Cluj-Napoca

Cluj is one of Romania's "magnet cities", attracting constantly new residents from all over the country, but much of its current prosperity is based on low value added activities such as SSC/BPO services. Indeed, 49% of the local economy is estimated to be highly vulnerable to emerging technologies and automation. While cultural and creative industries (CCI) represent the most powerful element of vitality for Cluj, there are strong mismatches between their core competences and local jobs. Yearly 2000 students graduate a CCI-related discipline, with only 7% being afterwards employed in their core field of expertise. In addition, there is a growing social divide with over 2500 people living in informal settlements and around 20% of current employees living on subsistence wages.  
This conflicting situation is a results of work-related policies traditionally regarded as the apanage of national policies, demonstrating the actual incapacity of the public sector to grasp the systematic changes already in place. Cluj Future of Work will create a socially resilient working ecosystem for current and future jobs in the city and imagine a technologically-enriched future, one that is also safe, ethical, inclusive and sustainable.

The city takes five innovative tracks to tackle the vulnerability of the local economy towards emerging technologies: 
1.    It promotes “smart specialisation”, aiming to make creative-based industries – one of the new competitive advantages of the city- and related knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) more competitive and engaged in societal change.
2.    It enables the transition to work 4.0, providing training and skills development for the work of today and tomorrow, especially for work cycles under high risk of automation.
3.    It re-imagines work, connected to both social values and technical potential.
4.    It seeks to improve the spatial conditions of the local economy, through the regeneration of the CREIC area by transforming it into a knowledge-based new part of the city.
5.    It introduces experimentations for systematic changes for local value added chains and the new social contract governing the future of work by introducing a local label acting as a financial tool. 

• City of Cluj-Napoca
• Centrul Cultural Clujean - association of cultural and urban development organizations
• ARIES - association for electronic industry and software
• Asociația Cluj IT - cluster
• Cluster Mobilier Transilvan 
• Transylvania Creative Industries Cluster
• Universitatea de Artă și Design din Cluj-Napoca - university
• Asociația PLAI - design association
• Asociația pentru Promovarea Filmului Românesc

1. Technology that can significantly influence cultural and creative industries. Three labs located in the emerging CREIC area of the city will be equipped with the latest technology related to design, special effects and industry 4.0. 
2. Tailor-made learning programs for developing the necessary skills for the future of work. 
3. Local instruments that support the local economy’s outlook towards the future of work and societal values. The prototypes developed in the learning programs are further supported for their transfer in local policies, new organisational models and access to an international market. 
4. Applied research on supporting resiliency of the local socio-economic ecosystem. Using specific cultural methods, a series of studies, artworks and future scenarios and enactments will be developed to accompany the 5 innovative learning tracks and prepare their transfer for the local and European communities. 
    

December 2019: Procurement procedures for the specialized equipment for the labs almost concluded.  Initial results on the study with last trends on industry 4.0, cultural industries and informal work will be identified. First future scenario and artwork launched. Main communication actions of the project launched.
June 2020: 3 labs equipped. First version of the learning curricula developed. Second future scenario and artwork launched.
November 2020: Learning curricula/ community facilitation delivered using Cluj Experimentation Vouchers (CEV). Second version of the learning curricula developed. 4 new jobs created for supporting the public- industry based partnerships in CREIC area. Prototypes/ initial findings on informal work identified. Additional future scenario and artwork launched.
March 2021: Prototypes/ findings on informal work supported by the local trademark mechanism. Transfer methods identified for each learning track. 
October 2021: Transfer implemented for each learning track. 2 additional jobs created to support public- industry based partnerships in CREIC area.