Following the decision of young people, 2023 is the Year of Emotional Health in the youth field in Cluj-Napoca. Decision makers, partners involved in initiating this endeavour will begin the steps of implementing actions inspired by this theme and will encourage other actors of the Cluj youth ecosystem to take action as well.
Year of Emotional Health
Rationale: Emotional health is a challenge that is gaining increasing attention in society, especially among young people, both in the post-pandemic context and due to the lack of comprehensive support services for young people.
Action: Actions and measures can be taken this year that contribute to raising awareness of young people’s needs in relation to challenges such as anxiety and worry about the immediate and more distant future. Post-pandemic effects and the need to return to a normal life in which society supports young people in overcoming these challenges will be considered.
Impact: By addressing this issue raised by young people as a priority, we can create the conditions for community collaboration to find long-term solutions and with a greater focus on caring for each other.
Final proposal based on initial proposals submitted by Isabela Stângu, Florin-Iulian Vințan and Barti Rebeka.
The final result of the votes on all four topics under debate was as follows:
YEAR OF EMOTIONAL HEALTH – 33.4%
Meeting Year – 29.8%
Year of Discovery – 19.2%
Year of Wellbeing – 17.6%
About the Youth Thematic Year
The City Hall of Cluj-Napoca, the Cluj Metropolitan Area Association, the Cluj Youth Federation and the PONT Group initiated in 2021 the Cluj for Youth Partnership – Cluj for Youth 2030. Through this agreement, the initiators aim to create the basis for the realization of a broad framework of collaboration aimed at increasing the quality of life, broadening the prospects for personal development and encouraging the participation of young people in the formation and development of the urban and metropolitan community of Cluj.
One of the projects resulting from the implementation of the protocol is the thematic year of youth.
The initiative proposes to define a thematic year, every three years, for Cluj-Napoca and the Cluj Metropolitan Area. Thus in this decade it is proposed to identify a theme for the years 2023, 2026 and 2029. During the year 2022 the local effort focused on the European Year of Youth under the name of Cluj for European Year of Youth 2022, which demonstrated the contribution of the municipality to the development of initiatives and networks at European and national level by hosting a series of local events.
Following a public vote in which young people between the ages of 14 and 35 participated, the Year of Emotional Health has been set as the thematic year for 2023. This theme will form the basis for the development of joint projects for all actors of the Cluj youth ecosystem.
