Culture Next

Cultural manager and entrepreneur, Ștefan Teișanu is a co-founder of Cluj Cultural Centre, Fapte and Nord.

He is a member of the Romanian Economic and Social Council, as a representative of the cultural sector and the civil society, and works with the World Bank as public participation and local development specialist. He is the executive director of Cluj Cultural Centre, a culture and sustainable development NGO with 112 members: cultural organisations and institutions, universities, associations of the business environment and of the civil society, and the local and the regional administration.

He is the founding president of Fapte, an NGO which organises the Jazz in the Park festival and other cultural events with a community impact, and also the president of Nord, a community development association in Darabani, his hometown in the Moldova region. Ștefan was the president of AIESEC Cluj-Napoca and he founded the Junior Chamber International local subsidiary. His personal belief is that people can be what they want to be.

Rariţa is cultural expert with a twenty years’ experience in arts management, curating, research and policymaking. She is engaged in policy development in Cluj-Napoca (she coordinated the elaboration of the Cultural Strategy of the city), at national level, through the work of the Coalition for the Independent Cultural Sector and at European level. She is a member of the Strategy Group of the “A Soul for Europe” initiative, member of the European House for Culture, and a board member of the Balkan Express network. She contributed as speaker and trainer to a large number of professional forums, including prominent conferences such as the Berlin Conference, European Cultural Forum, IETM plenary meetings and Cultural Congress in Wroclaw.

She has also worked in field of media and democracy for various organisations including, Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center in Cluj-Napoca and Soros Foundation for an Open Society Romania. She studied Photo-Video-Digital Image at the University of Arts and Design and Journalism at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. Since 2017 she is a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Public Administration and Policies, within the College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, undertaking research on ”New Paradigms of Urban Development. Culture, Creativity and Emotional Wellbeing as Key Factors in Urban Policies”.

Meda is the financial manager of Cluj Cultural Centre. She has been working in the financial field for over 10 years with NGOs in the cultural sector. She has collaborated over time with projects such as Jazz in the Park, Art in the Street and Zilele Nordului for which she has developed and implemented financial strategies, and has contributed to the writing and implementation of grant projects. She is the coordinator of the Classic Unlimited project, which proposes a new way of seeing, hearing, singing, living classical music. She believes in the power of art and culture to bring us together and change communities.

I believe in the power of culture and creativity to positively transform territories and people. I have na academic background in Marketing, Sociology and Public Administration. I have worked fundamentally with and for local authorities. I was also a Member of the National Parliament in Portugal. I like to bring people together and create new projects. I was at the origin of the ECRN European Creative Rooftop Network and I was the coordinator of the biding process of Faro (city in the south of Portugal) for the European Capital of Culture 2027. I am currently the head of the Cultural Department of the Municipality Faro and I also chair the Poeta Aleixo Association. I believe in the power of European cooperation. I also believe that everything in life evolves: I didn’t like peas and now I do.

András Farkas is a social innovator based in Cluj, Romania. He became passionate about community issues while at school, where he developed an interest in activism through systemic projects, strategies and action plans for reaching wide impact and scaling. In 2009 he co-founded PONT Group based in Romania, a CSO in the field of social innovation through participation, entrepreneurship and culture with a special focus on youth and digital transformation. He now acts as the Strategic Director of the organisation and has a special interest in the role of youth in shaping the future of our cities. He recently founded a company called ‘allyourtime’ which aims to develop tools and methods for individual time management, note taking and consciousness. He has worked with multiple teams in European Capital of Culture and European Youth Capital bids and programmes.

Darius is a dynamic project manager with a passion for cultural collaboration and youth empowerment. As the project manager of the Culture Next Network and grant, he supports cities across Europe get connected and grow out of that connection. With a background in business administration and leadership, he thrives at the intersection of creativity and organization—whether it’s managing international projects, coordinating deliverables for the network, or running his next marathon. He is driven by connection, purpose, and the belief that good ideas grow best when shared.

With over 12 years of experience as a journalist in local (Cluj-Napoca) and national Romanian media, spanning newspapers, radio, and television, I’ve built a strong foundation in storytelling and communication. Over time, I transitioned into the world of communication and entrepreneurship, founding Mouton Noir, a creative agency that delivers out-of-the-box PR strategies tailored for bold, forward-thinking brands.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with major clients from diverse fields, from film festivals to leading healthcare networks and even the most beloved sports club in Transylvania. My mission is to craft authentic narratives that connect, inspire, and make a difference.