Key Facts

Population: 56,000
Country: Romania

Overview

Sfantu Gheorghe is located in the central, historical region of Transylvania. The majority of the population is made up of Hungarians (77%), with 22% identifying as Romanians and most of the remaining population as Roma.

Challenges

Like most Eastern European cities of the same size, lack of employment, increasing social inequality and out-migration of young people are the greatest challenges facing Sfantu Gheorghe. In the past decade, the number of 15 – 24 year olds decreased by 48%, whereas the number of 65+ increased by 66%. Although the educational infrastructure of the region is adequate (4 high schools, 4 vocational schools, 1 art school) and average attainment rates are above the national average, some schools are falling behind drastically. The lower-performing high schools and vocational colleges are largely attended by pupils from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and poor access to existing educational, economic and cultural resources.

Opportunities

The city lacks a coherent youth policy which could respond to the needs of these young people, and support them through secondary education and into employment. Several projects have been launched by the municipality in the past years, in an effort to tackle social inequalities by understanding the roots of migration of young people, to increase active citizenship and to support Roma people. The CLLD programme is so far the biggest investment project in the field of social interventions.

Intervention

Through UPLIFT the city of Sfantu Gheorghe will establish a scheme targeted at young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and other at-risk groups. Additionally the city aims to develop capacity for education programmes and vocational schools, so that higher retainment rates and educational outcomes can be achieved. Further, a pilot program is being launched for young people still in full-time education (15 – 18 years old) and those in the NEET group (15 – 29 years old), in order to develop their skills and improve employability.

  • Problem Statement and Target Group

  • Institutional context

  • Co-creation process

Official deliverables

D2.2 Urban report - Sfantu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe case study report D4.6 Sfantu Gheorghe RPA Sfantu Gheorghe WP3 policy brief (English) Sfantu Gheorghe WP3 policy brief (Hungarian) Sfantu Gheorghe WP3 policy brief (Romanian)

Sfântu Gheorghe Urban Story Our storymaps draw together insights on inequalities and policies affecting urban youth, across education, employment and housing, from the WP2 urban reports and data analyses.