cooperation.

You visited Cluj lately. What impression did it give You? What do you think Cluj can share with Europe?All of  us visited Cluj for the first time.  We felt very welcomed by everyone, people were friendly and also interested in what we do. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to see the city properly, but we saw many beautiful places and heard a lot about the surroundings and the beautiful nature. We saw the potential in the city and believe that it has a lot to offer not just for youth but for everyone. As a Youth Capital, it is very beneficial that so many students live in Cluj, so that visitors feel authentic and see themselves why the city won the title.

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How do you see the situation of education in the EU and Cluj/Romania?Due to many cuts in education in Europe, educa-tion and students are lacking what they need. Education is not free everywhere and there are many hidden costs which prevent some students

from accessing quality education. Education is the only way of beating the crisis and a human right. Thus, the right to access free quality education must be secured for every-one. and informed choice must be granted to everyone at all times. Knowledge is the only thing preventing us from being isolated.We visited some schools in Cluj and were happy to see that Student Councils work well. Students are being consulted regarding some decisions in schools, but there are not fully involved. OBESSU’s Member Organisation, Makosz -   Romániai Magyar Középiskolások Szövetsége, is there to help and represent them. There is a space for improvement in each country and we believe that students should have a say in each aspect of their school life.

Any thoughts to be shared with the youth of Cluj? A message maybe?Participate and be active! Decisions concerning youth are very often taken without the youth, so make sure you are involved and that your voice is heard! Enjoy  Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015  and enjoy yourself and be proud of your City!

What is reper 21? It is the European Network for the Promotion of a Responsible Economy in the 21st century. I work as an expert of social responsibility.The Reper 21 team is a tiny one, but with powerful forces and energetic people. Our responsibilities are various. I work on the area of promoting social respon-sibility within NGO projects focusing on the area of Transylvania, the central and northwest regions. In the period before, Reper 21 has implemented several projects on sustainable develop-ment, responsible consumption and green tourism. Starting with 2010 they are the ones who implement the project called Societal.

What’s the link between Societal and Cluj2015? While applying for the title of the European Youth Capital, the SHARE Responsibly priority was included. This brought additional value to the application. Through its experience from Societal, Reper 21 aims to integrate this social priority in every project implemented under the aegis of Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015. We want to teach the organizations what responsible consumption means and how it should be implemented in their projects. Societal is in the middle of selecting 80 persons nationwide, who will be trained in order to become social managers. We will organize several thematic trainings through which the Romanian project coordina-tors will learn how to improve their abilities regarding social responsibility and sustainable development. Meaning, how to become more responsible managers, societal managers.

What else do we need to know about the relationship with SHARE and Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015?Out of the total amount of the trained societal managers we wish to have a number of participants from Cluj-Napoca too, because on a local level they will be active actors and will SHARE their experi-ences with the people around them, telling them what they’ve learned and what they have to transmit. Together with the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 team we will think about a methodology through which we can implement the element of SHARE Responsibly at the level of activities and projects organized in 2015.

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shareresponsiblyWe SHARE Responsibly with the help of Reper 21.Starting with 1 April 2013 Diana Calin is a member of the Societal project team, a programme coordinated by Reper 21, and by this, a new member of the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 management team.

Diana Călinmember of the Societal project team

CLUJ,THE YOUTH,THE CAPITAL& THE STAKEHOLDERS

The main stakeholders of the European Youth Capital are:

We call on you, those interested in the European Youth Capital. And there are so many of you: the public and private sector, the whole country and the twin cities, many European organizations; we are all interested in the success of Cluj in 2015. It’s a win-win situation.

You may say it is a youth capital organized by the youth, for the youth. It's their space, their environment, they must be allowed to perform and grow in their own terms. But if we give it a second look we realize that the youth has something in common with everyone, all sectors of activities, all that’s happening in Cluj. But how do we, young people see this?

The European Youth Capital is not only a series of local events, it is a 365 day programme, which has the potential to bring a considerable contribution to a great variety of development processes, not only in the city but in the whole region, country and even Europe. In 2015 Cluj-Napoca will show that the youth has the power to bring change where it is needed, to generate new and innovative ideas, to stir up the economy, to create, to think, to ask for support, to be the support. We are all stakeholders now.

the people living in Cluj-Napoca and its Metropolitan Area

the Cluj-Napoca Mayor’s Office

the Cluj County Council the Universities located in

Cluj-Napoca

the Romanian government

the tourism sector of Cluj county

the youth-centered private sector

the big event planners and organizers from Cluj-Napoca

and the surrounding area

European Youth Organizations and networks

the cities and municipalities who want to become

European Youth Capitals

Cluj-Napoca’s twin cities and the municipality’s partners

the local and regional media

the European Youth Forum

the private sector from Cluj-Napoca and

from Romania

the NGO sector of Cluj-Napoca, of the

county of Cluj the Romanian NGO sector

András Farkas, Hanna Ugron

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Cluj 2.0 Empowering Cluj Innovation CityWhat do you get when you put together an IT Cluster, a project called Cluj Innovation City and a bunch of students? The answer is: a daring competition, the Cluj2.0.

The IT cluster from our city is the most important one from the whole country. Together with the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 Programme they decided to launch a competition dedicated to students and their creative visions regarding innovation and creative solutions for an integrated urban development.

Cluj Innovation City has the goal of creating an intelligent city, aligned with the global policies regarding economical, technological, architectural, administrative and social development. What they wish to accomplish with this competition is to be a catalyst for the student’s ideas and projects.

So, as you can see, this is a competition for project ideas. Projects that are somekinds of plans for the city’s development. This initiative is unique in its form, because it is the first one in Cluj, but hopefully not the last one, as the organizers whish to launch it every year.

So if you are a student, don’t hesitate to form a team of at least 3 and submit your team’s application. It doesn’t matter if you don’t live in Cluj or Romania as the competition is open for every student willing to participate and to be part of planning the future.

Empower Cluj Innovation City by sharing vision, culture, space, power, work, joy!

GROWING|FINANCING|HOSTINGCAPACITY|LOWUNEMPLOYMENT|DOUBLED|PLAIN|TRAIN|SUITABLE|LARGE|TOP10|ECONOMICCENTER|GRANTSAN

RECESSION|DESTABILIZATION|LOW|SOME|INVOLVED|SEVERALCASES|

• Cluj‐Napoca is a growing economy for the past ten years.

• The Municipality already committed itself in past years to finance youth NGO projects from its own budget.

• Hosting capacity perfect for every type of activity (five star level conference, youth gatherings)

• Low unemployment rate

• Hostel and campus hosting capacity doubled in the past 5 years. Quality also got better, every major campus being renewed.

• Access to Cluj‐Napoca via plain from more than 15 European destinations

• Train and shuttle connections with Budapest and Bucharest.

• Local transport suitable for getting around Cluj‐Napoca easily, major investments had been made to improve and develop public transportation (the Municipality recently a acquired six brand new trams)

• The city is a regional economical center, with big companies having headquarters, branches in Cluj‐Napoca. For example: Delonghi, Bosch, Terapia Ranbaxy, Banca Transilvania etc.

• Large investments in Cluj-Napoca in the following period,: Daewoo, Samsung, ING Bank, IT and software and a Silicon Valley Project

• Cluj Napoca is a real “railway bridge“ connecting Western Europe and countries outside of the EU

• Cluj Napoca Airport is connected to 4/5 of the top 10 airports in Europe. In 2007 and 2008, the Cluj airport had the most spectacular evolution in recent years, with a year‐over year growth of 60% and 93% respectively, reaching over 750,000 passengers in 2008. On 20 December 2010, Cluj airport hit the record of 1,000,000 passengers handled in 2010

• There is a functional grant scheme mechanism in Cluj‐Napoca handled by the Community Foundation from Cluj. The foundation signed the Memorandum

of Understanding.

• Economic activity started to regain momentum at national

• A second wave economic recession might hit

Europe in general or Romania. This might result in a destabilization of the national budget ant thus funding for the EYC

might be unavailable from national resources level.

• The Municipality has long lasting partnerships with local companies in mobilizing funds for major projects, events.

• There are several cases in Transylvania of major events financed significantly by private companies with funds over 150.000 euros.

• Some local brands are known at Romanian level and abroad, can be used in promotion.

• Companies involved in headhunting youth projects.

• Over 200 companies sponsored youth events in the past two years. There is a possibility to plan for several years.

• The Programme might generate a powerful brand for the city.

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