Description of organisation

The Kazun Association was founded in 2002 by young people from Plăieşii de Jos, a rural settlement in Harghita county, Romania. It is a non-profit, independent and apolitical organization with the aim of empowering local youth and increasing their opportunities through education and culture. We work to strengthen cultural understanding and social inclusion, while reducing inequalities by improving the opportunities of young people from rural backgrounds facing lower education quality and fewer training and development possibilities. Our two target groups are local children aged 7-14 and young people between 15–25 years old with minority backgrounds.
Our activities focus on four main areas:
- Folklore and dance: three amateur folkdance groups with 80 children and youth (7–19 years old), meeting weekly, performing regionally and abroad; organizing summer camps and participating in competitions. Over 300 young people have taken part in these activities in the past 20 years.
- Non-formal education: local and international Erasmus+ youth projects providing learning opportunities for young people with disadvantaged backgrounds
- Sports: organizing sports activities and events to engage youth and strengthen community ties
- Sustainability: Organizing local environmental initiatives to raise awareness among young people about environmental issues and to engage both youth and the broader community in taking action for the environment