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We will guide our research by cross-referencing the European and national youth policy framework such as the European Union Youth Strategy 2021 -2027 with its additional European Youth Goals under the auspices of three principles `Engage. Connect. Empower`. Together with the Council of Europe Youth Strategy Sector 2030, these two have represented an important pillar of the development of youth policy in Europe.

The former EU Youth Strategy 2010 – 20183 – An EU Strategy for youth `Investing and Empowering`was shaped immediately after the 2008 economic crisis and it had 8 broad fields of action. In the
centre of the strategy was the young people as a resource to the society, especially the economic one. Consequently, emphasis was put on diverse forms of employment, job opportunity and the skills and qualifications for the labour market. Let us not forget that programmes such as Youth Guarantee and the European Skills Agenda were shaped in direct connection to this strategy.

In 2018, the new EU Youth Strategy was adopted under the auspices of the Presidency of the Council of Austria. Two years before this, in June 2016, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the Brexit Referendum took place and with it, the rise of extremism and nationalism entered into a new dimension. The EUYS 2019-2027 therefore had to put the young people as agents of change in the European Union, to bring them closer to the EU (for example EU Youth Goal 1 – `Connecting EU with Youth`). It envisages young people as `architects of their own lives`.

The EU Strategy focuses more on the problems youth are facing in the EU identifying possible solutions for the general framework policy, while the Council of Europe focuses on shaping a systemic environment in the youth sector. Both strategies were the product of a large system consultations with the young people.

The Council of Europe Youth Strategy Sector 2030 has as main focus creating an ecosystem for the youth sector, one that was governed by the Council of Europe’s values (human rights, democracy and the rule of law), under the seven key principles mutual respect and trust, inclusiveness, sustained commitment, participation, equity, transparency and collaboration. The priorities of the strategy are: revitalising pluralistic democracy, access to rights, living together in peaceful and inclusive societies and youth work. 

For the states that are members of both the European Union and Council of Europe, the strategies might be seen as complementary. Both place the young people in the heart of shaping Europe and, if we dare say it, give the necessary recommendations to member states to empower young people with instruments and opportunities in order to play the role of equal partner.

The differences lie in the core of the Institutions. While the Council of Europe Youth Sector Strategy emphasis the role of Council of Europe in safeguarding rights and democracy, the EU’s approach is based more on the challenges young people face and it is made congruently with the funding programmes so as to measure the results in diminishing the problems ayoung person can face in different moments of his/her life.

The Council of Europe has a unique system of `co-management` where decisions are made jointly by representatives of youth organisations and governments. Participatory governance by young people is thus considered to legitimise the implementation and outcomes of youth policies. The system has been referred to as a model and many youth organisations try to advocate for it in relation with the local and national authorities.

When we refer of youth policy within the United Nations, we cannot refrain from making a reference to the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security (2015), recognizing the importance of young people’s role in international peace and security. It is stipulated that `youth should actively be engaged in shaping lasting peace and contributing to justice and reconciliation` under five pillars of involvement: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships and disengagement and reintegration. According to this resolution, member states are urged to consider `ways to increase inclusive representation of youth in decision-making at all levels in local, national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflict, including institutions and mechanisms to counter violent extremism`. This resolution was the greatest sign that young people should be considered as equal partners in the most important processes in the global areas: peace and security. Moreover, the resolution asks the member states to `to increase, as appropriate, their political, financial, technical and logistical support, that take account of the needs and participation of youth in peace efforts, in conflict and post-conflict situations`. At the same time, the resolution requests the Secretary-General to carry on a study `on the youth’s positive contribution to peace processes and conflict resolution, in order to recommend effective responses at local, national, regional and international levels` and to further present the results in the Security Council.

Nevertheless, we aim to intertwin the European Goals with the Agenda 2030 and subsequently with the Sustainable Development Goals. We believe that by connecting the two sets of goals, we can better understand the impact of young people at European and global levels. Romania as the first country to adopt a Youth Goal within its Presidency to the Council of EU in JanuaryJune 2019, `Quality Employment for All`. Not to mention that the European Youth Goal No. 11 `Youth Organizations & European Programmes` represents an objective primarily developed for the European Youth Capitals where Cluj-Napoca holds its position from 2015 as the sole city in Romania who has ever achieved this performance and by receiving the Charlemagne Youth Prize at national level in 2015.

It is difficult to comprise all the EU Youth Policy, but we shall explore the other pillars whenshaping the Youth policy ecosystem.

The European Pillar of Social Rights was set in 2017 and it contains 20 principles for fairer and more well-functioning labour markets as well as good welfare systems for the benefit of all
Europeans. The Action Plan that lasts until 2030 stipulates that Member States should:

● Include in their national plans strengthen growth potential, job creation, social and institutional resilience, youth and children policies,
● Tackle youth unemployment through the Youth Guarantee and integrate young people on the labour market.

Even though there are 8 stages of participation and in spite of the efforts of the youth sector to better connect young people to the decision-making process, youth tokenism seems to be
visible more than ever. Youth participation has to be meaningful and it should involve young people in the life and development of the community. If participation is not done properly, it may damage the trust of young people in the local institutions and stakeholders.

In Romania, more than 2585 events (out of 12403 events in total made in or by member states) were made by the youth organisations in Romania from their own resources, being the country that was on the first country ranking in the number of events for the European Year of Youth. More than ever, or emphasised due to the consequences of the pandemic, tokenism took over the public area. Youth is referred to as`the future`, not the present, this might be translated into `when young people will grow up, they will be considered partners, but not at the moment of present, when they are still considered young people’. This ultimately, young people may feel demotivated into believing that access to participation in the decision-making process is restricted.

For example, in Cluj-Napoca was held the biggest Youth event in the country: the Youth Summit 7.0 – Roots, that consisted in 3 days of activities with more than 400 young people and youth workers engaged. lt was a participatory exercise in which the young people could enter into direct dialogue with the decision-makers at local (AJOFM, CCS) and national level (Secretary of State on Youth, Secretary of State on Agenda 2023, State Councilor on Sustainable Development, State Councilor on Social Community responsibility, etc.). At the same time, young people benefited from 43 activities made by the youth NGOs, sustainability NGOs, influencers, journalists and representatives of the business environment.

This is the reason why, within the most important process of citizens’ consultation process – Conference on the Future of Europe (COFOE), a Youth Test was proposed. The proposal aims for each and every initiative at the European level to have youth consulted on the possible output. It is also important to mention that one third of the participants all over the European Union were young people.

#Vote16 started to be an important movement in the youth sector in the last years. Why isthat? Young people do not feel seen or heard anymore, especially when it comes to important decisions. Most countries consider young people being able to be responsible for their actions in the society at 16 years old, so why not be able to vote at the same age? Lowering the age or the local, national and European elections is one of desiderate of the youth organisations and young people. This way, they will count more in the electoral programmes and therefore in the eyes of decision-makers. According to the European Youth Forum (YFJ), two-thirds of the young people aged 16-30 who were eligible to vote, have voted in the European elections. Voter turnout among 16 and 17-year-olds was actually greater than voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds, according to both the Scottish referendum (2015) and the Norwegian trial (2011). Voting is a fundamental right and it is the core mechanism for strengthening democracies. Young people are significantly underrepresented, which makes the representation issue worse. 

Representativeness in the decision-making process:
● Only 5% of parliamentarians in Europe are below 30 years old
● Worldwide, only 2.8% of parliamentarians are under thirty

Countries where the voting age was lowered at 16 or 17 years old:
● Austria (all elections);
● Malta (all elections);
● Estonia (local elections);
● Scotland (Scottish elections);
● Wales (Welsh elections);
● Germany (local elections in some Länder);
● Greece, people can vote at age 17;
● Germany is also moving to lower the national voting age, with some German states already including 16-year-olds on a local, regional level and European level;
● In Ireland, the proposal is under debate, where a Citizens’ Assembly in 2018 voted 80 percent in favor of vote at 16.

Another mechanism for consulting Young People is the EU Youth Dialogue that basically led to the creation of the EU Youth Strategy. Each TRIO on the Presidency of the Council of EU consults young people in respect to some themes from the EU Youth Strategy such as `Space and Participation for all` (Objective no. 9 from the Strategy – delivered by Germany, Portugal and Slovenia). It is very important to mention that the 11 EU Youth Objectives lie in the conclusions of the EU Youth Dialogue VIth Cycle and it is mentioned that these conclusions even though it is recommended that member states and the European Commission to bear these in mind when shaping policy-making or programmes, they are not legally binding. For the last few cycles, Romania always reached top 3 regarding countries that have consulted
young people on these themes. Unfortunately, all the efforts of reaching young people were made by the National Working Group on the EU Youth Dialogue (6 youth and students organisations) only from their resources.

The 7th cycle national report consulted 1942 young people on Quality Employment for All, Youth Work and Opportunities for young people in the rural area. Young people responded specifically emphasising their needs and resources14. The 8th cycle national report consulted 2089 on the subject `Space and Participation for all`15. Unfortunately, none of the proposals of the young people were transformed into public policy, nor concrete engagement over them was made. This, and due to the fact that the Ministry does not cover the expenses of the youth organisations (nor logistical, material or human resources) and the lack of constant involvement of the personnel, the manner in which the 9th cycle will be conducted is not clear.

In September 2021, during the State of the Union speech, Ursula von der Leyen announced that 2022 would be the European Year of Youth as a tribute for the young people who have postponed their lives and have actively involved in managing the pandemic voluntarily. At the European Union, 2022 had to encompass 4 objectives (green and digital transition, active and engaged citizens, opportunities for young people and youth perspective in EU policies). In Romania, the youth sector has added a fifth objective through an amendment referring to `supporting young people coming from the armed conflict areas in Ukraine`. The European Parliament has proposed the extension of the European Year of Youth until May 9, 2023, without affecting the implementation of 2023- European Year of Skills. The European Parliament stated under the same resolution that it regrets the lateness of the European Commission’s decisions that have been slowing the activities.

At the same time, within the Multiannual Strategic Framework of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, youth being connected with the SDGs is a priority especially when it comes to promoting and involving them in the decision-making process. Moreover, we would like to also have a special mention of the `intergenerational dialogue`, the priority of the Czech Presidency to the Council of EU July-December 2022 as we believe that this concept is relevant in closing gaps at generational level between different types of stakeholders. This concept refers to the capacity of bringing people of different age, background and geographical zones to construct upon building the community. The Council of Ministers on Youth adopted Conclusions on Promoting the Intergenerational Dimension in the Youth Field to Foster Dialogue and Social Cohesion they refer to promoting dialogue, solidarity and equity through the provision of youth work and in the design and implementation of youth policies from the local to the European level.

1. Funding
A. At European level

We will refer to this chapter to funds specifically for the youth sector and other funds that are not addressed only to the youth sector, but are also used in doing youth activities.

i. Funds for Youth available through the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027

● Erasmus+
● European Solidarity Corps
● Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

For all of these, the EU funds are used to support the strategic planning and vision, human resources for youth activities (youth workers, youth services and projects), but the youth structures (youth NGOs, public authorities and private) are not financed directly as a budgetary line – it is more like a consequence for the funding of the youth activities.

What are the policy sectors and subjects that can receive funding throughout these funds for young people?

Education;
● Employment and entrepreneurship;
● Culture and arts;
● Health, sports and wellbeing;
● Climate and environment protection;
● Volunteering;
● Digital transformation.

ii. Funds that are not made specifically for the youth sector, but that can be accessed by it:

European Social Fund +

The Member States can decide to allocate funds for youth, more specifically for human resources for youth activities (youth workers, youth services and projects). As for the funding for youth structures, this is only a consequence of the funding for youth activities. These funds encompass education, employment and entrepreneurship, but member states can decide to allocate funds for social inclusion for young people at the same time.

Funds for regional development and cohesion:

● European Regional Development Fund – aims to balancing regional disparities to encourage investments in a more connected, intelligent, environmentally friendly,
and socially engaged Europe.;
● Cohesion Fund – provides funding for environmental projects and trans – European transportation infrastructure networks.;
● Just Transition Fund – assists the regions most impacted by the shift towards climate neutrality in order to prevent regional inequalities from rising.

All the funds depend directly on the willingness of the member states to allocate funds for youth infrastructure (youth centers, friendly spaces to engage young people, mobile and virtual spaces), education, employment and entrepreneurship, and social inclusion for young people.

Regarding the funds mentioned above, Cluj-Napoca is on the North – Western ax of the program and in terms of priorities regarding the youth sector the following have been underlined for the region:

● Leisure and tourism centers are insufficient and inadequate as in the North – Western region we can encounter 10 leisure centers, 5 of them being camps. This is the reason why one of the objectives is to improve the leisure infrastructure for young people. It will increase the role of tourism within the economic development, social inclusion and innovation. It is stipulated within the program that the leisure centers have to maintain the youth children activities.
● Through this fund, the interventions for the establishment / development of education centers for young people in areas with applicability of high technology (robotics, bio-/nano-technologies, micro-/nano-electronics, electric machines) will be supported.

The program for the North-Western ax received 1,194 billion EUR. It is important to mention that centers from above are not exclusively youth centers.

Fonds supporting rights, values and the rule of law>

● Citizens, Equality, Right and Values programme (CERV),
● Justice Programme, Internal Security Fund,
● Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).

These funds enter into a special category being funds that can be used for young people in fields such as strategic vision and planning and the social inclusion of young people, even though there is no special allocation dedicated for youth.

Sectoral funds:

● Creative Europe,
● EU4 Health,
● Programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE).

These budgetary lines have the aim to fund culture and arts for youth. At the same time, can be used for young people even though they have no special allocation for young people in fields such: health, sports, wellbeing, environment and climate protection. Although there is no specific reference of the allocation of youth in terms of strategic planning and vision, but also education, Horizon Europe can be utilised for youth.

Rural Development Fund is to be used as a fund for youth in employment and entrepreneurship and social inclusion.

EU funds for non-Member states – NDICI – Global Europe can be used for youth in segments such as strategic vision and planning for youth sector, education, employment and entrepreneurship, social inclusion, culture and arts, health, sport, wellbeing, climate and environment, volunteering, digital transformation, even though there is no special mention regarding youth allocation.

Besides the regular index of funds for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, a new fund was created: #NextGenerationEU. In comparison to the Multiannual Financial Framework, the Next Generation EU funds last until 2026.

After the outburst of the pandemic, within the RRF Mechanism – Recovery and Resilience Facility, the European Parliament and European Commission recommended member states to include a youth pillar with adequate funding and policies. Under the package of `EU Next Generation`, the European Parliament advised under a report that all the six pillar (one of them being: `policies for the Next Generation, taking into account the objectives of the European Skills Agenda, the Youth Guarantee and Child Guarantee`), every member stat should allocate at least 7%19. Romania had in the Spring of 2020 a proposal of a youth pillar, but in the end, the Government decided not to include the youth pillar. For the package that was presented, for the first time, the operational grants for youth organisations were mentioned, participatory budgeting, financing youth centers, and other policies that aimed the funding of the youth sector not only punctual as `project based`. The official reason addressed was that the funds are limited and the funds for youth can be also translated through the funds for labour, education, environment or other aspects. Theoretically, one might say yes, the young people are also affected by this but not investing in the youth agency and participation is conducting young people not to have any sense of belonging to the community. Or any sentiment that connects them to the city, region, country. The majority of states within the EU have allocated funding from this mechanism only for the youth infrastructure (youth centers, youth camps, etc.).

B. At local level

Cluj Napoca was the first city in Romania to have ever applied the Participatory Budgeting, firstly on Youth due to the Cluj Napoca European Youth Capital 2015. COM’ON Cluj-Napoca 20(Participatory Budgeting on Youth) came as an innovation aiming to serve basic aspects of young participation as part of informal groups, their active contribution to the community and their participation in the decision-making process through direct democracy. The 2015 edition aimed to prove how co-financing and partnerships for this kind of initiative can be put in practice: how public institutions can co-fund projects from EEA Grants, on how bank can give a credit line in order to provide pre-financing for informal groups and how other parts can provide co-funding for resources coming from informal groups and public budgets. The project was conducted by the PONT Group and it was organised regularly. In 2022, COM’ON Cluj conducted 35 events, actions and campaigns implemented by young people. Following the 8,300 votes, 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 online21. Cluj-Napoca was the first city of Romania to implement a process of Participatory Budgeting, a model followed by 40 other localities in Romania.

The synthetic report of the principal results of COM’ON 2015-2022 is based on a sociological research for the target groups that initiated the process, social needs and projects identified the mechanism of the activities and the place, etc. The participation of young people (here we refer only to the initiatives submitted for approval) has varied, but it was observed that starting from 2016 has decreased (in comparison to 2015) until it reached a minimum in 2021 in the pandemic period. In 2022, the number of initiatives submitted increased being similar to the ones submitted in 2021. The total number of initiatives submitted 2015-2022 is 919 projects, out of which 385 projects received funding. It is important to mention that the vulnerable groups are still underrepresented, but the impact of the initiatives over them shows a slow, but visible increase.

But who are the young people that take part in this project? The target groups were observed:

● the informal ones formed by 2-4 young people (usually university colleagues. neighbours, friends, etc.),
● groups coming from association/ formal NGOs that are looking to complement the organisation’s activities through the project,
● in 2020, another group was shaped: the ones of professionals that offered Com’ON the instruments to be more present in the labour market, but unfortunately the group disappeared in the last two years.

At the local level, since 2019, Fondation Botnar in collaboration with SDG Colab and local partners, supported development of OurCluj living laboratory to collaborate for youth wellbeing. This initiative prioritises youth wellbeing and social innovation, putting values of trust and care before profit, and focused on long term systems transformation instead on short term projects. Since then, over 20 social innovation projects have been developed under the OurCluj arrangement, amounting over 5 million EUR, respectively: 

research projects;
● participatory mapping projects;
● social and civic innovation projects;
● communication projects;
● learning projects;

This participatory mapping project is part of the OurCluj initiative. The OurCluj is part of OurCity global initiative to prioritise youth wellbeing in urban environments in five intermediary cities – Cluj-napoca is the only one in Europe, others include Tanga (Tanzania), Kofuridua (Ghana), Barranquilla (Colombia) and Manta (Ecuador).

The aim of the OurCluj living lab is to seed a fully locally owned living laboratory, to develop and experiment social and civic innovation that foster youth wellbeing, especially in areas identified as key priorities (education, health and mental health, social innovation ecosystems, youth agency and enabling environment). At the core will be a mode of collaborative governance where power is shared with youth. This is in development.

Informal Groups

The informal groups have submitted approximately 50-55% of the initiatives throughout the programme. They are basically a group of young people disconnected from a formal organisation. The informal groups are based on friendships, or other relationships developed throughout time in other institutions such as university (colleagues), neighbourhood (neighbours), etc. These types of groups concentrate on leisure activities or practical activities. It is important that this category is increasing and due to their personal relations, the trust between the members of the informal groups is one of the guiding principles of the group. The idea reflected by them is vague in the beginning and directly connected to their personal experience or to a curiosity. The idea is developed throughout the application process and it seeks to tackle concrete problems. The principal ways to gather the information are through a guiding person is someone from their entourage – a significant other, or informative online channels.

The activities proposed are leisure ones that allow the opportunity for self-achievement and to mobilise the community in supporting a cause. During the process, it has been observed they encounter problems such as:

● general communication,
● access to information,
● to make the members of the community sensitive towards the problem they identify,
● to increase the degree of responsibility in the community.

Due to their concrete perspective of solving a problem, they are unlikely to mobilise thegeneral public to obtain votes as the project is specifically addressed to their community.

Semi-informal groups

Even though considered informal, it is observed that it has strong ties with formal organisations. Even though they operate autonomous and independently, they might use the organisation’s resources. The members of this group have experience in managing projects which is considered their essential advantage. In their formation, their significant other can school/ university/ job colleagues, professors, mentors coming from their past experiences (NGO/ universities/ schools. etc.). The members of the teams are former colleagues, volunteers and partners, and they are connected through their vocation and responsibilities for the community mediated by the model person recognized by them.

The idea of their initiative is connected to their already existing activity. The idea is relatable to the general good and general interest in comparison to the previous group where the idea was connected to a specific community’s problem. They collect their information not only by using informative online channels or persons from the group, but they also have the filter of their professional experiences and contacts from the other activities they have developed.

The activities proposed by this group are diverse, with special emphasis on innovation. The activities represent the opportunity to connect to the general public and an instrument to make good to the community.

This group is also aware of the problems that may appear:

● attracting the general public,
● mobilising the team and the roles distribution,
● inadvertencies between planning activities and the “pace of life” of the target group
(holiday or exam period for pupils or students)
● access within public institutions (schools, etc.)

Semi-formal professional group

It is a very small group and after 2020 in decline as it appeared due to the online context created by the pandemic. One can also refer to them as `free-riders` as they are very practical and used Com’ON to consolidate their position on the labour market. The group is based on work relationships that are based on common and objective interests.

They get informed through formal channels and their colleagues. The activities of the projects are directly connected to offering knowledge throughout conferences and workshops that represent an instrument for professional advancement. They do not need any type of assistance and do not have moral dilemmas.

Com’ON therefore is seen as a brand for participatory budgeting, having a positive and efficient impact over society. It produces cultural and social capital, mobilising young people to participate actively in the community’s life. It contributes to solving young people’s problems.

Cluj-Napoca is the second largest city of Romania, a `university town` comprising the heart of 9 public and private universities. In the Babeș-Bolyai University, there is a students’ projects competition within the sphere of personal, cultural and professional development. The projects can be organised online, offline or in hybrid format and can request up to 50.000 RON (approximately 1.190 EUR). The applicants can be Student NGOs from UBB, teams of UBB students or a Council fo Students of a faculty within the UBB.

A very important theme that was discussed in 2022 in the Council of Youth Ministers is Youth Mobility and the need to reinforce the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union. One of the most emphasised challenges is the difference in administrative systems that target only a specific type of experience, age or the lack of recognition of the skills developed in that program. For example, in Cascais, Portugal, the European Youth Capital 2018, mobility was a priority of the programme. It was seen as essential in promoting social interaction and urban environment at local level. Facilitating public transportation for young people so that youth can participate in local and international activities. In Cluj-Napoca, through the LEAP study, mobility and transportation are very important in defining the perfect context of development. According to the results of the study, the urban area poses a challenge regarding the wellbeing of young people regarding mobility, more specifically the limited access to it. The following measures were recommended: increasing the use of public transport by young people such as new transportation, bicycle tracks, pilot tracks for encouraging outdoor activities, accessibility for young persons with disabilities. Of course, the core should be a direct connection with the universities to ease the students’ life. At the same time, young people should be involved in urban mobility projects that enhance safe and durable mobility behaviours. In order to easen the mobility of the students (Bachelor, Master PhD.), the City Hall of Cluj-Napoca offered a 120 travel tickets free subscription24 that can be easily accessed online in comparison to other cities of Romania that do not offer these kinds of subscriptions to students.

Now let us move towards national and local funding for activities. It important to mention that we used an average cost to approximate the RON-EUR conversion such as: 1 EUR = 4.9 RON.

At local level:
Cluj City Hall allocating money on the youth activities fund through Youth Law 350/2006 through the Local contest of youth projects

Cluj County Council budget on youth activities or made for youth

At the National level, the budget for the youth component of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (2018-2021)27 and the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities (2021- Present).

EEA and Norway Grants

SEE Funds are addressed to the Economic European Area to strengthening bilateral relations with the 15 beneficiary countries in Eastern and Southern Europe and the Baltic states, and it represents the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reducing economic and social disparities28. Romania started receiving funds in 2007. Cluj-Napoca City Hall, through the Directorate of Social and Medical Assistance, is conducting a project „Replicable integrated interventions for inclusive housing and combating marginalisation in the Cluj Metropolitan Area – Pata 2″ – implemented with EEA funds, that seeks to target children and young people coming with disadvantaged backgrounds (disabilities, reduced opportunities, Down syndrome, etc.).

3. Volunteering, Youth programmes and programmes developed by/ for youth

Volunteering helps one develop their skills, by giving meaningful experiences and the chance to actively contribute to the community. Actually, volunteering can help to the social integration of vulnerable young people on the labour market if done properly with awareness and information campaigns. The volunteering programs are as significant in a young people’s personal and professional development as the internships, traineeships, apprenticeship or practice programs.

In Romania, although there is a legal framework based on which voluntary activities are regulated, at the national level and / or at the local level there are no support and support mechanisms for youth NGOs that work with volunteers or promote volunteering. Almost nine years after the adoption of Law 78/2014, the national strategy of volunteering has never been completed – a fact that also determines a lack of activity and the possibility of the public institutions to avoid responsibility. Some of the measures proposed by the youth sector also refer to the adoption of national strategy of volunteering, financing the promotion of the volunteering activities, budgeting and financing activities to professionalise work with volunteers in all areas, and changing the conditions for obtaining a residence permit for nonEU volunteers who carry out volunteering activities within the projects financed by the European Commission (or others funding programmes) and carried out by NGOs and/or public institutions by removing the condition whereby the volunteer must prove the financial availability of at least the average gross salary for each month spent in Romania.

In Romania, the experience and skills obtained after the volunteering programs are recognized only in the field of the graduated studies and sometimes not by every employer. On a larger scale, on the labour market, some entrepreneurs consider it a competitive advantage for young people to have volunteering experience. According to the LEAP Study, young people in Cluj-Napoca between 14 and 25 years old perceive themselves as the principal actors of change and they believe that volunteering is the best means to do so. Unfortunately, youth believes that the dissemination of volunteering programmes is low.

In Torino, Italy, one of the priorities while having the European Youth Capital title in 2010 was to create an all-service desk for informing and helping youngsters to look for international experiences and also to promote volunteering activities through communication activities and by offering support to the youth organisations active in suburbs.

Unfortunately, the volunteering opportunities do not reach many young people, especially those who have reduced income and cannot afford to enter volunteering programmes as they have to work. In particular, it is even harder for the young people coming from the rural areas, where there is not a very large variety of activities, and for sure there is no volunteering culture, and therefore the young people do not get involved so much in the life of the community. 

In the LEAP study, young people have also mentioned that volunteering might be perceived as `free work` from the ones outside the youth bubble. The volunteering culture is not
understood deeply by the society and therefore the young volunteers are not fully integrated by the society in the role of equal partners. As a measure, a programme that can certify youth training and volunteering recognized by the universities and private sector is needed. In this respect, Cluj Youth Federation is supporting the young volunteers by equivaling the practice course at the faculties that allow this. Specifically, for the ones that were involved in the volunteering projects, the organisation can attest the skills developed are equivalent to the ones needed at the beginners level in their field of activity. We must specify that due to the tasks performed by volunteers in the youth field, not many faculties or universities are willing to `allow` volunteering programs to equalise practice. This means that for part of the students, besides the organisations they volunteer for, they have to take a part time job, a full-time job, an internship or apprenticeship.

When it comes to culture, it is important to mention that the theatres from Cluj are open to empowering young talents. Each year, the Magyar Theater organises a project contest for the new generations of directors of Romania. When it comes to arts, we can also mention TIFF (Transilvania International Film Festival) that first appeared in 2002 and which is the biggest film festival in Romania. It has also a tailored programme for supporting young cineasts and the cinema industry.

One of the legacies of Cluj European Youth Capital 2015 is the UNTOLD Festival, a youth project that materialised in the biggest music festival in the world. It brings every year some of the most important and actual names in music, surpassing all expectations even from first the edition, which was awarded Best Major Festival at the European Festival Awards 2015 and Brand of The Year at the IAA Excellence Awards. It hosts every year more than 300,000 people, a very important number being internationals willing to live the experience. This festival raised the Cluj cultural life and marked it on the map of the most important international festivals. The idea was created by young people and each year young peoplebuild the unforgettable experience as volunteers or in the organising team of the ones that decide to visit Cluj-Napoca.

Regarding music, we have also to mention `Jazz in the Park`, a jazz festival that has organised more than 400 concerts since 2013 in Cluj-Napoca. The festival also includes a competition and a fund for supporting young jazz artists and for community initiatives collected through donations.

Volunteering remains the best tool to develop the personal and professional abilities, not to mention the possibilities to test different fields such as communication, public affairs, management, etc. Basically, volunteering offers one the chance to test and adapt without the fear of facing consequences. Volunteering is a safe space for all. There were several moments in the recent history when some decision makers mentioned that it is time to update the volunteering law or to connect the volunteering law with the apprenticeship and the internship one. We shall see how the law would develop in the near future.

4. Youth Work and Youth Workers

We see youth work as genuinely being the activities made with young people in order to help them develop their personal and professional skills and to improve their wellbeing. In some European countries it is an established profession, extended to the education and welfare system and in others, it is a practice separated from the national systems, put in place by volunteers. In the actual Youth Law no. 350/2006, youth work is defined as a `youth activity` that comprises every action organised with the aim to improve the necessary conditions necessary for the socio-professional integration of young people, according to their needs and aspirations.

In the youth mapping, we chose to address it from two perspectives: youth work as being made by professional youth workers defined as having a professional certificate that attest their competencies, but also the work made by pupils, students or young people for youth without having an official qualification.

Activities for and with young people should be done by specialised personnel. In Romania, there are occupational standards targeting this field for youth workers (highschool or graduate studies), youth counsellors (graduate studies), holiday center animators, socioeducational animators (Secondary education completed), community facilitators, mediators, agents information in information centers, which, unfortunately, because there are not enough financial resources and sustainable are found in the situation of not practising or carrying out project-based activities. Youth work in Romania is not totally regulated. In Romania, the profession of youth work is not officially recognized or registered as a job. This is the reason why a new legal framework is needed that can recognize youth work. Also, the youth workers present in the ConLucraTin 2.0 mentioned that the below measures are necessary to be taken: Development of new occupational standards in which to ensure balance and proportion between the level of responsibility and autonomy, the general competence of the occupation, the skills specific (personal and professional development of the young person) and, of course, knowledge and the level of required studies; establishment of new occupations (ex: youth center director) and the development of standards related occupations.

In the former EU Youth Strategy, the youth work was considered ` ‘out-of school’ education, as well as specific leisure time activities managed by professional or voluntary youth workers and youth leaders and is based on non-formal learning processes and on voluntary participation`. The youth work can be also found under the European Youth Goal no. 9 `Space and Participation for all` as the recommendation to `Ensure sustainable funding, common recognition and development of quality youth work in order to strengthen youth organisations and their role in inclusion, participation and non-formal education`.

How do young people envisage youth work in Romania? During the 7th cycle National Report on EU Youth Dialogue, young people had to respond to how the youth work should look like.

Young people believe that youth work should provide competencies related to the development of social skills and organisational/administrative, entrepreneurial and teamwork skills, create the context to meet other young people, learn to be independent and collaborate and also provide them with opportunities for personal and professional development, counselling and advice regarding the future career.

About the story of the young people involved in the Activating Values in Urban Transitions: A novel approach to urban innovation in Romania study at Cluj Youth Event. Photo credit: Paula Ivașcu

Youth workers should be inspirational and motivational role models. They should offer varied possibilities to access new learning and development contexts through which to discover themselves and improve their life experience (through increased involvement in community life, in other projects and experiences that will give them improved life skills), guidance for the future career and ways to acquire new professional experiences to help in accessing future jobs and facilitating the acquisition of attitudes of respect and assurance of equality for all. The youth worker should be empathetic, a good communicator, creative, kind, responsible, understanding, involved, sociable, a good organiser and have the necessary openness working with young people. It should inspire young people to work in a team and convey the idea of unity in the group. A person that wishes to work with young people should be a good mediator, capable of conducting the discussion in a manner in which would be beneficial for delivering information, extracting opinions and conclusions. 

The main need of young people is to benefit from the presence of competent people and communicative to give them periodic feedback. For them, any activity becomes much more constructive when they have the necessary confidence that what they do is confirmed by others. A youth worker must have experience in leadership activities, organisational management, psychology, legal field, entrepreneurship, etc. The youth worker has to have updated information regarding the current labour market and its trends. It should provide information about the opportunities available to a young person to train and gain the necessary experience in the profession someone would like to activate in.

The needs of the youth workers are appropriate training, recognition of skills, supporting the mobility of youth workers and promotion of innovative services.

Starting in December 2021, an event dedicated to the community of youth workers has been developed: Youth Workers Convention. Organised by the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities, Erasmus+ Agency in Romania and DEIS Association, the event aims to put in contact the youth workers in Romania and offer a safe context to exchange good practices. This event was actually the proposal of the DEIS Association that emphasised the need for youth workers to gather and discuss their needs and the solutions to the challenges they are encountering.

Following the conclusion of the Youth Workers’ Declaration in Romania from the second edition of the event, it is structured on 3 domains: Career, Activities for youth and the Legal and FInancial Framework. The youth workers needs and solutions can be found below:

Developing a national training programme that should contain initial and long life forming with an adequate set of soft, but also hard skills youth workers feel the need to develop the community, to receive support regarding the mentorship programme, funding or other in-kind help, adequate training and a needed professional standard and extension in the rural area.

The European Youth Work Agenda, derived from the EU Youth Strategy and Council of Europe’s Youth Strategy, states that the recognition of the youth activities as a distinct field of expertise, recognizing at the same time challenges such as insufficient resources, adaptability of the youth workers to the continuous changing of the society and therefore the youth, challenges that must be addressed locally, regionally, nationally and at the European level.

During the most ambitious process of consultations with the Romanian youth sector, both at individual level and at organisational level, the Youth Resolution contains practical recommendations for the youth work sector. We will emphasise the need for all the public institutions that have activities affecting young people should have special compartments for youth and employ specialised youth workers who manage the relationship with them.

Youth work is very important at local and regional levels. In February 2021, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities adopted the report “Youth work: the role of local and regional authorities`, offering the needed tools and mechanism to strengthen the youth work. It is emphasised in the report the youth workers are important partners for public authorities and they can improve youth policies as young people are directly affected by decisions taken at local and regional levels. Youth work mediates between young people with different perspectives and helps them work together, and this is the reason why youth work is strengthening democracy. Youth work helps young people improve their skills and therefore increases the quality employment chances, improves the mental health of young people, and by this, youth work is building a stronger community for future generations.

Bianca Borota – active youth worker from the DEIS Association facilitating a workshop within the Cluj Youth Event. Photo credit: Paula Ivaşcu

The report also contains a set of recommendations for local politicians and administrators: Involve young people and youth workers in local and regional policies that impact their lives at large and youth work in particular; Provide youth workers with enough resources, such as funding, equipment, and technical support; Present information in a clear and concise way, and give examples, so that every young person can understand and take part in discussions.

By working together, youth workers and elected officials can:

Make youth work inclusive and safe by reaching out to all young people, especially those who might feel isolated or are in a difficult situation and by working towards gender equality;
● Cooperate on new local and regional initiatives to combat climate change and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
● Co-create spaces for youth to come together and where local youth workers can carry out activities;
● Set concrete goals and indicators to measure the impact and quality of local and regional youth work and to understand and address potential gaps.

The report also mentions good practices at the local level. You can find them below:

In Scotland, the Rural Youth Project hosts the Idea Festivals that bring together young people from rural areas throughout Europe to share ideas, network, learn new skills, and explore ways to make rural areas more viable for young people to build their futures.

In the Danish municipality of Genofte, young people can participate in the Mobile Youth Office Project. which travels the municipality and incorporates other young people in activities and policy development. The Project has featured concerts, food trucks, workshops, and events.

In Gran Canaria, Spain, the youth organisation Nauta launched a radio broadcast initiative in order for the young people to debate and raise awareness of the opportunities of being young and European, by teaching skills on European projects.

In Turin, Italy, there is a Rainbow House (Casa Arcobaleno) which represents a safe space for all the identities to be expressed. It organises activities in particular with LGBTI youth. For example, they set up a weekly help desk for young people and their families from abroad who need to find their way around the city and make use of the city’s services.

In strong relation with the youth work there are the youth centers. To have a safe place where youth organisations and young people can develop one another is very important to the development of the city as it builds trust within members and it enhances partnerships towards different pillars of the youth stakeholders. This is how the Youth Cluj Center became reality – a space where youth activities can be held in a safe, friendly and cost-free (as long as the activities do not make profit) environment.

The youth ecosystem established in Cluj-Napoca empowers young people to lead their community starting with their organisation or informal group. The importance of the youth workers has already been emphasised in the LEAP Report where they have been recognized as the active connection between young people and stakeholders such as national or European stakeholders.

5. Future of Work

The future of work is rapidly evolving, and for young people just starting their careers, it can be difficult to predict what the job market will look like in just a few years. 2023 was designated the European Year of Skills, an opportunity that will help companies to address skills shortage in EU. It aims to promote processes as upskilling (learning new skills in your field of activity) and reskilling (learning new skills to perform in another field). The 2030 Digital Compass targets at least 80% of the adults with basic digital skills. Romania scores the last place on the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022, more specifically Romania scores well below the EU average concerning at least basic digital skills (28% vs 54%) and above basic digital skills (9% vs 26%). In 2023, according to the Digital Decade Country Report 202331, in terms of ICT specialists and at least basic digital abilities, Romania lags far behind the EU average (54%) and the EU aim of 80% of the population aged 16–74 possessing these skills (28% vs. 54% EU average). At the same time, it is mentioned within the report that in Romania there is the highest proportions of female ICT specialists in the EU, at 25.2%32. What can be done? The report mentions that Romania should, in particular, include private stakeholders more in the creation and implementation of digital skills initiatives. Additionally, Romania needs to focus especially on attracting and keeping ICT specialists, as well as bolstering efforts for reskilling and upskilling.

Automation, RPA and Artificial Intelligence will become the core of the future labour market being used as instruments in diverse fields of activity. The future of work would eventually create new professions that can keep up with the emerging technologies of the future.

Following the announcement of the President of the European Commission Ursula in her 2021 State of the Union address, a resolution on Empowering European Youth has been promoted to start its course in the European Parliament in late October in 2021. The resolution contains 4 subdivisions: Investing in the young generation, Labour market integration of young people, Labour mobility and skills for the future, Fighting youth exclusion and avoiding a lost generation. The Resolution has emphasised the “devastating effect on the labour and social status of young people in Europe” consisted in “substantial loss of work and income during the pandemic as a result of unemployment and reduction in working hours`. The second chapter addresses the labour market integration of young people. It is essential to mention that young people (18-24 years old) are at a greater risk of social exclusion or poverty than adults. 

It is used as a comparison between the Youth Guarantee and the Reinforced Youth Guarantee. The Youth Guarantee aims to offer a smooth transition from school to work, support labour market integration under the auspices `no young person should be left behind`. It is important to mention that the age limits from the first program to the second one changed from 25 to 29. The second chapter addresses the labour market integration of young people. In this article, the reinforced youth guarantee is stipulated and further emphasises the need for the European Commission to provide incentives to the companies in order for them to play an active role in the integration of young people into the labour market. Bearing in mind the non-satisfying results of the previous youth guarantee, the second article calls for the establishment of an EU committee for the implementation of the reinforced youth guarantee bringing together different stakeholders from civil society (youth organisations, youth representatives of the nongovernmental area) and governmental level (national authorities, decision-makers) a for sharing best practices and in order to facilitate coordination.

It is very important to say that in Romania, the funds from Youth Guarantee were not absorbed due to the fact that the Ministry of Labour delegated exclusively the County Agency for Labour (AJOFM) to go to find the NEETs and young people who needed help to find proper professional training and an adequate job. This meant that the youth organisations, youth workers or other organisations that were working directly with young people. This led to the incapacity of forming partnerships between the governmental and nongovernmental entities. Realistically, the institutions could not reach the young people in need of these opportunities as they never let organisations be part of the scheme. At the same time, the institutions were unable to provide the trainings in an adequate manner for the young people, this is the reason why many participants withdrew. The Reinforced Youth Guarantee explicitly mentions `youth organisations as partners`.

During the Youth Summit (Summitul Tinerilor) we tackled this subject with the Cluj Agency for Labour and the representative promised a better involvement of youth organisations and youth sectors in what means outreaching activities.

Actually, Cluj-Napoca is considered a `magnet for young talents`, young people under 29 years old. Cluj-Napoca also conducted the project `Cluj Future of work` that studies and tests the possibilities through which the city can prepare itself for the challenges that the future of work might bring. Bearing in mind the social and cultural aspects and the manner in which the cultural industries, the project identifies three areas of development in the Cluj: transition to the 4.0 technology, raising competitiveness and involvement in different levels of our society for the cultural industries, understanding and fundamental change proposals for organising labour in the city through work with different excluded social categories at the labour market in the present.

Recycling workshop facilitated by friends from QUB by Cluj Cultural Center in the Cluj Youth Event. Photo credit: Paula Ivașcu

IT&C, innovation, technology hub – are the best words to describe how Cluj is being shaped by the young labour force. According to the Integrated Strategy of Development of the Cluj Metropolitan Area, young people in this field are recruited from the first years of college by IT companies, this situation putting universities in difficulty (approximately 1 in 5 first-year students drop out studies). For this reason, flexible measures must be thought of so that young people can have a part-time job, being conditioned, however, by the completion of studies. For efficiency, within some specially created campuses, these facilities can be thought of as a package – these are the observations and visions that need to be encompassed in future policies that set out the future of work.

How does the ideal job look like in the vision of Cluj young people? Most of the interviewed young people answered that flexibility and the constant use of their creativity are essential components. During the Cluj Youth Event (April 2023), during a training session about the Future of Work, most young people answered that the communication skills and team management will be indispensable as well as knowing how to make use of the digital tools.

According to the LEAP study33, among youth, a third feel that the local education establishments don’t provide training that meets the needs of the labour market. Among teachers and parents, approximately a third feel that the training doesn’t reflect market needs. Moreover, young people mentioned the need for labour market integration in ClujNapoca by counselling at the end of highschool and a better collaboration between universities and local administration to attract more investors in the industries fields in which universities can prepare graduates. Integration of young people on the labour market is a very important topic especially when adolescent mentioned it is one of the biggest challenges.

London has its strength in the high skills human resources, but shortfalls in intermediate and basic skills. This is the reason why London councils, sector skills councils, National Apprenticeship Service, employers group joined-up into raising the number of apprenticeships in place with many new activities taking place, such as efforts to boost the number of apprentices in the public-sector, public-sector procurement and boosting apprenticeships in non-traditional sectors.

In Germany, both Luckenwalde and Prignitz have experience in securing a skilled labour force. This is done in part through a local development strategy in Luckenwalde, a regional economic development company in rural Prignitz and creating common action plans with all relevant actors. This is connected with the metropole region’s cluster strategy which designated both localities as local growth poles.

FIX Cluj – Fund of Innovation and Experiment is a programme that helps the innovative ideas of young people from Cluj (16-26 years old) to become reality. This co-designed programme is supported by the City Hall and the County Council of Cluj-Napoca, Botnar Foundation and the Educational Cluster C-EDU and the grants can reach up to 50.000 EUR. Young people can apply with their idea, they will present it over the Demo Week 1 and 10 applications with a requested grant up to 12.000 EUR will be selected. The teams will benefit from a mentorship programme. In Demo Week 2, 4 applications with a grant up to 35.000 EUR will be selected. Talking about young entrepreneurs, part of the ones interviewed stated that they feel positively impacted by the constant performant economic context of Cluj-Napoca.

6. Environment, Sustainability and Housing

Climate Change represents a very important topic for the future generations as their right to live in a healthy environment is perished: the resources for clean water and unprocessed food are diminishing, the pollution of air is present in almost every type of city. In the light of the latest events when Russia invaded Ukraine, the prices for the electricity and gas have increased significantly and this led to young people having a difficult time to afford the housing at the same level in 2021.

Ovidiu Cîmpean – State Secretary at the Ministry of Investments and European Projects at the formal opening of the General Assembly of the Cluj Youth Federation in the Cluj Youth Event. Photo credit: Gabi Sandru

According to the Cluj Youth Profile 2020, young people decide to move to Cluj-Napoca when they begin their studies and they continue to live in the city when they find a job. The majority of young people under 25 years old decide to rent a place to live – a room in a dorm or apartments that they share with their peers. According to the Integrated Strategy for Development of the Metropolitan Area of Cluj, in comparison to other decades, the number of persons wishing to live by themselves has increased, especially when we refer to young people that have a preference for two rooms apartments that they can share. When young people reach 30-35 years old, the chances to buy an apartment have increased.

What are young people looking for when it comes to housing? They are looking to be close to the central zone, to have transport facilities (bus connection, Cluj bike), to have parks and commercial centers with shops that can answer their daily needs.

Unfortunately, even if housing represents a very important problem, the young people do not represent a priority group when it comes to the allocation of social apartments, not even the ones that leave the social protection system.

In the Governorship of Van, Turkey, the Youth Entrepreneurs Signal S.O.S for Climate Change partnership works with youth to get them involved in creating an agriculture that is environmentally conscious. They collaborate with many organisations to find agriculturallybased strategies to combat climate change.

7. Mental Health, wellbeing and health policies

Young people have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic on a deeper level and this can be seen by correlating an increased number in mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, etc. According to the Romanian Youth Resolution 2020-2027, the regulations, initiatives or decisions that concern young people in this field are not accessible as they are not fully promoted.

The state of mind of young people is very important in the events organized by the Youth Federation of Cluj, and the Cluj Youth Event is no exception. Photo credit: Gabi Sandru

Young people in Cluj-Napoca decided that the theme of the 2023 year would be the Year of Emotional Health. At the local level, this theme will be used to develop projects and establish funding priorities. Additionally, the chosen theme will serve as a source of inspiration for all Cluj youth ecosystem actors. The voting period ran from December 21, 2022 to January 15, 2023 and it was chosen by 33,4% of voters.

In terms of the health of young people, especially when it comes to their dynamic lifestyle, it is important to mention that 50% of the of acute illness cases, especially among children and young people, are those at the system level respiratory (pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis, bronchitis, acute bronchiolitis, acute nasopharyngitis, laryngitis and acute tracheitis, viral pneumonia), followed by those of the digestive system (dyspepsia/indigestion, gastritis, duodenitis), urinary (e.g. cystitis), cardiovascular (hypertension), musculoskeletal (diseases of the spine) etc. The causes for these illnesses are diverse and can be the unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption, smoking, hygiene deficient and infections, physical or mental overload, risk compartments, etc. 

Interestingly enough, young people from Cluj-Napoca are careful with the periodic investigations in the public system, the private services being contracted only for certain situations. The same study shows that the transgender young people are not treated in an adequate manner within the public hospitals and they feel the need for the hospital personnel to have a better understanding of the LGBTQA+ community.

8. Youth Organizations, young people and participation

Participation at the European, National and Local authorities

What about the Cluj Youth Stakeholders Mapping?

Cluj European Youth Capital 2015 represented a shaping point for the development of the city regarding the economic, cultural and social aspects. The title helped organisations, young people’s groups and youth workers come together with the local authorities to create a program relatable to the young people in Europe. Youth organisations of Cluj-Napoca are gathered under the umbrella of the Youth Federation of Cluj.