Two new programs targeting youth have been announced by the PONT Group in collaboration with the Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe municipality. The Com’ON Sepsiszentgyörgy program seeks to involve creative people aged between 14 and 35, while INNOVATORY targets high-school students and fosters innovative problem-solving. Both programs are strongly connected with the local government’s Student Year program.
“We declare 2019 the Year of the Students with the goal of motivating high-school students and youngsters to formulate daring thoughts and ideas, and we will try to embrace and fund them. We would like to unleash the latent creative energy present in creative youngsters, students, and undergraduates,”Sepsiszentgyörgy mayor Árpád Antal said. He emphasized the importance of involving teenagers in city life, so they can grow along with it and act to make the city a better place.
“In 20 years, Sepsiszentgyörgy will look like the city these youngsters dream about now. We must give them the opportunity to test themselves and actively contribute to the social life of any city, which, in this case, is Sepsiszentgyörgy. We shouldn’t tell them how and what to think,” András Farkas the PONT Group’s strategic director said.
The Com’ON Sepsiszentgyörgy program’s goal is to fund cultural, social, and other creative programs initiated by people living in the city aged between 14 and 35. This year’s priorities are centered on “Sepsiszentgyörgy Plus,” which seeks the involvement of youth in everything that concerns community improvement and is focused on timely challenges the city has to address.
The applications can be submitted between March 4 and 31 on the commonsepsi.ro online platform. Projects can even be submitted by informal groups of a minimum of three people. An interesting addition is how the grants will be distributed: it involves active participation of local citizens, who can vote on the submitted projects.
INNOVATORY aims to foster a competency improvement program, which helps high school students identify certain social challenges and develop innovative solutions with the help of teachers. At the core of the program are teamwork, critical thinking, empathy and problem-solving, constructive communication, and a strong focus on the target audience.
